The latest Y bike to join the collection.
Until recently, the 1995 Y22 wasn't high on my wish list, but having
seen a couple of them, and having had the pleasure of storing one for a
friend, I could see
why so many people like the colour of this model. So, in September
2007 I bought a medium size one off eBay for $457 from Washington State.
That was an excellent price to pay. These days Y bike prices are dropping
rapidly compared to when I first started collecting these bikes in 2004.
Anyone purchasing a 95 Y22 now shouldn't be paying more than about $550
unless there's something exceptional about the bike.
The latest Y bike to join the collection.
Unfortunately, I had to wait quite a long time to get it to Australia.
I fact it didn't get here until April 2008. The container doesn't leave
California until it's full...and "full" means there's a car in the container.
And as no one was bring a car into Australia, I had to wait.
Once I'd got it home I was pleased to see it had been well packed and
everything was there. As far as I could see, it was all stock standard,
except for the stem which had been replaced by a Forte Team 6061. I shouldn't
really be surprised as Trek seem to like putting long stems onto these
bikes. The frame was good with only minor scratches. Unfortunately, there
was a new gouge from the cassette digging into the frame while in transit.
Luckily it was only small and doesn't detract from this bike's good looks.
So, to anyone packing a bike, make sure all gears are covered so they don't
gouge the frame.
The three cables for the gears and rear brake all pass down the
left side. This was done up until the 1998 models and it does tend to put
a slight bias on the steering.
Clipless pedals had been supplied, but I didn't use them. Instead, on
went a pair of Shimano PDM550's which I'd had stored away for just an occasion
like this.
These are pretty much the same as the PDM735's which I've installed
on some of my other bikes. I also had a set of the correct Y bike bottle
cage mounts that attach to the seat post, so these were fitted along with
a Trek bottle cage.
My first bike with cantilever brakes.
Initially I just rode it up and down the street to see that all was well. First thing evident was the tyres had a lot of friction on the road but that was hardly surprising given the deepness of the tread. One of the things I like about Grip Shift gears is that the indexing isn't critical like the Shimano Rapid Fire system, and so the gears proved to be in correct adjustment on this bike. This was also the first Trek I've had with cantilever brakes. Quite a classic thing to have these days and it really shows this is a pioneering bike in technology. I got the impression their stopping power wasn't as good as V brakes.
Gripshifters were worn at the edge of the grips; most of the rubber
is missing and it can get a bit sore on the hands as there's hard plastic
protrusions underneath.
Not sure what the story is with the indicators...the arrow points
to nothing.
Despite the appearance of not having had much riding, I was surprised at the wear on the grip shifters where you actually rotate the shifter. All the rubber was worn away making it less than comfortable to have one's hands close to the shifter mechanism as the plastic bits beneath dig in. There is no visual indication of what gear you're in either. I'm not sure if this was on the worn away rubber part, but the arrow points to where it usually is on other shifters, and there's nothing there.
Classic Rock Shox Judy.
The first real ride was out to Faulconbridge Point, which is a very scenic lookout with spectacular views of the eastern part of the Grose Valley. Most of the ride is very easy with minimal hills. The Y22 went well. Despite the tyres, it actually rode very well on the highway down to Faulconbridge. The one obvious thing about this bike is how light it is. With the very rapid and concise gear changes (24 speed), it is also very nimble like the Y5 and has good acceleration. The handling was good and I felt in control at all times...except for the brakes. There's no danger in locking them up and flying over the bars. After riding with V brakes for the last seven years, it was quite a change to pull on the brakes and feel like they're quite ineffective. But, the bike does stop in the end! The key is to realise this and allow sufficient time.
The Fox Alps 4 rear shock is of the air type. At the
right edge of the pic about halfway up you can see the gouge in the paint
from the unprotected cassette rubbing on the frame in the box.
The other thing needed to be done was to reduce the air pressure in
the rear shock. With my light weight of 65kg, it wasn't doing much; obviously
the previous owner was much heavier. However, it was good to see the pressure
so high after eight months, and who knows how long before that it was pumped
up. No need to worry about leaks in this shock!
As far as fit goes, the stem does need to be lengthened. I did end
up with bad shoulder pain after this ride. Having measured the large size
98 Y33 which is a perfect fit, it seems that I need another 50mm.
Components fitted:
Handlebars System Components 6061 aluminium
Grips ODI
Brake levers Dia Compe Power Control 7
Shifters Gripshift
Brakes Shimano STX RC Cantilever
Fork Rock Shox Judy XC
Rear shock Fox Alps 4 air shock
Pedals Shimano PDM550 cage pedals
Rear derailleur Shimano Deore XT
Front derailleur Shimano Deore LX
Chainrings Shimano Hyperdrive C
Rear hub Parallax
Front hub System Components
Rims Matrix VooDoo
Tyres Tioga Psycho K
Seatpost System Components
Seat Bontrager
Headset Aheadset
Stem
was 100mm Forte team 6061, now 130mm Bontrager
Prior to the second ride I took measurements from one of my large frame
bikes that fitted me perfectly. I did this to ascertain the cause of the
shoulder pain problem experienced on this Y22 and to a lesser extent the
96 Y33.
I drew up a chart showing the measurements of the 98 Y33 (large) and
the 95 Y22 (medium) so I could see exactly where the problem points might
be.
As it turned out, there was a difference in the reach which was quite
considerable. The Forte stem fitted was 100mm, yet I needed another 50mm.
Just because I already had it spare, I replaced the Forte with the Bontrager
that was originally on my Y5. On the Y5 it was way too long and was causing
me pain so I replaced it with an identical but shorter Bontrager. This
made the Y5 a joy to ride and transformed it into a really nice bike. With
the old Bontrager now on the Y22, I had another 30mm reach. What a difference
that made! The second ride was to Murphy's Glen at Woodford and has a very
steep hill of about 1km coming out of the camping area. There was no shoulder
pain.
So I have come to the conclusion that for medium frames to fit me,
I need a 130mm stem (assuming flat bars). It is an unfortunate part of
being so tall and thin that bike fit is so critical for me. Most
people can just get on any bike and ride it for miles; I've got to stuff
around and get the frame geometry to within 20mm otherwise it causes pain
during any reasonable length ride.
