2005 Trek 3700
Short history of TREK Bicycles
Trek bicycles was founded in 1975 in Waterloo, Wisconsin . They manufactured steel hand brazed touring frames , and competed with Japanese and Italian bicycle frame makers. In the 80's Trek started building complete bicycles and later entered into the steel road racing bike market with it's Pro line of bicycles. In 1983 they built their first mountain bike called the 850. Trek produced their first aluminum frame in 1985 called the 2000. Later they produced a carbon composite model, the 2500. In 1989 Trek produced their first molded carbon fiber frame , the 5000 . In the late 90's Trek signed world road race champion Lance Armstrong . He won his first Tour de France in 1999 on a trek 5500 becoming the first American to win the Tour de France on an American bicycle. Today Trek owns many American bicycle brands including Gary Fisher, Bontrager and Klein bicycles .
I bought this Trek 3700 from a friend of mine for a fair price considering it was missing most of it's components. It was missing the rear derailleur , seat and seat post, chain and cables. The tires were in bad condition and the grips were worn out.
Trek 3700 (before)
I started taking the components off the bike , starting with the wheels, the brakes and cables and the front derailleur. Next I removed the stem ,handlebar and finally the fork . The frame wasn't too dirty ,but it did need some touch up.
Head tube and side (before)
Top tube and Down tube (before)
Seat tube and seat clamp (before)
Chain stay and rear brake (before)
Seat stays and rear brakes (before)
Rear Lugs (before)
Bottom Bracket (before)
Fork (before)
The Trek 3700 cleaned up nicely. I used a paint cleaner , paint polish and finally I waxed the frame and fork with Meguiar's carnauba wax.
Top tube and Down tube (polished)
Head tube (polished)
Stays and rear lugs (polished)
New derailleur hanger
Bottom bracket (polished)
Fork (polished)
After cleaning and polishing the frame I started removing the bottom bracket assembly. It would not budge so I soaked it with PB Blaster and let it sit for a couple of days. I used a metric bolt and fastened my BB removal tool to the bottom bracket assembly so it would not slip off while i tried to remove it. After a couple of tries the bottom bracket came loose. The drive side of the bottom bracket assembly is a left hand thread.
BB tool with a bolt to keep it from slipping
Old bottom bracket assembly
Shimano BB73 X 122.5
The headset has sealed bearings and they were fine , no play on either end so I re installed them. Next I installed the headset , fork and stem. I cleaned and polished the stem before installing it on the bike. I also cleaned and polished the handlebar.
Stem (before)
Stem (cleaned and polished)
handlebar (before)
Handlebar (cleaned and polished)
Headset and stem installed
Fork installed
Next I cleaned and polished the cranks . They were dirty and greasy from use. First I took them apart then I cleaned them. They cleaned up nicely.
Cranks ( before)
Cranks (cleaned and polished)
Cranks installed
The seat post I ordered came in so I installed it next.
31.5mm aluminum seat post
Seat post installed
Trek 3700 (almost assembled)
Next I cleaned and polished the front and rear V-Brake arms. I replaced the old brake pads with new ones for maximum stopping power, plus the old ones were worn out.
Tektro V-brakes (before)
Tektro V-brakes (cleaned and polished)
Front brakes installed
Rear brakes installed
Next I worked on the front and rear derailleurs . The front is a Shimano C050 and the rear is a Shimano 200GS . I cleaned and polished them , then I lubricated all pivot points and moving parts. When I was done they both shifted smooth.
Front derailleur (before)
Front derailleur (before)
Front derailleur (cleaned ,polished and lubed)
Rear derailleur (before)
Rear derailleur (before) exploded view
rear derailleur (cleaned and polished) exploded view
rear derailleur (clean ,polished and lubed)
Next I cleaned and lubed the left and right gear shifters . The right hand gear shifter was sticking so I blasted the inside with WD-40 until it began shifting through all the gears. Then I replaced the shifter cables and cable housing.
The Trek 3700 got new brake and shifter cables with cable housing.
The brake levers had a nylon pad on the front of them that was worn out. I could not find any replacement pads but I did find some rubber lever covers .
Left hand brake lever with worn nylon pad
Right hand brake lever with worn nylon pad
Brake levers (before)
Brake levers (cleaned and polished)
Brake levers , shifters , cables and housing installed
Next I installed the front and rear derailleurs. After that I ran all the cables for derailleurs and brakes. Then I worked on the wheels . The rear cassette did not want to come off so I sprayed the threads with PB Blaster and let it sit for a couple of days , after that I used a breaker bar to break the cassette loose. Then I cleaned the cassette and started cleaning and polishing the wheels.
rear derailleur installed with new chain
rear wheel with stuck cassette (before)
rear hub (before)
rear rim (before)
Front wheel (before)
Front hub (before)
After I cleaned and polished the wheels , I cleaned and overhauled both front and rear hubs with new bearings and grease. Then I cleaned and polished the cassette. I was surprised the cassette was not worn and cleaned up nicely.
Cassette (before)
Cassette (cleaned and polished)
Rear axle with old bearings, soon to be replaced
Rear hub cleaned , polished and ready for new grease.
rear hub with new grease and bearings.
Front hub (before)
Front axle and hardware (before)
Front hub (cleaned and polished)
Front hub with new grease and bearings.
Front and rear wheels complete.
After I completed the wheels I installed the chain and adjusted the front and rear derailleurs. Then I adjusted the brakes.
Chain on and rear derailleur adjusted.
Front and rear brakes adjusted
After I completed the wheels I wrapped them in Bell 26"X 1.95 all terrain tires.
After installing the wheels on the bike I installed the saddle and the grips. I used a Bell Dart saddle because it's comfortable and matches the bike well. I also used bell ergonomic grips.
Bell Comfy grips.
Grips installed
These next pictures are of the complete bike . Enjoy !
This Trek 3700 was a challenging but fun restoration. The bottom bracket and cassette took a while to remove but patience and a good penetrating oil are the key to remove those stubborn components. I took the bike for a spin so I can make some further adjustments . The bike rides smooth ,shifts smooth and stops quick . The bike is light and handles great. A pleasure to ride !
Thanks for visiting my Blog . See you next time , Tony
