Ten years ago when I started cycling the first bike I bought was a Trek 4300, an entry-level mountain bike. That bike served me well for a few years, but as my cycling skills improved I bought more expensive bikes and the Trek 4300 became my winter bike—since it was an inexpensive bike I didn’t care that road salt would eventually destroy all the components. This past winter the local bike shop custom-built one bike for me and entirely rebuilt two of my other bikes. After spending so much time in the bike shop I finally decided I would try to rebuild the Trek 4300 myself.
My Trek 4300 Mountain Bike After The Parts Were Stripped
With the help of the guys at the bike shop I bought all new parts for the rebuild. The only items that did not need replacing were the wheels. I have two sets of wheels for this bike anyway—one with snow tires and the other with aggressive knobby tires. Since the Trek 4300 was an entry-level bike it came with fairly inexpensive parts, but the aluminum frame has a lifetime warranty. When I did the rebuild I decided to move a few levels up the Shimano product line for most of the parts so I would end up with a better bike than I had to begin with.
Before you can start rebuilding a bike you have to remove all the old parts first. Since this bike had suffered through ten Chicago winters it is not surprising that all the parts were highly corroded. When I took the old parts off the bike I kept the cable housings so I could cut new housings to the same size. The hardest thing to get off the bike was the city sticker—the town I live in requires all bikes to have a sticker to help the police find the owner in case of theft. I am not sure what the sticker was made of, but it took me over an hour to get it off the bike! Once all the old parts were off I used Turtle Wax Premium Grade Rubbing Compound on the frame to remove scratches in the paint and Brasso metal polish to clean the chrome. After everything was clean I applied a good coat of Turtle Wax Super Hard Shell Paste Wax and the frame looked like new!
One item that I was not able to get off the bike was the bottom bracket—ten years of road salt made it very difficult to remove, so I had the guys at the bike shop replace it for me. The bike shop has a bottom bracket tool that can apply a lot more leverage than I was able to apply. They put on a maintenance free Shimano BB-UN55 Bottom Bracket with sealed bearings and a high quality spindle that should last for many years.
The first thing I put on the bike was a new Shimano 9 Speed Alivio Mountain Bicycle Crankset (175mm 44/32/22T). This crankset came with a chain guard and is much lighter than the set I had on before. The next items installed were a pair of Shimano Acera V-Brakes—the mud guard on these brakes was another nice improvement from the original brake set. The drivetrain was upgraded with a Shimano FD-M412 Alivio Dual Front Derailleur and a Shimano Alivio M410-SGS Rear Derailleur. I hooked the derailleurs up to a pair of Shimano Alivio 3×8 Brake/Shift Levers and put on a new SRAM PC-850 P-Link Bicycle Chain. The total cost for all the parts to this point was a little under $300.
There were three other items I added that were not absolutely necessary, but I thought were nice finishing touches. Even though the shifters came with a new set of cables, I decided to swap out the Shimano derailleur cables for a pair of Gore Ride-On Sealed Low Friction Derailleur Cables—these cables were the most expensive part of the rebuild, but since this bike is used for bad weather I think it is a good investment. Since this bike is used a lot in the winter I replaced to stem cap with a StemCAPtain Stem Cap Thermometer. The last item was a Lizard Skins Jumbo Chainstay Guard—a neoprene cover that fits over the chainstay to keep the paint from chipping and stop the noise caused by chain slaps. These last three items added around $100 to the cost of the rebuild.
Trek 4300 after the rebuild (on the shores of Lake Michigan)
Like most cyclists I enjoy riding and believe that bike repair is best done by trained professionals. One of the reasons I wanted to do this rebuild myself was for my education. Rebuilding a bike will teach you a lot about basic bicycle mechanics and once you do it you will feel a lot more confident about making a roadside repair when your bike breaks down 40 miles away from home.
I purchased all the parts for this rebuild from the local bike shop. I could have saved a few dollars by buying the parts online, but the local bike shop was very helpful in making sure I had the right parts. If you are one of those people who finds the parts you want at a local store and then buys them online to save money, well, I think you are lower than pond scum. The bike shop was even kind enough to give my rebuilt bike “the once over” to ensure that everything was installed properly (it was).
Chatter Master
April 6, 2012 at 8:08 AM
A thing of beauty!
All Seasons Cyclist
April 6, 2012 at 5:24 PM
Thank you!
Chatter Master
April 6, 2012 at 5:59 PM
You’re welcome!
RichardB1001
April 6, 2012 at 8:15 AM
Great project description. This is a keeper.
All Seasons Cyclist
April 6, 2012 at 5:26 PM
I am already wanting do rebuild another bike, but all of mine are now in perfect condition. Maybe I need to go to the bike auction our local Police Dept. has every year and pick up a couple of “winter projects.”
billgncs
April 6, 2012 at 9:05 AM
always wanted to do that, maybe I will now.
All Seasons Cyclist
April 6, 2012 at 5:26 PM
It’s really not that hard is you take your time and read the directions on ow to install the parts.
MikeandJordanAdventure
April 26, 2012 at 9:18 PM
Me Too! Gratefully my bike is almost brand new, but after I put a couple thousand miles on it I’d love to learn how to break it down and rebuild it!
bgddyjim
April 6, 2012 at 9:11 AM
Youre being too cruel to pond scum in your description of cheap b******s who take advantage of a shop.
I buy everything from my shop.
Other than that it was an awesome post.
All Seasons Cyclist
April 6, 2012 at 5:27 PM
bgddyjim, since this is a “family friendly” site I decided to exercise some restraint!
bgddyjim
April 6, 2012 at 5:31 PM
Good point.
Cherry
April 6, 2012 at 9:30 AM
Great job! Now you are an expert. You are very lucky to have found such a helpful and knowledgeable bike shop!! There doesn’t seem to be one in my city.
All Seasons Cyclist
April 6, 2012 at 5:29 PM
Cherry, every time I travel to a new town I like to visit the local bike shop — most of them are rather depressing. I am very fortunate to live about five minutes away from a great shop.
hughonabike
April 6, 2012 at 10:34 AM
I did the same with my old Univega. Stripped the paint off and sanded and polished the frame Converted it to run Magura disc brakes and upped to 9 speed lx/slx stuff. Sourced the bits from LBSs and Web shops around the globe. I found the project strangely therapeutic! I don’t know how much the spend was…….best not to go there, but I’m very pleased with the end result………..Now I’m looking for another project…….!
All Seasons Cyclist
April 6, 2012 at 5:30 PM
I think the word “therapeutic” pretty much describes the whole process — I actually enjoyed it a lot.
tuckamoredew
April 6, 2012 at 1:40 PM
Nice job! I felt guilty when I retired my trusty first commuting bike and later rebuilt it as a winter bike.
All Seasons Cyclist
April 6, 2012 at 5:31 PM
tuckamoredew, now that the bike looks and rides so nice I almost don’t want to take it back out in the snow (but I will).
scorpioscott
April 6, 2012 at 3:37 PM
I today picked up a Kona Nunu for £20.00 that I spotted advertised for sale out front a house I was riding by. It’s a little unloved but all the wear is cosmetic, I plan to rebuild it, just as you have done here to give a bike for leisure.
All Seasons Cyclist
April 6, 2012 at 5:32 PM
scorpioscott, you never can have too many bikes!
scorpioscott
April 7, 2012 at 1:58 AM
Try telling my wife that. Between our whole family, we now have 10!
matthewkeay
April 9, 2012 at 4:54 AM
Nice
I have a trek 4300 as my current mountain bike and its probably well overdue some love like this. Will definitely give this a try when I get round to upgrading it.
All Seasons Cyclist
April 9, 2012 at 12:00 PM
It’s really not that hard to do and I actually enjoyed the whole process.
Matt
January 19, 2013 at 10:42 PM
What size bb was that? 68x ?
All Seasons Cyclist
January 20, 2013 at 12:08 AM
Matt, to the best of my memory, the bottom bracket shell measures 73mm and is square tapered fit.
Jay Chindananta
February 17, 2013 at 7:03 PM
thank you so much for doing this blog as I have picked up the same bike and am going to rebuild it with many of the same parts you used. The part numbers were a great help! Would you make a recommendation for a tire and wheel upgrade?
All Seasons Cyclist
February 18, 2013 at 1:57 PM
I use Bontrager H4 Hard-Case tires on this bike (reviewed at: http://wp.me/p1sFbY-1d6 )
I bought an extra set of rims for this bike for my snow tires (it is a lot easier to just slip on a a new wheelset than to just change the tires since I might have to swap them out several times each season).
KleinRider
March 23, 2013 at 1:51 AM
You mention that the frame has a lifetime warranty. I also have the same frame and I am planning on a rebuild on her as well. I would like to know how to verify or validate the warranty as I picked the frame up from a friend.
All Seasons Cyclist
March 23, 2013 at 9:57 PM
Sorry, Trek’s lifetime warranty on the frame only applies to the original owner
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/support/warranty
Mark Roberts
March 24, 2013 at 6:40 AM
Hi, I am in a similar position where my Trek 4300, purchased new in and about 1998, is in need of a rebuild. I am a novice and looking at purchasing the spares – your list is a great help but there is a few items in mind that I wondered whether you could help me with.
1. My Trek has an 8 gear cassette but I notice that you installed a 9 speed crankset. Was the original an 8 speed but changed it to 9 speed?
2. Can you please advise whether the gear shifters were included (as a set) together with the new Shimano Acera V Brakes.
3. Did the crankset include the “bottom bracket” or did you purchase these separately.
4. I agree and appreciate that the parts were purchased from your local bike shop but it is difficult to acquire these parts from my local bike shop here in Australia so just wondered if you could help out with the websites.
5. Lastly, I notice that the front forks to your bike does not have a rubber boot covering the forks like my bike. Did you remove these or did you upgrade these too?
Thanks again in advance of your reply.
Mark
All Seasons Cyclist
March 24, 2013 at 4:47 PM
Mark, my 4300 came with an 8 gear cassette and I just upgraded to a 9. The gear shifters did NOT come with the brakes (but the did come with cables). The bottom bracket was a separate purchase from the crankset. As for the rubber boots on the front fork — I took mine off because the were cracked — but they are just decorative anyway, so they are really not needed on this bike. As for buying the bike parts, since I am not sure about shipping to Oz, I would try Amazon.com or ebay.com first. By the way, if you will send me your email address I can send you a list of the original parts for this bike (use the “Contact” form at the top of this page).
kruzmeister
April 8, 2013 at 8:53 AM
Wow it looks absolutely amazing!! Congrats on a job well done that was obviously very rewarding! I would love to have my mountain bike upgraded one day, it would be such an achievement to do it myself, but I would need a lot of help from my LBS.
All Seasons Cyclist
April 8, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Surprisingly, it really didn’t take all that long to perform the overhaul — and it really wasn’t that difficult . Of course, reading the directions really helped (something I don’t always do). You don’t have to make all the upgrades at the same time so you could spread the work over several weeks or months.
kruzmeister
April 15, 2013 at 7:34 AM
Would you recommend a book for rebuilding a mountain bike? I’ve decided that once I’ve paid for my Ironman entry in May I’ll be able to upgrade my Giant Rincon, bit by bit. As with your trek, the frame has a life warranty and I’d rather add gradual upgrades to make it more suitable to my type of riding than fork out for a new bike which would probably have less quality parts for what I could afford anyway..
KendrA
May 6, 2013 at 12:48 AM
I would be very interested in hearing if anyone has a recommendation of a book of this sort as well! I’m a noob to all things bike related but want to teach myself by rebuilding a dilapidated Giant Sedona I came across. Just don’t really know where to begin. But this post will be helpful down the road and the bike looks great!
Tony Stark
April 9, 2013 at 10:23 AM
Hey that’s great! The bike looks fantastic, as good as showroom new again!
I noticed you’d stopped by my blog so wanted to check yours out too as cycling is a huge passion of mine. You might have seen that I’m taking part in a 100km cycle ride for charity and the bike I’m using for this is an old but much loved (and oft abused) mountain bike. I haven’t published my post about “The Bike” yet but I’ll give you the sneak preview…
The bike I will be using for the London Nightrider event is an Orange 02 steel framed cross-country mountain bike, the successor to the popular and almost famous “Clockwork Orange”. It has been used for off-roading, work commuting and cycle-touring holidays amongst other things, so it has surely racked up some miles on it. Now that it has been handed to me, and after suffering from some neglect through harsh UK winters, I feel somewhat honoured to attempt to restore it to (at least some of) it’s former glory, as well as adapting more for road touring use.
I am looking forward to doing the work myself as much as possible, and with the ever helpful guidance of my dad and my brother, so that I can learn how to properly service and maintain this and my other bikes in good working order.
All the best!!
All Seasons Cyclist
April 12, 2013 at 10:49 AM
A 100km ride nighttime through the streets of London sounds like fun! I hope you can get your bike in great shape before the event (and make sure you carry a tyre patch kit with you — I’ve seen the streets of London before).
rantsrulesandrecipes
May 9, 2013 at 8:59 PM
I’m so impressed! The hub has an old Gary fisher mtn bike older than the sport maybe he should take a lesson from you!
All Seasons Cyclist
May 9, 2013 at 9:57 PM
One of the best things about rebuilding an old bike is the learning process itself. Later, when a bike breaks down on the road you will know exactly how to fix it.