Finding used bike parts on the cheap: Trek 2100 road bike build

Every now and then fates align in the bike build world. You reach out into the ether and manage to pull out exactly what you need in one or two grasps. Like stumbling into the lost Garden of Eden everything you need is yours for the taking. All you need to do is drop what you’re doing, arrange a meetup and be the first one there to get it. Chances are someone else’s disembodied hands are also blindly feeling around in the ether and it’s your job to make sure fate doesn’t suddenly favor them instead of you. Enter the Trek 2100 road bike build.

Cheap used bike parts

I experienced such an occasion the other weekend when browsing Facebook marketplace. I came across a listing for a complete Shimano 1056 groupset including wheels for $125. Another bike builder had gotten a wild hair to replace their Trek 2300 with a modern 10 speed groupset leaving me a full Shimano 105 8 speed groupset for cheap, god bless him. He even showed me pictures of his new candy red fork. What a guy.

The Shimano 1055 and 1056 series, more commonly known as Shimano 105 introduced 7 speed and later an 8 speed rear cassette and STI shifting to the 105 line in 1990 before being discontinued in 1998.

An even cheaper used bike frame

As the parts lay safely in my trunk, I began to search for a frame to mount them to. While browsing Craigslist I found a Trek 2120 frame for $60. What luck, an old soul in Berkeley had this frame listed for the better part of a month. After chatting with him briefly he told me it had been sitting in his bike shed for years. He invited me back to his bike cave to browse other parts for to buy but I told him what I just told you about the complete 105 groupset I had just purchased and we agreed no such bike cave tour was required.

The Trek 2120 is an aluminum lugged frame with carbon tubes glued in. This was a radical idea in the 90’s and was the beginning of carbon bike design. Even today specialized uses aluminum lugs and carbon tubes to create rapid prototypes for testing their race bikes.

While the frame and fork had some wear the carbon tubes looked good and were still solidly glued into the lugs. I handed the man his money and introduced the Trek 2120 frame to the Shimano 1050 groupset in the dark confines of my trunk.

Cheap new parts for the Trek 2100 Carbon zx series

While the bulk of the bike was all there, a few parts were still missing, and these bits I preferred to buy new. All of the touch points and high wear items like tires, chain, saddle, bar tape, and cables aren’t things you should be buying used. As for the seat post, I could have sourced a used one but it was easier to have it shipped to me and cost savings was negligible.

How much did this budget bike build cost?

All in this bike has only cost me $306.14. That’s pretty good value for a road bike and while not the most modern, it is very high quality compared to cheaper made components that are included with any bike under $1000. Not to mention a better build spec than anything you would find for $300. Oh and did I mention this bike weighs 20 pounds?

My Trek 2100 Carbon ZX with Shimano 1056

This bike build is what we all dream of. Parts easily acquired, very little expenditure of money and resources. Pieces of bike history reunited and put back on the road, quickly and tastefully. I may ride this for a bit as a fast errand bike or flat land rocket. Admittedly the gearing is a bit large for me to seriously ride up hill. With the easiest gear being a 28-39 I’m a bit week in the quads to spin that up my local hill climb. It will probably be up for sale in the coming months as fate allows.

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Do you have a Trek 2100 series? Tell me about it in the comments.