79pmooney

Thank you for posting that photo! I have that bike only a couple of years later and never knew what it was. I was told it was an '83 by the long time Trek shop manager when I got it and seem to remember him telling me it was a 4something but I've never seen a matching 400 anything Trek. My bike is that bike - except the cables run under the BB, not over. "83 vs '80 - no surprise there and mine has a slightly different bend to the fork.

My bike feels like it has decent hi-ten stays and forks and Cro-mo main tubes. (It came to me with factory paint and head badge but no decals or history.) So my surmising of the tubes is based entirely on over 20,000 miles of riding. Does that tube assessment sound like what you have?

And the other difference - as best I can tell from your photos - mine got the TREK stamped.cast deeper into the seatstay caps. I think my lettering is also wider. More pronounced, more visible, better advertising. Also famous as a crack starter. Both of my caps cracked. (When I called the framebuilde to tell him of the crack I saw, he said "Look at the other side. You will see them there too." He'd never seen that bike. And he was right.) So with just the usual amount of luck, your bike should go the rest of its perhaps very long lifetime with nary a seatstay cap issue. Mine too, now that Dave Levy of TiCycles has removed both and brazed them back on with a ton of fill! (And filled the cracked "R" completely so the drive side is just a "T EK".

Bike from day one with me has been set up fix gear. 5th edition of my winter/rain/city bike. Drop bars, super long stem - a TiCycles custom steel 175. I have arms! Mafac RACER front brake, Weinmann rear (that add up to very similar feels but the stopping power is in front where I want it; bikes a stopper! Fenders, LowRiders. Sky blue powdercoat decorated with an entire role of reflecting 3M tape of exactly the same color. (The paint is a stock color. I picked the tape from an industry supply website. How they matched so close? ??? but I'll take it!_ And wheels - Velocity Aeros, DT Competitions 3X, Miche fix gear rear, Campy Tipo front. (I cannot wear out Tipo fronts. When the bearings go I put new balls in the scored races and stuff it with marine grease. Reason says you can only do this for so many years but I am working on my 4th of 5th of those "so"s and it is still going just fine. If I don't open it up and look, I have no clue there's an issue so I just don't. And those huge Tipo flanges built rock solid wheels and never break.

Oh, seat and post. Specialized body geo comp with the full length groove on a Campy Chorus aero post. (Picked up used and badly scored but on the bike, almost all the scoring is inserted so bike has fun with a touch of class. With its plastic covered saddle, powder coat, fenders and fix gear (plus sealed or marine grease stuffed bearings) this is a true rain bike. Doesn't care if it is locked to a rack in a downpour.