itskohler

Hey guys, first time posting over here I think. I usually post in the C&V section but I feel that this section is more appropriate.

Just picked this up today, got a really good deal on it. He traded for an old cell phone and an all chrome rack for his touring bike.













It irks me that there is not seat, as when I went to pick it up he took the seat that was on it off.
Well, what's it worth?

I've been pretty lucky as of late with finding these bikes, Jacksonville is turning out to be a gold mine.

bent-not-broken

$250

oddjob2

There is one in NNJ for $125. Been on market for a while, 25" seat post may be why.

itskohler

Ya this one is pretty small, 51cm.

FastJake

Sweet deal. As-is, I'd agree with $250. But if you clean it up and put a saddle back on it I think you could get at least $350 for it.

531 Treks are always worth money and that one looks to be in great shape.

itskohler

I spent the last few hours hitting it with CLR, tar remover, and polish. I need to replace the cassette, find era clips/straps, and redo the bar tape.


Thanks for all replies!

thinktubes 

Definitely put a saddle on it. Going rate on these seems to be $250 to $300.

marley mission

mine now
its a 61cm center bb to top st
waiting on tires - will do a pic and ride report
it feels pretty light
more like an aluminum bike weight (i.e. - feels lighter than my technium)

Bianchigirll 

as most of you know I am not a huge trek fan but I would love a frame like this would trade a good celphone for one. No I do love my Italian bikes but these frames just have such great lugs and fancy touches like the integral stay caps on the seatlug and dropouts, the sort of fast back stays, the chain holder fashioned from a lugpoint....

Alas there never seems to be a 23 for sale..

rekmeyata

Bianchigirll, you may not be much of a Trek fan but back then they knew how to make a very high quality lugged steel bike, and were some of the best steel bikes for the money. In 85 Trek went with robotic full assembly on the frame, but even though they were no longer hand assembled the robots where very high tech for the times and did a perfect job assembling and brazing them. So while your's was made by a machine the accuracy of assembly was spot on and many people loved them...of course there were those that cursed Trek because they stopped hand making them, but Trek by this time had gone from a semi custom builder making just 4 models in the beginning years to full on automated builder to keep up with the times and expand models and sales to become a giant bicycle manufacture and there was no way to build that many bikes all by hand.

Personally I would never buy a newer Trek, that's for sure. I have a 84 660 and that is and was the last Trek that I'll ever buy new.

itskohler

I would have to agree with the ride quality. Granted, it doesn't fit me too well though.
I absolutely love lugs, I am a sucker for them and Trek might not be the fanciest, but they look good. Italian frames are pricey in Jacksonville otherwise I am sure I would own a few.
I would gladly pay more for anything that is hand made. A robot lacks the intuition and feel a person does, so I think people automatically assume that its sub-standard. Which is definitely not the case with this bike at all. As I have said over and over I would love to keep it but I'm too big. I believe bikes, no matter what kind, need to be ridden not placed on a wall to look at.

rekmeyata

I hear ya. Problem is with today's bikes 98% of them are machine made, this wasn't true prior to the mid 80's. But making things fast and cheap is the way of the world. But the Trek that you have, though done by machine, was still an excellent quality bike. Even the 84 Trek 660 I had they assembled the frame by hand but it was machine brazed using brass instead of silver that Trek did up to 82 or 83 when they did all the stuff by hand. And I did pay more for a custom bike in 07 when I purchased a Mercian new, it's a great bike but my next new bike will be machine made because their cheaper and I want something lighter to try to get back into racing again...or at least club riding.

I would never put a bike on the wall for display, I have classic cars dating back to the 50's and drive them...not as much as my non-classic cars of course, but the two oldest ones get driven to shows (NOT TRAILERED), about 4 times a year, the other older late 60's job gets driven a lot more then the late 50's and early 60's cars, but that's only because replacement parts for the oldest cars are expensive and difficult to come by, and my insurance company has mileage limitations on them.