My worst transaction was on Cl and it was my fault! I had just moved to the DC area and did not have a bike to ride. I had spent the previous summer riding more than any previous time in the prior 4 years due to not having work. I moved in October and by March I was chomping at the bit for my own bike. I had spent a fair amount of time on BF and was interested in finding a Trek 600 series to complement the other set of bikes. My thought was to have more of a sport/commuter/maybe day touring bike.

I found a 610 for sale that was a rattle can paint job. I thought how bad could it be? We set up a time to see it and under the street lights and headlights, I looked it over. Thought I was being fairly complete. Took it for a ride. It wasn't bad but wasn't great either.

I made an offer. We negotiated. Even thought the pit told be to walk, I did with the bike. The next day I started to look it over in the daylight. Oops. rust under the paint, all the AL parts had pits. I thought the hubs might need adjustment but it was pitting on the cones. Damaged rear RD (600), the list goes on. The magnitude of wrongs moved me to document the whole thing for my own therapy?

So here I was with a bike I could ride after some tweaking, which I did, and not knowing what to do with it after spending too much for it.
[IMG]003_Trek 610 As Purchased , on Flickr[/IMG]

No way to recoup my "investment". How to turn lemons into lemonade? Well, stick to the plan and just keep it. The frame is straight as are the forks (bent by the factory). Still 531c main tubes, 1984 vintage 610.

After the household stuff arrived, I pulled the parts from the Le Champion that was damaged beyond repair and stuck it on the frame set. Oh yeah, the eyelet for the fenders were removed too so the frame was not restorable. I met a guy who had just finished building his own frame soon after the purchase. We struck up a conversation and I asked how much it would be for brazing eyelets on. We did that plus bosses for a rack and mounts for STI cable stops. I then loaded the frame set up to determine if I liked it.

I Do. It is taking me too much time to finish but the plan is BRG color with beige panels and some of the original decals. Here is what it looked like at the last build:
[IMG]1983 Trek 610 60 cm , on Flickr[/IMG]