1996 Trek 7900 Multitrack Garage Queen Drop Bar Adventure Bike

Rear end detail of a Trek 7900

This bike has been really good value for me. I paid $265 for it in 2021 with the express plan to drop bar convert from a flat bar 8spd to a drop bar 9spd. Other than the shifters, bars and cassette, I was able to do the upgrade maintaining the stock Shimano XT drivetrain. Along the way I've minimized expense of marginal upgrades. Every upgrade is with purpose and with the idea of building a more robust bike for gravel and bikepacking/bike touring.

Shown in the photo are the latest upgrades. 36H Velocity Cliffhanger rim on a Shimano XT hub. I prefer rear wheels (and fronts) with 36 spokes. It makes the wheel significantly stronger, not much heavier and makes repairing a (less likely) broken spoke easier. The upgrade happened after the original rim blew a spoke on the last 3 miles of a 200+mi bike tour. I've always preferred more spokes then less. I don't care about marginal weight, just durability, so I used it as an opportunity to get a stronger wheel. Oddly enough the original Trek wheels are really good. So I was surprised I popped a spoke on smooth terrain. Moreso because before I got the bike it was hardly ridden and when it was it was a fit woman using it on bike paths. Spoke fatigue shouldn't be a thing. 

In the background (out of focus) are the Avid Shorty Cantilever brakes. These may appear to be a boutique upgrade but they have the stopping power of V brakes with the modulation of cantis and the ease of setup of a V. These are the best of all worlds and are about the best upgrade for a rim brake bike you can make. These are the equivalent of adding bigger rotors or going hydraulic on a disc brake bike. With bike loads in wet conditions these are much appreciated. 

The rack is a Tumbleweed Mini Pannier which is a fantastic steel rack that should outlast the bike by a few decades. 

Trek 7900 at Cohoes Falls. Cohoes, NY

Bikepacking: 1991 Trek Multi-track 7900 loaded on the Erie Canal Trail (Empire State Trail)

Trek 7900 fully rigged and loaded on day 6 of the Heart of the Finger Lakes Route which used the Erie Canal, Cayuga-Seneca Canal and looper around the Finger Lakesfrom Syracuse Amtrak Station

These old Treks were some of the first mass produced gravel type bikes. There were others but none were so readily available. Of course back then gravel bikes weren't a genre so these were sold as hybrids with flat bars. 

It turns out, as long as you don't require disc brakes (and trust me, marketing is a powerful thing but a set of V-brakes with salmon Koolstops are going to stop your bike at least as well as most mechanical disc) these are ideal mixed surface touring bikes/gravel bikes. 

The higher end models like the 7900 came with premium level MTB components. Deore, LX, XT depending on year and a 700c MTB rim with MTB hubs and spacing. Rack mounts, fender mounts. 

Drop bar conversion on a 6/7/8/9 speed just meant a pull adapter for the front derailleur or even easier a bar end friction shifter (I've done both on the two I own). 

The gearing on this is far superior to any modern 1x or even 2x drive train. It's a little less than the 670% of my 7900 but still around 600% with nice tight spacing, a true high gear and a very good low gear (24x34). 

As seen, the bike is outfitted with a Soma Rakku 2 rear rack with Topeak Versa Cages and dry bags (this wasn't an aesthetic choice or a function choice, we didn't finish the second set of panniers), an aliexpress Pizza Rack knock off on front with some creative but very secure attachment, homemade (home modified) military sustainment pouch micro panniers that cost $2.50 each and an hour of hour time per set to modify. The feed bag is a Moosetreks which I scored 5 of for $65 total (shipped). If you know the outrageous cost of bikepacking labeled equuipment you know these climbing chalk bags are not worth $60 each. The Moosetreks feed bag is as nice as any other feed bag on the market and even at it's $27 retail price is still a steal. 

I added a downtube bottle mount for extra capacity. I know a lot of folks dislike the down tube bottle mount but a pro tip, don't drink directly out of it. You just pour the liquid into one of your other bottles.  

The rear derailleur is a takeoff from a newer (90s model) bike. It's XT 8spd vs Deore 7spd. It's running a 9spd cassette. We used microshift R9 brake shift levers, but ended up going with a Sunrace 3x front friction shifter instead of a pull adapter on the front brake shifter. Sunrace bought Sturmey Archer years ago and makes some high quality parts. It's not an AliExpress quality company.  While my preference is cantilever vs v-brakes, I opted for the lower maintenance, higher max stopping power of the XT V-brakes we had from a takeoff mountain bike in the parts bin. Cantis offer better feel and if adjusted properly will stop with plenty of power, but they also require fairly constant maintenance. 

The rear wheel I had to go with a new version. I went with a Weinman Zac 19 in my preferred 36 spoke configuration. There was nothing wrong with the original rim, but it was dished for a 7speed cassette and once again, I didn't have time to redish or bring it somewhere to be redished. 

As shown the bike is outfitted with 38mm Challenge Gravel Grinder tires on 18 and 19mm rims. I love these tires for the gravel I typically ride, and they were great on this trip, but they tend to wear fairly fast on pavement heavy riding. I feel like 35mm is the ideal tire width for unloaded road riding. 38mm might be a little narrow but the riders on this bike won't be heavier than 130lbs and fully loaded this bike is about 160lbs (bike, gear, rider). The multitracks vary in max tire width but 40-45mm is typical (sometimes 50mm possible up front). When this bike needs new tires I will upgrade to 40-45mm for better gravel and rough road performance and comfort. 

Trek 7900 in original form as purchased for $100

Overall, this is very solid frame up build using a mix of original parts and some parts bin or selected new parts where necessary. Every bearing and part was stripped and cleaned. This is essentially a new bike! 

Initial test ride before final adjustments and bar taping. All the racks are visible here and the down tube bottle mount. I got creative with the front rack mount but it's very secure and I wouldn't hesitate to run 20lbs on it.