Hi, new to the group, names Marty.....Pleasure to have found heaven
:)Well at least the one on earth.

I am a proud owner of a 1997 Y-5 myself......and dang, I was always a
sceptic when it came to Trek, but now I am hooked... Had the bike
since 98, and since did a couple changes, BUT what is certain, the
frame takes a lot of heavy torture, and at the end of a ride, I can
still hear it begging for more.......so since I got it, put about
4500km on the thing.....

As for the URT bushings, I haven't even touched em, but if they are
anything like the rear shock bushings, DO NOT LUBE THEM. They might
be teflon treated, and if you lube them with your grease, they will
die out quicker. Best bet would be to check with a Trek Auth. LBS.
They will set you straight......

Like I said though, I put the frame through 4500km of extreme torture,
and still haven't touched the bushings, and there is absolutely NIL in
the line of slop, so by the sound of it, the bushings will more than
likely outlast the frame itself :)

Cheers

Marty



--- In trekybikes@yahoogroups.com, "John" <cablehack@y...> wrote:
>
> Having clocked up about 450km on the Y5 since I've owned it (previous
> owner has probably done a similar amount of riding), I decided
> to dismantle the rear pivot and check the bushings. Good to see they
> were in pretty good condition. But I did take the opportunity to
> lubricate the bushing while I had it apart...dry bushings don't equate
> with my logic of things mechanical. So, I used some silicon grease as
> that is less likely to react with the alloy or whatever the plastic is
> that the bushings are made of. As these parts are no longer made and I
> want to put off having to make up new ones on the lathe, it's best to
> preserve the originals.
> Since then I've noticed the rear suspension has been far more
> responsive. It's not a placebo effect or wishful thinking either; with
> all the leverage on that URT-frame pivot I wouldn't have thought a dry
> (tight?) bushing would make much difference, but the bike rides and
> handles better for it.
> BTW my new Y22 (newer style frame) should be arriving soon...pics will
> be posted when it gets here.
> One other surprise...the simplicity of the Y design means a lighter
> bike. At 12.5kg it is about 2-2.5kg than most new full suspension
> bikes out there. Can't wait to see how lighter the OCLV frame of the
> Y22 will be.
>