Classic & Vintage - True Temper Tubing?

Hi all.
I have a 1989 Trek 520 with True Temper tubing. I think this was the first year Trek used True Temper rather Reynolds 531 for this model. I would like to know whether this seamed or seamless tubing but have not been able to find much on line. If it is seamed what would it be similar in quality to? Reynolds 501? Tange 900? Just curious. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.

I have posted pics at the following link.

http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/2006/cc211-chrisjoyce1206.html

I think I read somewhere that True Temper tubing is seamed.

Here's a link with some interesting information:

http://www.henryjames.com/tubing.html

A touchy subject with True Temper, it starts out as flat stock, so its seamed, if all of the processing is on the mark, it will be fine, if not... bad things can happen. Now this is not to say bad things do not happen to Reynolds 531 and or Columbus seamless tubing, loss of concentricity poor butt placements can all go wrong with any of the tubing makers, think West World, where nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong,,,,

I stumbled on the Richard Sachs' description of a problem he had with True Temper long ago.

Now, the frame you are probably looking at has many miles on it, consider it long term testing and quality control, so do not worry.

Hi,

I do have several bikes using TrueTemper tubing. If I recall correctly TrueTemper was indeed quite unique in that it very long kept using seamed tubing and that also for the high end tubesets. There is nothing wrong with it though. The tubing of my Fat and Grove are absolutely the finest of the finest available at the time.

Thanks for everyones' responses.
The Trek 520 is my only bike with a True Temper tubeset. My other bikes include three Reynolds 531, one Tange 900 and one using 4130 Chromoly. The Trek rides buetifully, as well as any of the 531 frames. I am curious simply because everything I can find online indicates that it is a seamed tubeset but Trek chose to use it as a replacement for Reynolds 531. My understanding is that, in 1980s at least, seamed tube sets (such as Tange 900 and Reynolds 501) were considered to be inferior to seamless sets such as Reynolds 531 . Were True Temper framesets the exception?

Don't know on the seamed vs seamless comment on 80s tubing. Much is said by people, so it could also be that the inferiority laying in the sole fact that it is seamed is pretty much non existent. Also take into account that more important then tubing is the people who work with it.

However I do know my TrueTemper tubing is inferior to nothing.

I have never never seen a failure on the name brand, seamed tubesets that started appearing in the mid-1980s. The bad rep comes the older, no-name, seamed tubing used on the entry level models. By the mid-1980s the technical problems with seamed tubing had been overcome. By that time seamless tubing had only had a theoretical advantage, yet it had a big practical disadvantage in that it was more expensive to produce.