I wanted something more appropriate and mid-90s-ish than the minimally-spoked and semi-aero Shimano RS20 wheels that were on the purple mid-90s Trek. I was unable to find Mavic rainbow-anodized rims with rainbow-Ti spokes and splatted-painted hubs, so I did the next best thing, double the number of spokes. Actually, the more I think about it, the next best thing is not more spokes, but three spokes.  Anyway, what I did get was a set of 36h Mavic Open Pro rims and Ultegra 6600 hubs with DT Swiss Comp spokes and Pro Lock nipples. While it won’t necessarily make up for the extra 66 spokes, the Open Pros do have rainbow-effect stickers that shift from turquoise to violet. In my mind, this falls squarely in the ‘mid-90s-ish’ category.

These wheels are used, but only three months old, built locally and in near-perfect condition. The original owner swapped these wheels off of a cyclocross bike for something tubeless. In any case, I paid less for the wheelset than the hubs alone would have cost new.  I was in the process of gathering parts to build some ‘mid-90s-ish’ wheels when I found these, so I now have a couple of extra Shimano 105 and 600 hubs.  Assuming I can find a nice matching hub for one of them, I’ll likely build some wheels anyway.

As I mentioned, these wheels have a lot of spokes, double the number of spokes that the Shimano RS20 have (36/36 vs 16/20). For those who are good at math(s), feel free to check my arithmetic.  Anyway, despite the 36 extra spokes, the Open Pros only weight 120g more than the RS20s (1980g vs 1860g). I suppose a set of 28/32 spoke Open Pros would have been a little lighter, but not very ‘mid-90s-ish’, and not light enough to matter.

For those concerned about the fate of the Shimano RS20s, don’t worry. They replaced the orignal Alex DA16/generic hub wheels on Rachel’s Sirrus, and cut 460g (that’s slightly over one pound) of weight.  Again, with the use of math(s) you’ll realize that those Alex DA16-based wheels tipped the scales at an authoritative 2320g (slightly under 350 pounds).

Yes, another bike.  This is an Ice Violet 1994 Trek 2120, the carbon and aluminum touring bike with a strange mix of 105 (road) and Deore LX (mountain) components.  According to Trek, mixing road and MTB component groups is a dream come true:

2120 ABT Carbon Performance Touring

If you think performance touring is a contradiction in terms, think again.  This bike can circumnavigate the globe as easily and comfortably as others circumnavigate the block.  That’s because our lightweight bonded carbon frame is far and away the best ride going.  You asked.  We answered.  This is your dream come true.

More in the full 1994 Trek Catalog.

This 2120 originally came with a triple crank, which explains the rear derailleur, and equally odd bar-cons (bar end shifters), which are actually unexplainable.  I’m not particularly fond of bar-cons or triple cranks, so both of these had to go.  The original wheels were in sad shape with broken spokes and some very suspect hard-anodized rims.  I found a pair of Shimano RS20 wheels for about the same price as my tires, so that was an easy fix.  The remainder of the up/downgrades include a 9-speed SRAM PG970 cassette (12-26), 105 Octalink crank (50/39), 105 8-speed down tube shifters, a Flite Ti saddle and some Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX 25mm tires.

Trek’s published weight for the 2120 with the orignal configuration is 10.061kg (22.18 lbs).  My scale isn’t as precise as theirs, but my 8.9kg (19.6 lbs) still wins.

You may have noticed that I have 8-speed shifters and a 9-speed casette.  The drivetrain actually works pretty well in indexed mode, though the friction setting on the shifters is a bit smoother.  At some point I’ll swap the 9-speed cassette for an 8-speed, but there is no rush.

In the mean time, I’m looking forward to riding this on the road and getting the Gunnar back to the dirt.