wicked wrenching customs

Trek dealerships were some of my favourite places to hang out back in the 90's. Besides the house brand, you could get a serious dose of Klein, Fisher and occasionally a Bontrager as well. Klein was at the top of my 'to buy' list, but I had to be a realist, and a second hand Trek was a more viable option.

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Fast forward a few years- I was working as a mechanic for a small shop on Sydney's mid north shore. One of the owners Jeremy, had worked for some very prestigious shops in the Hamptons, NY. He would tell me stories of celebrities that he would sell and fix bikes for, people like Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley. He was a real cool guy, and became somewhat of a mentor to me as he was a very competent mechanic and a naturally good teacher. 

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Jeremy owned two bikes. One was a Bianchi KISS (which stands for Keep It Single Stupid - a great name for a single speed!), and a Trek Y-22. I had desperately been wanting a Y series bike for some time, and this one had pedigree from the Hamptons! I eventually wore Jeremy down and he sold me the bike for $400. I was very happy! It had some great little mods on it. The Magura HS brakes were very powerful, and had some custom machined Altek levers installed that felt great. Jeremy had scribed the line "an Ebony Rivem Stick" into the swing arm...he told me a story about a running joke that was going around the Hamptons at the time, but I can't remember it anymore.