2000 Trek 7000: My 10 year ownership experience
On Friday, January 21, 2000, I bought a brand new 2000 Metal Flake Yellow Trek 7000 from a small bike shop here in San Diego.
Never mind that I was completely broke at the time. I was young, single, and still completely lost in life, so dropping $1000 on something so unnecessary didn’t even get me to bat an eye. YOLO!
What it was like to own and ride a 2000 Trek 7000 from 2000-2010
I don’t even know how many miles I put on this bike. It was probably somewhere around 10,000 considering that was my only bike from 2000 to 2007. I was doing a decent amount of riding back then – both on road and off.
Here’s the full spec sheet of the bike that I purchased:
COLOR | Metal Flake Yellow |
SIZE | Medium (18″) |
FRAMESET | Alpha ZX Aluminum (3.63 lb) |
FORK | Manitou SX suspension, 80mm travel |
WHEELS | Bontrager Superstock, machine welded rims: hubs; DT 14G stainless spokes |
TIRES | Bontrager Jones AC, folding, 49/54 front and rear |
SADDLE | Bontrager FS 2000, Cro-Moly rails |
SEATPOST | ICON Onyx |
HANDLEBARS | ICON Onyx |
STEM | ICON Onyx |
HEADSET | Dia-Compe SAS, threadless, alloy |
SHIFTERS | Shimano Deore LX |
FRONT DERAILLUER | Shimano Deore LX |
REAR DERAILLUER | Shimano Deore XT |
CRANKSET | ICON Onyx 44/32/22 |
CASSETTE | Shimano Deore LX 11-32, 9spd |
BRAKES | Avid SD10, linear pull w/Shimano Deore LX levers |
PEDALS | Bontrager RE-1, clipless |
The reason for purchasing this bike was to replace my trusty old 1996 Trek 7000. It was still in perfectly good shape, but I couldn’t resist the lure of something new. At least I was able to sell it to my roommate to offset some of the cost of the new bike.
2000-2001: Jack Bike of all trades
From 2000 until mid 2001, I was living in San Diego. Probably 70% of my riding was on the road and paved trails, and I was alternating between a set of Continental road tires and the stock Bontrager knobbies.
2002-2004: Midwestern cycling
In mid 2001, I moved to Michigan. I had far less opportunities to ride a bike out there (especially because of a pesky thing called ‘winter’), but I was able to hit some really nice trails with coworkers from time to time.
2004-2010: Back In San Diego
In February 2004, I packed this bike into a box and shipped it off via UPS to San Diego. I made the drive across the country, and it arrived at my new doorstep two days later. It was good to be back in Southern California!
I don’t have many pics from the last six years unfortunately. I did ride it a ton though. Two memorable highlights include:
- Riding closed off streets around downtown Los Angeles with thousands of other cyclists prior to the running of the 2004 Marathon.
- Taking it to Big Bear (twice) in 2004 for some hard-core downhill riding with friends. All I’m gonna say is that the Trek 7000 is a HORRIBLE downhill bike. Basically the worst choice ever.
By April 2007, I had enough of having only one bike for both trail riding and street riding. Having to constantly swap out tires was annoying enough, but it was the act of having to ride a dirty (squeaky) bike on the street that put me over the edge. I bought a brand new 2007 Specialized Allez Comp road bike to solve that problem. It was glorious.
My Trek 7000 became my dedicated mountain bike. I also used it to ride to the gym every morning, since it was old and ratty enough to be left parked outside without much worry.
I had added two additional bikes to my fleet by 2009 (a 2009 Specialized Rockhopper Comp and a custom built cross bike with a Nashbar frame). I was also engaged by that point, and my fiancé was none too pleased with my collection of bikes hogging up all the space in our small condo.
The 7000 had to go. On the morning of January 31, 2010, I rode it to my local Goodwill donation center. I then walked sulked back home thinking of all the great adventures I had with it over the years. Godspeed, old friend.