Hey guys, Im after a little help.
I used to race quite a lot, back in the days of the BMBF, NEMBA and MSS and Im looking to come back into racing next year.
Ive still got my old bike (in perfect running order) which is a Trek 9900 Pro Issue/Judy XC, with an XTR/XT 8spd mix, Avid Ti Vees and Mavic 217/Hope Ti hubs. Whilst the frame is still in really good condition, the running gear (whilst also being in very good nick) is a little outdated and trying to find an XTR 8spd cassette is getting really difficult!

Is it worth me getting new forks and gears and strapping them to the 9900, or would I be better off just getting a new bike? Im also wondering about disc brakes, Id need new wheels and the frame doesnt have a rear mount, are there any bolt on adaptors available for the rear stay?

Finally, if its worth keeping the frame, recommend me some decent (but not massivly pricey) XC forks that arent going to destroy my geometry (bearing in mind that the 9900 was designed for 50mm travel forks max)

Budget would be around the £6-700 mark for upgrades. If I go for a new bike, it will be quite a lot more.

Any help appreciated.

Phil.

go for a new bike & make the trek rigid singlespeed would be my choice 🙂

You’ll be amazed how much bike stuff has changed. The hills still hurt though.

I’d suggest you give it a go again before spending money on anything you don’t have to. From what you say, the bike should be perfectly capable on most courses.

How old is the frame? Does it have disc mounts?

give it a go for a bit on the old bike then put that on http://www.retrobike.co.uk and get good money for it.

then u will have lots of funds for a good up to date bike.

time for some shopping… get thee on a new bike 🙂

you will have particular fun in spec’ing new bars and stem. What is your 9900 running? 130mm stem and 500mm bars by any chance??

time to wake up and smell the 50mm stem and 750mm bars 😀

Have fun!

Dave

Thanks for the response chaps.

I’ll definitely be racing next year, it just depends on what 😉

No disc mounts, hence the questions about the clamp for the rear stay, and as for advertising on RetroBike, there has always seemed to be a resistance against Trek for some reason. I tried to sell my wifes origional Trek 9800 last year and no-one was interested. ended up selling it for £183 on eBay 😥

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=126025&highlight=

Sounds like you’ve got some decent kit on it, I’d split it, polish the bits and put them on retrobike. Add the proceeds onto the £600-£700, and you’ll very likely end up with a better, funner, faster bike than £600 worth of compromises to modernise the 9900.

And I think you’ll get more interest in the parts than the whole. Project builds on retrobike remind me of rummaging round in the lego box with my brother. “I need a two-er and a flat four-er”