1984 Specialized Expedition Touring
1984 Specialized Expedition Touring
I had been on the lookout for a bike in my size with bosses for racks and canti brakes for a couple of years (I have a fantasy to build up something with the elegance of what one sees in The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles). And, by gosh, at the cooperative bike garage where I volunteer, a Specialized Expedition Touring appeared in the donations! I traded in two tiny 70s electroforged schwinns and a huffy beach cruiser for it.
The rear hub is dated 1984. Ollo_Ollo tells me that they were all gray, like this one. The frame is "Touring Special Edition" double-butted cro-mo. It has suntour mountech front & rear drs, sugino AT triple crank (48-44-30, about), 5 sp freewheel, suntour symmetric downtube shifters (no bosses, alas), SR hubs with wolber rims, shimano brakes and suntour superbe levers (no suicide levers), specialized-branded stem and drop bars. Shimano dropouts. Also what appears to be original Sanyo BB dynamo. The frame is drilled to route the wire internally. Brazed-on bosses galore: three bottle mount spots, rack mounts on fork, rack mounts on rear stays, fender mounts. The frame is awesome.
The paint's not so good... lots of scratches. It will clean up OK with plenty of Turtle products, but I think some kind of new treatment is in its future. I've just discovered a local powder coater who will sandblast and coat a frame for $115. However, there are a few frames ahead of this one in line.
The front hub appears to have exploded. I like fatter tires than are on there anyway, so I may go with new wheels entirely.
Not sure what equipment I'll salvage. It all appears to be pretty good, except for rusted bolts everywhere. I'm thinking stainless steel bolts.
I guess I'll have to retain the derailleur (instead of internally geared hub) since it has an integral hanger. What do people think of the Mountech stuff?
Prepping the photos...
Last edited by Roll-Monroe-Co; 07-04-07 at 01:30 PM.