Touring - retrofitting bikes for credit card touring

I posted this on vintage but am new to the forum and realized this might be better here. (If you saw this on track forum too, forgive me, that was an accident and I can't figure out how to delete it.)

we have two 1980s vintage treks and are trying to figure out whether it makes sense to retrofit them or buy new bikes such as the Rivendell production models. One is a 1982? 600, 531 db main tubes and nice craftmanship include rack braze ons on the upper rear stays. The other is a 1988? "tri series" with even nicer lug work, also 531 db main tubes and chromolly forks and stays, but no rack braze on on upper stays. Frames are in good condition. Should we spend the $500 to $700 per bike to get triple cranks, new gearing, wheels and wider bars with tip shifters. (Shifters now are on downtube) We could even spend another $300 on Joe Bell paint job to get the lug work highlighted and personalize each bike and that would be well below the $2,400 for a complete Rivendell production bike. Our plan is 30-50 mile rides to hotels and b&Bs with loads of not more than 30 lb. Are these old trek frame worth anything on the vintage market? Any thoughts? OCJERRY

There are lots of choices in between that you didn't mention. There are production touring bikes like the Trek 520 or the Cannondale T series. There is also Bruce Gordon (www.bgcycles.com) as an alternative to Rivendell. Since you aren't carrying full loads then there are also lots of road bikes that would make decent light weight touring bikes (Specialized Sequoia, Bianchi Axis cyclocross, etc.). My two cents is to either ride the bikes as they are and add only a rear rack and panniers or to get new bikes.

I don't think is is worthwhile or even neccessary to spiff up the old Treks. These are factory bikes, not custom frames. Do what is neccssary to get them tour-worthy and get riding.
The DT shifter easy, simple and reliable and will work with any transmission setup you care to fit.
If the rims are worn, can you rebuild the hubs? A handbuilt 36spoke wheel is good and you dont need premium components to be reliable.
Small panniers/large saddlebag + a bar bag should suffice esp if you cut your luggage down below 30lbs.
Look at carradice SQR bags for the tri bike or have a pannier fitting brazed on.
Rivendell are nice bikes but very expensive. If you really like them, go ahead but there are more cost effective ways to get a light tourer. You dont need an expedition tourer for credit card style riding.

It's true, you do not need an expedition-ready bike to do credit card touring. If you replace any worn parts and upgrade anything that you may choose to do anyway, the bikes may be perfectly adequate.

If you are careful about what you take, you may find your load is lighter than you imagine. During my last tour, my luggage tipped the scales at about 15 lbs, which is less than I carry when I do a big shopping trip by bike!

You can tour on ANYTHING. Without spending any money.

One young fellow rode across Canada - on a unicycle. (fund raising I think)

If you'd said you wanted to do self-contained touring, the unicycle is likely out but folks have toured across continents on all kinds of oddball vehicles. (20" wheel folding bikes for example) Your bikes sound luxurious by comparison. :)

Brazed-on eyelets are great but there are also a bunch of racks and accessories that clamp onto frame tubes and axles so eyelets aren't a necessity. A Brooks saddle has bag loops for attaching a behind-saddle bag.

A frame bag and a seat bag are good ideas for snacks and toiletries but if you're credit-card touring, you won't need too much. (a Carradice type bag might be enough or maybe you'd want a small set of panniers)

My suggestion: do a few day/weekend trips with a test setup and see if you're missing anything! You don't need to go far - maybe a B&B a few miles away. You'll find out what you're missing or if you've got everything you need.

If you look at http://www.vintage-trek.com/TrekBrochure1983Part1.htm you'll see that the Trek 600 came in a Touring version as the 620.

The wheelbase, frame strength and everything else appears to be of a nature that would allow you to use it for touring with no problems.

Though I would replace the cranks with a triple, put on bar-end shifters (using them in friction mode) and get a Sunrace 13-28 7-speed freewheel.

So adding a rack and low rider, handlebar bag and pannier would give you all the room to carry enough junk to satisfy a newby tourer. After you gain experience you'll learn what you need to carry, what you want to carry and the stuff that you'll never need until you leave it home (such as that freewheel tool.)

Continental still makes some good 27" tires with Gatorskins. One set of those will last you many tours.