Saving Private Columbus or a Trek TX900
11-14-15, 07:42 PM
#1
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Saving Private Columbus or a Trek TX900
I figured i would post some pics of a Trek TX900 that i saved, well he lost most of his parts, as he was converted to a flatbar Single Speed. But SN's dont lie its a TX900
first the SN: J5J7Bxx and the Break down of that according to vintage trek
TX900
25.5 In Frame
Build: Oct 1977
There wasnt much left of the original, or period correct components.
Cranks: Nuovo Record with big Chainring removed.
Campy Seatpost (missing a bottom rail guide)
Campy front hub laced to a Wolber 58 Super Champion rim
everything else was not correct for the bike
Weinmann Flip Flop hub wheel
Shimano Rx100 Brakes with Tektro Mtn Levers
Richey Headset
Look Clipless pedals
generic riser bars with stem
first the SN: J5J7Bxx and the Break down of that according to vintage trek
TX900
25.5 In Frame
Build: Oct 1977
There wasnt much left of the original, or period correct components.
Cranks: Nuovo Record with big Chainring removed.
Campy Seatpost (missing a bottom rail guide)
Campy front hub laced to a Wolber 58 Super Champion rim
everything else was not correct for the bike
Weinmann Flip Flop hub wheel
Shimano Rx100 Brakes with Tektro Mtn Levers
Richey Headset
Look Clipless pedals
generic riser bars with stem
11-14-15, 10:24 PM
#2
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A worthy save. Is it your size?
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11-14-15, 10:43 PM
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Oh man, that paint makes my eyes ache. Looks like enamel house paint.
11-14-15, 10:47 PM
#4
Extraordinary Magnitude
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Bikes: 1978 Trek TX700; 1978/79 Trek 736; 1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport; 1984 Schwinn Voyageur SP; 1985 Trek 620; 1985 Trek 720; 1986 Trek 400 Elance; 1987 Schwinn High Sierra; 1990 Miyata 1000LT
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That hurts- but it looks saveable.
At least the derailleur hanger is still there.
That bike looks like it can be made to dominate.
Best wishes, congratulations and good luck!!
At least the derailleur hanger is still there.
That bike looks like it can be made to dominate.
Best wishes, congratulations and good luck!!
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Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
11-15-15, 10:29 AM
#5
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Thread Starter
yup its my size, a little on the big side but totally workable.
The paint is as bad as it looks, there are no signs of of original graphics etc.. I am going to blast it down and repaint the frame the original dark blue color. and return the trek graphic to the seatpost
I am thinking since the original parts are so far gone, i will do a more modern take on it. since i dont have a complete Nuovo Record Group just laying around..
The paint is as bad as it looks, there are no signs of of original graphics etc.. I am going to blast it down and repaint the frame the original dark blue color. and return the trek graphic to the seatpost
I am thinking since the original parts are so far gone, i will do a more modern take on it. since i dont have a complete Nuovo Record Group just laying around..
11-15-15, 11:08 AM
#6
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yup its my size, a little on the big side but totally workable.
The paint is as bad as it looks, there are no signs of of original graphics etc.. I am going to blast it down and repaint the frame the original dark blue color. and return the trek graphic to the seatpost
I am thinking since the original parts are so far gone, i will do a more modern take on it. since i dont have a complete Nuovo Record Group just laying around..
The paint is as bad as it looks, there are no signs of of original graphics etc.. I am going to blast it down and repaint the frame the original dark blue color. and return the trek graphic to the seatpost
I am thinking since the original parts are so far gone, i will do a more modern take on it. since i dont have a complete Nuovo Record Group just laying around..
__________________
*Recipient of the 2006 Time Magazine "Person Of The Year" Award*
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
11-15-15, 07:15 PM
#7
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Thread Starter
11-15-15, 07:45 PM
#8
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Where are you sourcing graphics? I just ordered Trek lettering from velocals.com. I hope it's decent.
11-15-15, 07:53 PM
#9
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11-15-15, 08:33 PM
#10
Extraordinary Magnitude
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There's two old school green ones in the Vintage Trek Gallery:
Vintage Trek Gallery - Julia DeGrace's TX700 Steel Road Bike
1978 Trek 510 owned by Dave Mann, Gallery - Steel Road Bike
Although his isn't the "stock" vintage Trek green, @JohnDThompson's green 720 is pretty badass as well.
Vintage Trek Gallery - Julia DeGrace's TX700 Steel Road Bike
1978 Trek 510 owned by Dave Mann, Gallery - Steel Road Bike
Although his isn't the "stock" vintage Trek green, @JohnDThompson's green 720 is pretty badass as well.
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Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
11-15-15, 08:51 PM
#11
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There's two old school green ones in the Vintage Trek Gallery:
Vintage Trek Gallery - Julia DeGrace's TX700 Steel Road Bike
1978 Trek 510 owned by Dave Mann, Gallery - Steel Road Bike
Although his isn't the "stock" vintage Trek green, @JohnDThompson's green 720 is pretty badass as well.
Vintage Trek Gallery - Julia DeGrace's TX700 Steel Road Bike
1978 Trek 510 owned by Dave Mann, Gallery - Steel Road Bike
Although his isn't the "stock" vintage Trek green, @JohnDThompson's green 720 is pretty badass as well.
11-16-15, 08:42 AM
#12
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Although his isn't the "stock" vintage Trek green, @JohnDThompson's green 720 is pretty badass as well.
Well, mine wasn't even painted by Trek. Mike Appel painted it (pearlescent green) and I decaled it myself.
11-16-15, 08:49 AM
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In 1977, you could get whatever color you wanted -- every frame was custom ordered. They were pretty desperate to sell bikes
11-16-15, 08:50 AM
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Trek's paint jobs were invariably lustrous. Wonder whether Trek was using DuPont Imron as early as 1977.
BTW, Trek supposedly chose to pay the yearly EPA fine for using Imron because the cost to refit their paint booths to satisfy the EPA regulations would have been onerous.
BTW, Trek supposedly chose to pay the yearly EPA fine for using Imron because the cost to refit their paint booths to satisfy the EPA regulations would have been onerous.
11-16-15, 05:37 PM
#15
Extraordinary Magnitude
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Trek's paint jobs were invariably lustrous. Wonder whether Trek was using DuPont Imron as early as 1977.
BTW, Trek supposedly chose to pay the yearly EPA fine for using Imron because the cost to refit their paint booths to satisfy the EPA regulations would have been onerous.
BTW, Trek supposedly chose to pay the yearly EPA fine for using Imron because the cost to refit their paint booths to satisfy the EPA regulations would have been onerous.
To my untrained eye, my 78/78 Trek looks to have been repainted at some point. I don't know if that's necessarily true, though...
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Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
11-16-15, 05:39 PM
#16
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I think it was you that was talking about having unpainted frames and Bevil Hogg would tell you guys what braze ons to do and what color to paint after the order came in. Yes?
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Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
11-16-15, 06:46 PM
#17
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Thread Starter
Ohh that is a conundrum .. I do really like that green. I can see that JohndThompson's bike has smaller metal flakes in it compared to the other one. But i do like the color thats for sure..
the Original color was the Metallic Dark Blue which is nice also. but with this guy the frame paint is so far gone its no use trying to restore the original paint. previous owners already took off the graphics. and there is some surface rust in places that needs to be addressed.
the Original color was the Metallic Dark Blue which is nice also. but with this guy the frame paint is so far gone its no use trying to restore the original paint. previous owners already took off the graphics. and there is some surface rust in places that needs to be addressed.
11-17-15, 01:19 AM
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Yes, Imron was part of the shtick from day one at Trek. It was the single topcoat stuff that isn't common any more. The paint supplier would show up pretty often with many quart cans of paint. I think my track bike (pictured below) was one of the custom colors somebody ordered. Pretty sure if I had ordered color myself, it would have been blue. I also had a bike painted at Trek in British racing green, which was darker than the greens above. Unfortunately, I lost interest in that frame and sold it cheap.
Yes, if a bike had braze ons, they were special ordered. The frames were built, chemically passivated, and stored bare. When sold, they went to a couple of guys that just did braze ons all day (Mike Apple was one of them) or just went to paint. There were giant racks of frames, you can see them in the famous picture of Mike Appel and Dick Nolan leaning on the fork threading machine. I have no idea when this ended, it wasn't too inefficient.
Track bike made by some anonymous French builder, painted at Trek
Track bike made by some anonymous French builder, painted at Trek
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