Originally Posted by
frankrause
Thanks, everyone! I did a quick search for "u-brakes" now that I know what they're called. Sheldon Brown mentioned that they have a tendency to get low and wear through the tire. I checked them out and they were just starting to rub on one side of the tire. Whew! Thanks, bikeforums and Sheldon Brown!
It does have the lowrider mounts on the front fork and the rack braze-ons on the seat stays. I think it was meant as a touring/MTB frame.
The 870 as you see it was a 1 year only model, specifically 1988. Trek hadn't made a steel mountain bike in the US for a few years and made these to get back into it. The front triangles were made on the road jigs--sizes available were weird, 19", 21", and 22.5" IIRC, just like were available in a Trek 420 or 520. It originally had mostly Deore 6S SIS (thumbshifters, of course) but with conventional freewheel hubs having Trek's Matrix house brand on them. The next year Trek brought out the 950/970/990, with a dedicated lugset.
The drop bar setup is probably a great idea!