The late 80's Trek 400T is a great light/sport touring bike. I use this bike as my main commute bike, for shopping trips, and for occasional short, 2-3 day tours. I intend to take it on a multi-week trip, but it has to compete with the coupled bike which works better when flying or travelling by train. On feature that makes the 400T less ideal for longer tours is the narrow clearance, limiting the bike to 700cx28 or narrower tires.

This 1988 model came with a 6-speed rear freewheel, and elliptical 52-42-32 chainrings. The current freewheel is a modern version of the original, a replacement necessitated when the lockring on the original came loose and the freewheel came apart on a morning ride into the local hills. The large elliptical rings were an issue for problematic knees so I replaced those with circular 52-42-26 rings. Some of the components are original: the bottom bracket, the headset, the cranks, the shifters, the brakes, and the brake levers. Other original components, e.g., the hubs, are still servicable but were replaced with more reliable versions such as the Phil Wood hubs. The original blue-green paint job was replaced with a red powdercoat in September, 2004. At 17+ years old, there is a lot of life left in this bike.

Component list

• Frame/fork
• Lugged TruTemper 4130 CroMoly steel

• Wheels
• Mavic MA3 rim front, Velocity Synergy rim rear
• Phil Wood hubs, threaded freewheel rear
• DT Competition 14-15-14 double-butted spokes, 3X

• Alternate front wheel
• Mavic MA3 rim
• Shimano DH-3N71 generator hub
• DT Competition 14-15-14 double butted spokes, 3X

• Headset
• Tange 1" threaded

• Bottom Bracket
• Shimano UN-53 cartridge

• Crankset
• Sakae SR, 52-42-26 rings

• Freewheel
• Shimano 6sp, 14-28

• Shifters
• Shimano 6 sp downtube shifters

• Front Derailleur
• Shimano triple

• Rear Derailleur
• Shimano Deore

• Brakes
• Shimano BR-1570 SLR single pivot calipers
• Shimano BL-L331 SLR levers

• Lights
• Lumotec 6V 3W secondary, right fork blade mount
• Lumotec OvalPlus Senso primary, left fork blade mount