callmeledgerman

Hi everyone,

Interested to hear from knowledgeable members on appraising a 19” Trek 629 and offering a price to the seller. Seems they’ve tried to sell both for a few months but haven’t succeeded. It looks in fine shape but wanted to ask for more photos against a single color wall. Here’s the link, with photos:

providence.craigslist.org/bik/d/kenyon-trek-touing-bikes/7505415347.html (cut off the http because of the 10-post rule).

I’ve had two bikes stolen in the past year (a red Bianchi ‘96 Eros and a Trek 1100) and honestly don’t want to or have much room to purchase a bike. But I dislike driving and gas is very expensive. I’d use it to commute/ride around the city, but I’ve thought of doing longer rides so could use for that as well.

Thanks in advance for your help.

wrk101

Fortunately, they are NOT 1983 models, despite the ad. They are either 1984 or 1985 model. Trek improved the model each year. As they had been for sale for a while, I'd just go IN PERSON, with cash in hand, and offer $325. Don't ask for more pictures or additional information.

I'd consider $325 to be a bargain, so if you end up at $375, thats good too! On the $450 asking price, the market has spoken, but I wouldn't have a problem paying that either

You'll probably get others here saying they are worth $450, maybe so, but they have not moved. Bags, front and rear racks, and fenders are a nice plus! Smaller size is harder to find too.

Plan on the bike needing maintenance, not just a tune up.


BTW, please make an offer IN PERSON. I ignore email, phone, or text offers, as they only commit the sellers. I have had many such offers where the buyer never showed up. Now I just tell them, "come inspect it first, see how it fits, how you like it, and you can make an offer then."

bikemig 

+ 1 on all of this. These are fine bikes and that is good advice.

SoCaled 

yep, All solid advice.
I would highlight - "Plan on the bike needing maintenance, not just a tune up." Although the bikes appear to be in good shape, they also appear to have had some miles put on them. If you are doing the maintenance yourself, no big deal, If you are paying a shop you might want to factor that cost in.

callmeledgerman

Thank you to everyone who posted! I am going to look at them in about an hour- we’ll see what happens.

Chr0m0ly 

Looks like the ad is still up. Those are 1985 620s with the 47cm chain stays that match the coveted 720. I have an '84 620 with "only" 45.5cm chainstays.

Those bikes are worth the asking price to someone.

My 84 620 is smoooth as silk.

callmeledgerman

Update: I bought the 19 inch, for 375. And they included the two front and rear panniers (Rhode Gear brand, which I understand was sold to another larger company later on).

I think they appreciated that I want to actually ride the bike as opposed to flip it. They said they mostly had people asking to ship the bike as part of the sale, which they didn’t want to do.

wow, thank you for the info! I looked up the brochure before going and it indeed look like an ‘85, as a previous poster said. But the sellers didnt mention anything about the chain stays. Good to know.

Why are they so coveted?

Chr0m0ly 

Here's the link to the vintage trek site, Vintage Trek Bikes- Information on Steel Road Bicycles made by the Trek Bicycle Corporation, bike you can look at the catalogs and get all the specs in info on the old trek models.

But why so coveted... The Trek 720, the Miyata 1000(LT) are probably the two most well known and desired of the vintage touring bikes. Their are other touring bikes just as nice, Schwinn Voyager SP, Cannondale ST 800, and a bunch more, but the Treks and the Cannondales have the longest chainstays, and the Trek 720 is made from lugged Reynolds 531 steel-is-real vintage goodness. It has a certain cachet.

The 720 frameset was first made in '82 with caliper brakes (the 728), then in '83 '84 and '85 with cantilever brakes. Then they were gone.

The 620, as a canti touring bike, was just made in '84 and '85. The only year it shared the extra long chainstays as it's big brother was in '85. So the '85 620 was made for even less time, and since the 520 designation is STILL made, and the 720 was the famous ultra awesome model, the '85 620 was the way to get riiiiight up next to a 720 without getting caught up in the vintage-touring grail-bike hype of the 720. It's the cognoscenti vintage Trek touring bike.

Now, since there was an upsurge in interest in the vintage grand touring bikes, and it's become easier to find info on certain brands, the '85 620 is more widely known about. It's less under the radar. Then with Covid pricing all the vintage bike prices have bumped up.

I ride a 24" bike, and I have both an '83 720 and an '84 620. In the 24" size I find them to ride almost identically, and the 620 might even have a bit of an edge being a little stiffer when loaded, with the 720 being better at soaking up bumps when riding all day on the flats but very simillar.

So to sum up the '85 620 is SUPER CLOSE to one of the most desireable and searched for vintage touring bike AND in that stretch limo geometry it's an even harder to find, one year only, bike.