Trek 2300 Dating

I said:

I'm about to go check out a bike a friend is thinking of buying. It's
a Trek 2300 (bonded carbon/aluminum) with Shimano 105 componentry. It
has 7 speeds and downtube shifters.

I'm thinking early '90s. When did Shimano introduce 105 8-speed?

Also, from the (poor quality) picture I've received it appears as
though the brakes may be dual pivot. When were these introduced?

And while we're at it, googling turned up some info regarding galvanic
corrosion in the bonded joints of early 2300s. This was supposedly
cured by bonding a layer of fibreglass between the carbon fibre and
the aluminum lugs. Does anyone know when Trek implemented this fix,
and how to identify these later 2300s?

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

John Everett said:

When did Shimano introduce 105 8-speed?

When I bought a bike in 1993, the bike shop told me that 1993 was the
first year that 8-speed was available in the 105 group. They also
offered a down-tube shifted 7 speed 105 group that year according to the
shop. I'm not sure I believe that second bit of info, but it is certain
that a bike with 7-spd 105 was 1993 or earlier.

That bike was a Specialized carbon fiber with Al lugs. The frame
eventually corroded. It appears that Specialized didn't have that
problem figured out for the 1993 model year. Sorry, I don't know about Trek.

Hope this helps.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

John Everett said:

I'm about to go check out a bike a friend is thinking of buying. It's
a Trek 2300 (bonded carbon/aluminum) with Shimano 105 componentry. It
has 7 speeds and downtube shifters.

I'm thinking early '90s. When did Shimano introduce 105 8-speed?

Also, from the (poor quality) picture I've received it appears as
though the brakes may be dual pivot. When were these introduced?

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

Dear John,

Carbon-dating isn't accurate for dating within living
memory. Besides, Trek may kill their bicycles and store the
carcasses years in advance of actually attaching wheels and
selling them to the public, so the carbon-14 content
analysis would not--

Oh, you mean something else.

This site might help decode a serial number into a date:

http://www.vintage-trek.com/SerialNumbers.htm

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

When did Shimano introduce 105 8-speed?

I've got a 1991 2100 which was equipped with 105 7s downtube shifters. As I
recall the 1991 2300 had Shimano 600 components.

Quoted message said:

Also, from the (poor quality) picture I've received it appears as
though the brakes may be dual pivot. When were these introduced?

The 105 brakes on the 1991 2100 were dual pivot, but I never liked the feel
of these brakes.

Quoted message said:

Does anyone know when Trek implemented this fix,

and how to identify these later 2300s?

I haven't had any problems with the bonds on this bike, although I haven't
ridden it much in the last 4 years. Against the advice of several posters I
crammed a 130mm rear hub in the rear triangle (which was spaced at 126mm) in
1994 to allow an upgrade to 8s and then to 9s and I haven't had any
problems.

Cheers,

Chip

Quoted message said:

And while we're at it, googling turned up some info regarding galvanic
corrosion in the bonded joints of early 2300s. This was supposedly
cured by bonding a layer of fibreglass between the carbon fibre and
the aluminum lugs. Does anyone know when Trek implemented this fix,
and how to identify these later 2300s?

Having sold quite a few thousand three-tube-carbon TREKs, I'm not aware of a
galvanic corrosion problem that caused failures of the carbon tube/aluminum
lug joint. Regarding a fiberglass sleeve, it was my impression that was
implemented from the very first ones off the line.

I have seen a tube separate from the lug, but it wasn't from any sort of
corrosion; rather, it appeared to have been caused by too-tight a fit
between the two, causing the adhesive to squeegee out. All corrosion I've
seen has been on the outside of the lug, particularly where the lug
interfaces with the headset cups.

TREK warrants all of their frames for life, but only for the original owner.
Thus, if it's a bike you purchased new, I wouldn't worry much about it. But
if you're buying a used bike from someone, the lack of a warranty is
definitely something to consider.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

"John Everett" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I said:

I'm about to go check out a bike a friend is thinking of buying. It's
a Trek 2300 (bonded carbon/aluminum) with Shimano 105 componentry. It
has 7 speeds and downtube shifters.

I'm thinking early '90s. When did Shimano introduce 105 8-speed?

Also, from the (poor quality) picture I've received it appears as
though the brakes may be dual pivot. When were these introduced?

And while we're at it, googling turned up some info regarding galvanic
corrosion in the bonded joints of early 2300s. This was supposedly
cured by bonding a layer of fibreglass between the carbon fibre and
the aluminum lugs. Does anyone know when Trek implemented this fix,
and how to identify these later 2300s?

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

John Everett said:

I'm about to go check out a bike a friend is thinking of buying. It's
a Trek 2300 (bonded carbon/aluminum) with Shimano 105 componentry. It
has 7 speeds and downtube shifters.

Check the aluminum rear seat lug. These can crack eventually on the
carbon/aluminum 3-tubes TREK 2300 bikes.

http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~gillies/P1010058.JPG

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA