ctak

Bought this 24" Trek 700 Tri Series a while ago for $250 as the sport touring geometry and Reynolds 531 tubeset lined up with what I was looking for


Frame stripped down for a thorough inspection


As rebuilt last month to get on the road ASAP: Hunt aero wheelset, Ultegra / Dura Ace drivetrain, Nitto m151 bars and deluxe stem, Michelin 28mm Pro4 Endurance tires, Newbaum's bar tape, Berthoud Aravis saddle, Easton carbon seatpost, etc


Having since logged ~250 miles, I'm enjoying the whippy feel of 531c with semi slack angles and 42.5cm chainstays... lots of unforgiving tree root asphalt damage in and around Seattle to traverse


More than enough clearance in all areas that matter for 32mm GP5000s mounted to Hunt wheels with 19mm internal / 24mm external rim width (pictured below with 28mm Michelins that measure 31mm wide), though regardless of tire choice probably worth noting that the seat stay bridge is high enough that many modern calipers won't reach the brake track. Shimano R650s to the rescue...


Flickr album with more images

​​​​​Specs in the 1986 Trek catalog

Ross200

Trek 710-700 series from this era are very underrated.

Nice looking ride!

bikemig 

Trek's sport touring bikes are fine all around bikes, probably my favorite. They are well made, ride well, and tend to be reasonably priced.

I'm a fan. Here is a thread on sports touring bikes that you've likely seen:

Show your classic sports touring bicycle

SuperLJ

A beautiful old bike in excellent condition with smart upgrades. Nothing about that sucks. Nice job!

Clang

False content warning: where's the "this sucks" part?

Cool bike and I hope you kept that white Concor around!

Classtime 

Nice one in great shape for 250. I thought mine was a 600 but in the same color and a little small for me.

Spaghetti Legs 

I’m missing out on the “sucks” part too. Cool bike and I like the wheels. Never seen those before. I’d like it even more with a shiny alloy or titanium seat post.

Pcampeau

Yeah, that’s a cool bike! I guess it sucks that you only have one?

3speedslow

Have they changed the definition of “sucks”, connotative wise?

shoota 

The only thing that sucks about this bike is that it isn't mine.

On a serious note: I've never seen silver Hunt wheels before. Where did you find those? Are they an older model or something cause I don't see them on their website.

Dan Burkhart 

I think that was the hook. It made me look.

Dylansbob 

I was waiting for the cracked chainstay/headlug/seatcluster to be discovered after the first ride.

Fahrenheit531 

Check the wall behind the bike.

ctak

Indeed, nothing about this sucks outside of the explosion of certain counter-cultural activities in my neighborhood


I have a polished aero seatpost that matches the look of the wheels... Not crazy about the Easton look but it offers notable flex to dampen road chatter. How does Ti feel?

Spaghetti Legs 

I'm not sure I've been able to tell a difference between ride qualities of my different aluminum, Ti, CF posts. any difference in ride qualities I'm sure I would ascribe to the bike and not the post. I think titanium probably is used more for weight savings than any other reason, I would also think that the carbon post on your Trek would contribute very little to absorption of road chatter compared to the steel frame/fork and cushy tires. That's just my $.02 though.

ctak

Not yet!

I ordered them direct from Hunt when they were under $500. Basically re-branded silver anodized Kinlin XR-31T rims with a similar aero benefit as Zipp 303s

Well to be honest I do have another, identical except for the chainstay bridge

ctak

Not sure either, but agree that frame flex and tire selection/pressure are the main considerations... and what led to my fascination with Trek's Tri Series trifecta: longer chainstays, clearance for 32s and flexy pipes . Would be curious to see more exhaustive studies on seatpost dampening. The only one I recall is Zinn's 2012 VeloLab test.

Classtime 

Bikes: 1986 TREK 700

OldsCOOL

Cool bike!

mountaindave 

Those are unusually pretty head tube lugs and the white contrasting color is perfect with the blue. I saw these over in the other Trek 25” thread with the two different chain stay situations. So weird. Since you have two, you should 650b one and see what you like better!

great work!

ctak

Thanks! the colors warm up quite a bit in natural light, with the blue taking on a cerulean hue; now if only it had thinned and long point lugs like that alluring 710 (1979) of yours. My plan is to rebuild the twin 100% stock to appease the c&v gods but we'll see

mstateglfr 

That bike has slack angles? I would just assumed it's 73 seat and head angles based on the look and how it's marketed.

Really nice looking frame colors.

ctak

Relative to my other go-fast cycles (74° - 74.5° angles), at least. I appreciate your point though, 73.5° STA / 73° HTA isn't that slack

mstateglfr 

Ha, well yeah it's more relaxed relative to 74.5 for sure.

I really like this era of Trek bikes that have the plug lugs and drop outs. Sure the style saves manufacturing time, but I actually like the look too.
The classic slotted dropouts and seat stay brazed to the side of the seat lug is great, but the plug style is also really cool.

Soody

at first look i disliked that seatpost but the bike is otherwise so perfect it's a kind of aesthetic flaw that makes the whole thing more charming and states that you ride it rather than look at it