I'm looking at some mid 80s Trek 720 bikes. My purpose is for comfortable all day road riding on very rough roads. Touring load not required. I would need to carry quite a bit of water at times, some food, clothing for weather, etc. I guess sort of what you might need on a brevit, except for the water part. My understanding is that there is water available on brevits. There are rides I can take here in central Maine where I cannot count on finding water, so having to carry a gallon or more at the start is very likely. Max total weight could get up to 250 lbs. I weigh 210.
I am just a hair under 6' with a 34" inseam. From what I can gather, I would be looking for a 22.5" frame. Is this correct?
What is the max tire size for the 720? I see some had 27" wheels, some 700c, even in the mid 80s. Were the frames actually different, or did they just put different wheels in? In any case, what can you fit in there using a 700c? I'm hoping for 38mm tires without fenders.
So I'm wondering if the frame will be too noodley with 215 - 235 lbs. on top of it, and what I can expect for tire clearance.
I've got a Univega Alpina from '97 I could build up, but that's a totally different kind of thing (obviously) and will be for a different thread. I'm just throwing it in there in case it would fit my purpose better than the 720.
Thanks for any help.
I have been measuring up my 1982 52 cm bike. I think the spacing between the stays and the fork blades could accommodate tires up to 36 mm or so, without fenders and with very good frame alignment. For noodliness, I really don't know what that means. Do you have an example of another frame that gave you that worry? The 720s were designed to handle long-distance self-supporting touring loads of the day. The tubes are claimed to be standard Reynolds 531 double butted top tube 8/5/8, single butted 8/6 seat tube and double butted 1.0/0.7/1.0 down tube. Diameters are standard, 1" TT, and 1 ⅛" ST and DT. Compared to existing and highly-respected randonneuring bikes dating back to about 1950 (notably the Herse and Singers that Jan Heine has written about, the tubes are very similar if not perhaps a little thicker in the walls - hence stiffer.
So these are the reasons I wanted one - to make a town/training/rando bike without paying Peter Weigle or Alex Singer prices. I appreciate the value of flex designed into the frame, but I don't know if another person would interpret that as noodliness.