Forward from the Past

By ADMIN 0 Comments

by David Cohen
Maryland National Capital Park Police Reserve Unit, Montgomery County Division

Photo: Bike 904 and the Seized Bike (MNC Park Police)

In March of 2019, I was asked to help survey the 22 patrol bikes in my department’s inventory. I had only recently been given the responsibility of the maintaining the five bikes in the Ranger/Volunteer program, but the bike officer in charge realized that an extra set of eyes would be helpful.

As the bike officer and I were taking stock of the bikes, Bike 904 was placed on the stand. (In Park Police nomenclature, the bicycle’s stock number corresponds to the last three digits of the bike’s license number. In Montgomery County, bikes are required to be registered and display a license sticker). I couldn’t believe what I was looking at: while on the one hand it was your typical, ubiquitous Trek Police Bike, on the other, it stood out. This particular bike was equipped with cantilever brakes, a seven-speed drivetrain, threaded headset and a rigid fork. By anyone’s standards, this bike was obsolete. As we delved a bit deeper into the condition of the bike, we could have added “beyond economical repair” to describe its overall condition. Generally, once the department makes that determination, the bike goes off to the recyclers.

However, anyone who knows me, or has at least read my articles, realizes that I have a penchant for taking on personal projects involving the restoration of various types of vehicles. The thought that this was a surviving example of one of the earliest iterations of the Trek Police Bike piqued my interest. I put in a request for this bike to be preserved for historical purposes. As usual, it took quite a bit of time for the request to make its way through the departmental bureaucracy, but much to my surprise and delight, the request was approved. Not only was it approved, but I was also given two more Trek Police bikes that, although they were somewhat newer, they were still deemed obsolete and beyond economic repair. I set the two other bikes aside and went at Bike 904.

A Little Bit of History

With the rebirth of the public safety cycling in the 1980s, several manufacturers began marketing public safety-specific bicycles. In most cases, these were civilian mountain bikes given black paint jobs, white POLICE decals, and a non-ratcheting rear hub. Trek was no exception. While Trek had marketed an aluminum-frame mountain bike as early as 1985, their first police bikes were based on the steel Trek 920. In the mid-90s, Trek expanded their police bike offerings by adding an aluminum-frame option based on their Trek 7000 mountain bike.

Like many departments, the Maryland-National Capital Park Police had experimented with bicycle patrols in the 1970s utilizing the existing technology of the time, and like many departments, they found motorized vehicles such as scooters to be the better option. The department began experimenting with bicycle patrols again after having seized a purple Trek 7000 mountain bike during the arrest of a drug dealer in one of the local parks. The bike was tuned up and quickly brought up to a reasonable police bike standard with the addition of a rear rack and other on-bike equipment. With the Trek 7000 now working for the good guys, and the concept of bicycle patrols proven effective, the department ordered two Trek police bicycles from a local bicycle shop.

Bike 904 was one of those two bicycles. It was originally assigned to Officer Kerry Dempsey, who worked in the Community Services Section. The bicycle and Community Services proved to be a good match, and the bike saw considerable duty, from bike rodeos and community events to patrolling hiker/biker trails. Upon Officer Dempsey’s retirement, the bike passed through a number of other officers’ hands before being relegated to wallflower status. For some unknown reason, it was still kept in the inventory despite being largely obsolete by the year 2000, let alone 2019.

904’s story is rather uncommon. Most police bikes were used for their intended purposes and sent off to recyclers once their service days were over. A few were stripped of their police gear and markings and sold as surplus, but almost none of them were preserved for historical purposes. Bike 904 inexplicably survived for almost 25 years. While built when the modern public safety bike renaissance was well underway, 904 is an excellent example of a first-generation public safety bicycle. As such, it provides us with perspective on just how far public safety cycling has moved forward from the past.

Teardown, Cosmetics, Reassembly

The first step of a bike restoration project is to take the bike apart, all the way down to the frame. This provides a solid assessment of what can be salvaged and what needs to be replaced. Overall, 904 was in pretty decent shape. The tires were brand new – they still had the little rubber tags – and the tubes held air. The cables and cable housings were shot, and the brake pads needed replacement.

What surprised me the most was that the bearing race for the top part of the threaded headset was integral to the frame. I had not seen that before; on most other bikes, the threaded headset utilizes bearing cups. Removing the cables from the first-generation grip shifters was much more difficult than it needed to be.

One thing was clear – whoever rode this bike after Officer Dempsey must have been a fairly large individual with a rather poor riding technique, preferring to mash the pedals in a high gear rather than spinning. The wear on the middle chainring on the front was worse than what I’d seen when I used to ride singlespeed. One of the cogs of gear #6 was snapped off, the chain had an unmistakable twist in it, and the left side pedal would not come out of the crankarm, despite my trying every trick in the book, from breaker bars to a butane torch.

Certain parts, like the bottom bracket and the rear hub, were in surprisingly good shape. It goes to show you that these early sealed bearing units did what they were designed to do. Curiously, the front hub did not preserve as well and rolled very roughly.

Cosmetically, the bike was in fairly decent shape, though the paint was chipped in places and the decals were all torn up. I was able to touch-up the chipped paint, and I ordered replacement “TREK” decals from a vintage decal supplier. I made my own “POLICE” decals using a stenciling machine. Finally, I wet-sanded and clear-coated the entire frame to preserve the original finish.

After addressing the cosmetics, I began to tackle the rebuilding process. This was a true nut-and-bolt restoration. Every part was cleaned and refreshed, and slowly, Bike 904 began looking like a bicycle again. One of the hardest tasks was plumbing the rear derailleur cable through the Grip Shift. It had to be run through the shifter in a very precise way to work. This eventually necessitated the removal of the handlebar grip so I could fully disassemble the Grip Shift pod and plumb the cable properly.

The balance of the rebuild was fairly routine. I serviced the front hub so it rolled smoothly, trued the wheels, and straightened out the twist in the chain. I installed new cables and cable housings and put new brake shoes in place.

Specifications

A lot of the components are similar, at least in name, to those on newer public safety bicycles, such as the Shimano Deore XT rear derailleur, Shimano Deore LX front derailleur, and Shimano hubs on Bontrager rims. You can find the latest iterations of these components on modern bikes. The tires are Trek Connection, part of their Matrix setup of wheels and tires. They are a very skinny 1.6 inches wide, only 0.1 wider than the slick tires I use on one of my old hardtails that I converted to a pavement/gravel bike. The main difference in the wheelset is that the rear hub had the standard bolt-on wheel, not a quick-release hub. That would come back to haunt me on one of the bike’s shakedown rides when the wheel came loose and I had no means to tighten it back up with the tools that I normally carry with me.

The differences in the components do highlight technological advancements. Nowhere is this more evident than in the brakes. Bike 904 came from the factory with cantilever pull brakes. Cantilevers were an evolution of the center-pull calipers that were popular on many higher end 10-speed bikes, but with a simpler mechanism. The theory behind the cantilever brakes was sound – having both brake shoes engage the rim at the same time. The stopping power was considered decent for its day, but the development of linear pull brakes and disc brakes with their far greater modulation and stopping power soon rendered the cantilever brake obsolete.

The Sugino crankset is a bit of a curiosity. It is your standard mountain triple, but the gearing was up-rated from the standard 22/33/44 to a 24/35/46 to give the bike a bit more on the top end. The cranks are connected to a square taper bottom bracket. The old square taper is a tried- and-true design, and still can be found on many lower to mid-range bikes today. The industry tried to get away from the square taper with the advent of the ISIS splined bottom bracket, which turned out to be a huge misstep. The ISIS splined bottom bracket had a fatal shortcoming in its design that resulted in premature failures of the bottom bracket bearings. So, the industry returned to the good old square taper bottom bracket and then developed the external bearing bottom bracket for higher-end bikes.

The rear cassette is a seven-speed unit. The 11-32 gear spread is still similar, but the jumps between gears are far more noticeable than what you experience with a nine-speed unit. Controlling the derailleurs are SRAM Grip Shifts. The Grip Shift was a response to those who found trigger-shifters confusing. In 1996, Grip Shifts were still a relatively new technology, and it shows. While the shifts were accurate, the shifters feel very heavy and clumsy compared to modern Grip Shifts, let alone trigger-shifters or electronic shifters.

Up in the front, the chromoly fork is attached to the frame via a threaded headset. Threaded headsets are still used on some lower-end bikes, but they certainly lack the smoothness of a threadless headset. All of this attaches to a flat handlebar equipped with bar ends. Bike 904 was built at a time when the industry felt a narrow flat bar was preferable. Out of all the differences between the generations, the narrow hand position is probably the hardest adjustment for me to make. It is very uncomfortable compared to the wider spear of the riser bars that are standard on a modern public safety bike. However, the bar ends do allow you to move your hands around rather than having to maintain any one particular position for an extended length of time.

…And in this Corner

For comparison’s sake, I rolled out my 2009 Trek 6500. While the 6500 is more than a decade old, it does represent the ultimate development of the 26-inch hardtail mountain bike. At that time, manufacturers began focusing more on their 29-inch and 27.5 inch offerings. This particular 6500 was upgraded with a lighter wheelset, tubeless tires and external bearing bottom bracket and crankset. I installed a Topeak Beam Rack to carry my trunk bag.

I purchased this bike specifically for my work as a volunteer with the Maryland-National Capital Park Police. When I joined in 2007, volunteers had to supply their own bicycles. I initially rode a 1998 Klein Pulse Comp as well as a 2005 Trek Fuel 70. As I got more experience as a volunteer, I began developing a set of specifications that I felt were necessary for a patrol bicycle. When I plugged in all the features I wanted – hardtail, hydraulic disc brakes and front suspension – the 6500 most closely met the specifications, at least out of the bikes carried by my local bike shop. I was somewhat pleased to discover that the bike I had spec’d out was almost identical to the “official” public safety bike offerings.

Tale of the Tape

Here’s how the bikes stacked up against each other:

Year: 1996 2009

Weight: 28.5 29.5

(Includes rack, kickstand, bell and two water bottle cages)

Top Tube: 22.5 21.0

Clearance: 11.0 11.5

Wheelbase: 41.0 41.5

Chain Stay: 16.5 17.0

Reach: 28.0 25.5

(Top of seat tube to center of handlebars)

Bar Height: 40.5 41.5

I’ll have to admit; I was surprised the 1996 bike tipped the scales lighter than the 2009 bike. I would imagine that is attributable to the additional weight of the front suspension fork. While the wheelbases are within a half inch of each other, the 1996 bike feels longer, with a top tube that is 1.5 inches longer and a reach that is 2.5 inches longer. Ground clearance is slightly higher on the 2009 bike, and the chain stay is slightly longer.

While the bikes are fairly similar, the components present a starker contrast. The two biggest changes are the hydraulic disc brakes and the front suspension fork. In terms of performance, there is simply no comparison between the cantilever brakes and hydraulic discs in terms of modulation and stopping power.

The front suspension fork is certainly an improvement over the rigid fork. It is interesting that, on the 1996 model, the bike frame is aluminum but the fork is chromoly. It appears Trek’s engineers knew that an aluminum rigid fork would be far too stiff for public safety riding. The 2009 6500 came equipped with the Rock Shox Toro SL, your typical elastomer shock with a very reasonable 100 mm of travel, and a very easy to adjust preload dial to lock out the fork when on pavement or climbing.

Drivetrain is a bit of a wash. The 2009 has nine speeds and a wider 11-34 gear spread; the componentry is virtually identical with Shimano Deore XT. Having the additional gears does make for smoother gear transitions. The trade-off is that the nine-speed chain is narrower and cannot withstand the kind of abuse a wider chain can tolerate. I would imagine that the heavyweight assigned to 904 would have easily snapped the nine-speed chain.

Front and rear derailleurs are controlled by Shimano Deore LX “Mega 9” trigger shifters. I’ve found the Shimano trigger shifters to be very smooth and accurate in their operation, although they have been known to wear out, particularly on the front derailleur. The shifters are far more smooth and precise than the clumsy, early-model Grip Shifts on the 1996 bike.

The 2009 bike was originally equipped with a Shimano Octolink bottom bracket and crankset. The Octolink was Shimano’s version of the ISIS splined bottom bracket, a technological wrong turn. I replaced the Octolink with a SRAM X7 external bottom bracket unit. The X7 is very smooth and rugged and, in theory, is a stiffer crankset than one with a cassette type bottom bracket. In all honesty, I can’t really feel the difference. However, I am sure this type of unit would be more capable of withstanding the kind of high-torque strain larger riders place on the drivetrain.

The wheelsets are both Bontrager wheels with Shimano hubs. They both operate quite smoothly. I opted for the lighter Bontrager Race Lite Tubeless wheelset instead of the stock one. The rubber is Maxxis LUST 2.1 tires, which makes the 1996 bike look knock-kneed on its very narrow 1.6 tires. I’ve run tubeless tires on this bike and my previous Trek Fuel. I’m really on the fence on this one. I definitely see the advantages of tubeless tires: wider footprint, better traction, ability to run lower tire pressures with less chance of a pinch flat.

However, I have also encountered situations in which the tubeless tires did go flat, even with sealant in the tire, and I have been unable to effectively repair them. Weighing that against the ease with which a bicycle tube can be changed in almost any situation, plus the need to add sealant every 6 to 12 months, I opted to go with tubed tires when I purchased my 29er. I don’t regret the decision.

So, having analyzed the differences between the two bikes, it was time to take them out into the world.

Road Testing

The 1996 bike got the first nod. As noted previously, I found the riding position somewhat awkward because of the very narrow grip. The bar ends were somewhat helpful, but the reach was too far for my 5’6” physique to use them comfortably. If the frame size was 16”, the long reach may have been less of a problem. Raising the stem and increasing the angle of the bar ends did help somewhat.

Once I got accustomed to the hand position of the narrow grip, the bicycle offered a pleasant ride. It was very stable, cornered well, and could be pushed past 20 miles per hour without feeling any significant under-steer. It remained very stable and controllable over bumpy surfaces. While the lack of a suspension fork transmitted more of shock of the bumps to the rider, the chromoly fork did a surprisingly good job of absorbing much of the shock and chatter. The narrow 1.6 tires moved the bike along at a fairly quick pace. Shifting was certainly clumsier than on a modern bike and double shifting (simultaneously shifting front and rear chainrings) was more difficult to accomplish.

Up to that point, despite its age, the 1996 bike would still be considered a viable public safety bicycle. However, the bike truly shows its age and obsolescence in the braking. For someone used to riding disc brake-equipped bikes, mechanical or hydraulic, downgrading to the cantilever brakes is downright scary. The reach for the brake levers seemed excessive. They weren’t right where you want them to be. Modulation wasn’t terrible, but the braking power is a fraction of that of a disc brake-equipped bike. Even linear- pull brakes are a significant improvement upon the cantilevers.

I found myself having to initiate braking at nearly double the distance when compared to a disc brake-equipped bike to come to a routine stop. Maximum braking situations would probably more often lead to having to take evasive action because of the shorter stopping distances. While I’m fairly certain that most departments no longer have cantilever brake-equipped bikes in the inventory, if there happens to be one lingering, I would not ride it. If removing the bike from service is not an option, then, at a minimum, an upgrade to linear-pull brakes is essential.

The 2009 bike reflects many of the lessons learned over the intervening years. The narrow bars have given way to larger riser bars with a slight rearward sweep. The result is a more upright riding position, and a wider, more comfortable hand position. The bar ends are history, but are not really needed with such a wide bar, though many riders enjoy ergonomic grips.

Like the earlier bike, the 2009 has very pleasant riding characteristics. It is more agile and responsive to the rider’s inputs, partially the result of better frame geometry and partially due to the wider grip, which allows more leverage. Under-steer is almost non-existent until you reach much higher speeds, and is easier to overcome with body lean and handlebar input.

The geometry of the more recent bike enables a more upright riding position; the shorter reach measurements make for a more compact cockpit area. The front shock adds weight up front, but it also provides a lot more comfort to the rider, even when fully locked out. If I was spending more time off-road, I’d probably want a higher-end, lighter pneumatic shock, but this does well for the majority of situations I encounter. The larger 2.1 tires also make for a more “plush” ride, trading away only a slight increase in rolling resistance.

Shifts throughout the entire gear range were crisp and smooth. Having the extra two teeth on the rear cog enabled much easier middle chainring climbs, with a 33:34 ratio versus the 35:32 ratio that was the best middle-ring combo on the 1996 bike. The slight disadvantage at top end was barely perceptible between 44:11 and 46:11, perhaps because the 2.1 tires had a slightly taller profile than the 1.6s, which could negate any gear advantage.

If we compare the top end gearing, the higher gear of the 1996 bike would yield a 15-inch advantage per rotation of the crank. At a 100 RPM pace for 60 seconds, that translates into a 12.5 foot advantage. Conversely, though, the 2009 bike has the much deeper low gear at 22:34 versus 24:32, which facilitates improved slow speed/steep climbing/heavy load operation.

Where the 2009 bike really shines is in its brakes. Quite simply, there are no braking systems for bicycles that are as effective as hydraulic disc brakes. Stops are quick, smooth and well-controlled. The shorter stopping distances reduce the need for a maximum braking. However, should the need arise, max braking stops can be accomplished in remarkably short distances. Should the wheel lock under such conditions, skids are fairly easily to control.

Hydraulic brakes do have their downside. A properly aligned rotor is essential for the disc brakes to be most effective (see Gears & Gadgets, June 2019, “The Most Annoying Sound” on the IPMBA website). The need for brake bleeding is perhaps the biggest downside to hydraulic disc brakes. It is not an adjustment that can be made in the field, and often requires a trip to the bike shop unless you are familiar with the process. Brake bleeding done incorrectly can exacerbate the problems with the brakes, and sometimes render them completely useless. Routine maintenance is a must.

Cable-operated disc brakes tend to be a good “halfway house” between the stopping power of the hydraulic discs, and the relative ease of maintenance of cable-actuated rim brakes. The only disadvantages are a loss in power and modulation compared to hydraulic disc brakes and the need to set up the brake caliper properly to ensure clearance between the rotor and brake pads.

If there is one seriously annoying aspect to the 2009 bike, it is the placement of the water bottle cage. Trek’s frame design makes for a very short seat tube – too short for a water bottle cage. Their answer was to put the water bottle cage on the underside of the down tube. This makes it hard to reach while the bike is in motion, and exposes it to whatever detritus gets kicked up by the front tire. I suppose this is still a better option than doing away with the water bottle cage altogether.

In Summary

The public safety bike has certainly evolved, and continues to do so. Some changes, such as the difference between the square taper bottom bracket and the external bearing bottom bracket are quite subtle. Other changes, most notably the brakes, represent huge advances in technology.

The 1996 Trek Police Bike surprised me in many ways. It was comfortable and responsive. With modifications to its drivetrain, handlebars and especially its brakes, it could still be a viable public safety bike. However, the cost of such upgrades would not be economically feasible, particularly on the 26-inch wheel platform, which has largely given way to 27.5- and 29-inch wheel bicycles. As it stands, it is a pretty fair testimonial to the design of the public safety bicycle. There’s not a single aspect of the bike that could have used improvement that bike designers did not act upon.

The 2009 Trek 6500, with a few aftermarket modifications, is truly the product of Trek addressing the shortcomings of the 1996 Trek police bike. With the exception of the water bottle cage placement, every aspect of this bicycle is an improvement over the 1996 bike. Despite being more than 10 years old, the 6500 accurately represents the pinnacle of the evolution of the 26-inch public safety bicycle. Other than perhaps going to a single front chain ring system (whose benefits are debatable, see Gears & Gadgets, April 2019) and an air suspension shock, there really is no need for any further upgrades.

The evolution of the public safety bicycle continues. Once the 26er had reached its ultimate development, manufacturers began focusing first on 29ers and then on 27.5-inch wheel bikes, bringing a whole different set of design and riding characteristics. Now, we’re seeing the addition of electric power to the equation.

However, we must never lose sight of the fact that the evolution of the public safety bike began with the basic building blocks, and early police bikes such as the 1996 Trek Police Bike helped move public safety cycling Forward from the Past.

David Cohen is a 12-year volunteer with the Maryland-National Capital Park Police. When he isn’t riding or tinkering with bicycles, David can be found tinkering with vintage cars or World War II airplanes. An avid historian, David enjoys researching and writing as well. He can be reached at onyxsax@aol.com.

Photo courtesy David Cohen.

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