My Trek 1000SL Major Makeover

This was how it looked like when I first bought the bike from Gary CCI.  Bontrager parts all round and Shimano SORA 8 speed components(except the RD, which is a Tiagra 9 speed and the 105 SPD-R pedals).  It has served me well for the last two years.  But lately when I checked, the rim walls had become valleys, bottom bracket started to make clicking sound and the right shifter was always jam due to wear and tear.  Sent the bike to Gary, and he scolded me for putting too much stress on the components!  I like to ride mah...:)

Then one of my friends asked me if I were interested in getting the Miche groupo. He promised me to be a good alternative to Shimano parts since nowadays there are so many parallel imports and some may have been factory rejects but sell as good ones by some unscrupulous sellers.  He was pushing for the Primato range, which the price was definitely beyond my pocket!!  Furthermore, my bike, Trek 1000SL is merely a low end model from Trek.  It wouldn't make sense by fixing a groupo that costs four times the price of the frame.  So after flipping over the catalog I decided to pick the Team 10 groupo, which I thought would be more reasonable to my frame.  So, once decided I got my friend to get the groupo for me.  It was an argonizing wait of more than a month and finally arrived last week.

I weighed the bike before the "upgrade".  It tipped the scale at 9.4kg.  Typical for road bike with the basic groupo.  I wasn't expected much from the new components since they are also considered to be basic range too.  The only differences is the group comes in 10 speed configuration.  This Miche Team 10 gruppo is a mix of Miche own and Campagnolo components.  The Campagnolo parts are from the 10 speed Xenon line.  I was told that this Michelin subsidiary is actually the OEM to Campagnolo.  That explains why they are campy compatibles.

The Miche Reflex wheels that come with the gruppo are quite heavy to my liking, 2.2kg!

It took just one day for my friend to fix it up at one of the LBS in mainland.  When it was done I was busy supervising my guys to install partition in one of factories in Bayan Baru.  He called me up and told me my bike was ready to be picked up. 

So the six million dollars question to him was, "how heavy?"  "9.2kg", He said.  Ok lah.  Actually we expected lighter.  I think I know where did the extra weight come from.  The original setup for the crank and the cassette themselves are 50/34 and 12-25 respectively.  If I have not decided to change them to 53/39 and 12-27 respectively, the total weigh of the bike would be less than 9kg.  Kiasu mah...;)  I have also changed the stem to a longer Easton EA50 stem, which my friend graciously loaned me for the time period until I have decided to get my own 3T stem and Deda handle bar(Must have!!!).  That longer stem may also contribute to heavier mass too.

How did the bike with new setup ride like?  I took a small round when picked up the bike from my friend.  The wheels were new, so definitely the bike rode like a magic carpet.  I am going to try it out for the metric century ride to Pantai Merdeka this coming Sunday and see how it goes.  I don't expect it to climb well though since it has such a heavy set of wheels.

I know some will question the rationale of upgrading a bike such as this Trek 1000SL.  Well, lets put it this way.  It is for self satisfaction.  I am old school.  If time allows, I would prefer to build my own bike with the components of my choice.  The stock components may not to my liking.  Furthermore, I have grown used to this bike.  If I sell this bike with its original companents at much reduced price and add another 3-4k to get a new bike with higher end components I would have to get used to the new bike.  It will take time, which I hate the most.

Of course, the story is not going to end here.  I am already playing with ideas of "upgrading" the saddle to my favorite brand, Salle Italia SLR or Flite and a set of lighter wheels.  I have been looking at Soul's S3 wheelset, which tip the scale at 1.5kg at the fraction of price that I would pay for more popular brands wheels like Mavic Ksyrium or Fulcrum 3 wheelsets.  With these onto my bike, it would be able to weigh further down to 8.4kg.  Again, it is for personal satisfaction and a matter of own preference.  I can't explain it to you....:)  You have to do it yourself in order to understand why.

Here is the photo of the bike after the make over(see below).   One thing I like about Trek 1000 SL is the weight distribution.  The bike felt balance and not heavier on one side, not like some bikes that I carried before that the rear wheel is always heavier.  After the make over the weight distribution also felt the same, well balance.  It would be nice to see if it is really the case by putting the weighing machine each under front and rear wheels to see they are really 50-50 weight distribution.

I must thank my friend for making such good job for fixing it up and also manage to correct a problem of the bike that it will sway to one side if I left my hands off the handle(it was due to bent drop out).  Thanks buddy.  I'll come to you again if I need someone to pick up a set of Soul S3.0 wheelset for myself in future!