The Golden Boy 

If you're as much of a dork as me- you'll go "hey, there was no Trek 735 in 1978 or 79..."

There wasn't.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to run across a Trek 736 with a 1978 brazing date. The frame itself is a "730" frame- Trek's 531 "racing" geometry. It was built with a Shimano 600 Arabesque group, making it a 736. (The same bike built with Campagnolo Nuovo Record would be a 738 and if it was Campagnolo Gran Sport it would be a 737). It looks like Trek had two Suntour groups based on the VX/VGT components- being the 732 and 734. But there was no 735 and no bike with Suntour's Cyclone components.

The Arabesque stuff is pretty with all the little squiggles on it, but it really did not shift well. The hubs were nice and smooth, but that's about all I liked on the bike. I decided that I was going to build it up with a mostly Suntour build- Cyclone derailleurs and Superbe brakes. I also wanted to change out the crank. Everything I replaced on the bike came from the Bike Forums sales area- thank you to everyone that provided me with stuff. The big surprise- the one thing I wasn't looking for was the Stronglight 99 BIS crankset. I was kind of resigned to finding a mid-80s Sugino AT or similar triple, but forum member Bikemig set me up with this Stronglight. It's SO much better than what I had planned.

One other note about Trek's "racing" geometry... The 1978.5 catalog is the first with the Racing bikes. A 531 Touring bike would be a 710. I knew the geometry was different- I assumed it was steeper angles and shorter wheelbase. Apparently Trek basically just shortened the chainstays by 3cm and called it their "racing" frame!

The Golden Boy 

Since apparently my phone won't let me edit the post again-

The reason I'm calling it a 735 is because there is that number gap after the Suntour groups and I would guess that the Cyclone stuff is "above" the VX/VGT stuff. Personally, I think it should be "above" the Arabesque stuff.

Another nifty thing about the Arabesque wheels is that they have one of the early cassette hubs. It's running a 6 speed cassette in a 5 speed world.

himespau 

I like the crankset, even if it does play tricks on my eyes an briefly made me think you had 4 rings on there.

bbattle

Nice project. I can't believe you still have the wheel reflectors.

Grand Bois

I can't believe you haven't leveled the rack.

bikemig 

The bike came out great. Nice job! The complainers are all just jealous, .

SJX426 

Quad rings huh! Good looking bike and yes there is a little jealousness. Sooooo..... consider using self extracting crank bolts. They would look good with all the drillium! Or do they required the Stronglight crank puller?

JohnDThompson 

The relief in the spider arms suggests a post-1982 production date, so likely a standard 22mm puller. Pre-1982 production did not have this:

The Golden Boy 

I don't mind reflectors. If they're not in my way I leave them. With as much riding as I do at the end of the day and at dusk- those reflectors are one more thing for a driver to see. The yellow and red ones add that extra touch of 1970s ambience.

As far as the rack- it looks much more level in person. I guess leave it to the official Bike Forums "Ray Of Sunshine" to bring it up.

The Golden Boy 

Thank you, sir.

I was thinking the focal point of this bike would be either the Cyclone RD or the Superbe levers- but that crankset is spectacular. Again, Stronglight wasn't even something I considered looking for.

I do need to get some new pads- I'm sure it'll be easier to just get new pads and holders, but I'd kind of like to keep the fancy "Superbe" pad holders.