Older than it looks?

Spotted a bike described as “SR custom” on CL a couple months ago. The NDS photo clearly showed a 700-level Trek, but the barn is full and it is smaller than I ride, so I let it be. Looked again and it was still listed last weekend, so I looked a little closer.




Pewter without a contrasting head tube, so early 80’s. Oil clip on the LF hubs, so likely Shimano 600. Sakae, SunTour, Dia Compe G sidepull brakes, so I’m thinking a 715 from 1980 or 81. Looks like low mileage, so I decided to make a rescue purchase.

The bike was kept at the out-of-state owner’s parents’ house, so it was not ridden very much. It still had the original Specialized Touring tires. Aside from a few poorly-matched touch-ups, the paint is in good condition. Components are a good match for the 1980 brochure, but the serial number is not:


The serial number translates to a 22.5” 710 frame built in April 1977. The 1977 brochures only show the TXnnn models. Don't know when the 710 first appeared.
The 710 shows up in the 1978.5 brochure at Vintage-trek.com but the component line-ups offered are different than what I have.
The components line up (with a few deviations) with the 1980 brochure and the headbadge is glued-on, not screwed.

I know these were sold as framesets, but the component selection is so close to the 1980 catalog that I doubt anyone would build it up that way on their own. And a 1977 frame would have a screwed-on headbadge if it sat on a dealer's shelf.

So it looks like the frame sat around at Trek a few years before being outfitted and badged, likely in 1980.

Lovely bike, and possibly has the frame 'maker's mark' from Joe Starck, in the form of an 'S', based on loose info from this thread.

I looked at the components and they have date codes between April and July 1980. It's possible the bike is a late 1980 or early 1981 build and the serial number is incorrect.
Except by early 1981 the SN format had changed to all numbers
A late 1980 build would require both the month letter and year number to be incorrect

So if the serial number is correct, the frame sat around at Trek for 3 1/2 years, which is hard to believe.
Next step is to take some measurements of the frame to see how it matches the brochure dimensions....

Nice find! I would check the fork to meke sure it isn't bent back. The first picture it looks good but he second to last makes be question it. It could just be the angle of the picture. my 760 has been accused of having a bent fork, which it did until I straightened it out to spec.

Yeah, I noticed that too. The stem is soaking in penetrating oil….

I have a Trek 937, at least that's what the consensus was when i bought it, it has stuck on head badge also, but appears to be from circa 1978, i am trying to envisage frames being stacked up and bikes being built at some pace during the bike boom years, and can only imagine when times were busy it was go go go ... and some frames got left to one side..and finished and or built later.

Ooohh…pics????

so here's what i poached from the person who i got it from its just frame pictures, i am about 40% into the build, im trying to use original Trek items and or Gran Sport stuff that i have in my stash, it should be fairly faithful to the original build. except for the wheels i got lots of sets, and am still undecided what to put on it.
i am thoroughly cleaning off what will come off with q tips as i go, as its much harder to clean after the build.. i have a 1984 trek 520 and a 1983 trek 500 both working and being used, so it will interesting to get this one back on the road, any comments on what the pictures speak too are welcome.

That's a great looking frame!! Hoping to build mine up w/ a full Campy record gruppo. I'm about 85% of the way there. Still need a BB and levers.

I think the lugwork for a production frame is pretty nice.. this will mostly be period campy, im undecided on the RD whether to go GS (original spec) or NR , i have both, may try GS to see what its like then i can switch if i don't like it..

I have a somewhat similar situation Schreck83 but my timeline is not as extreme. I bought a 715 in April 1981. I remember the dealer having to order the frame and I think it took about 5 or 6 weeks to get the bike. Serial number stamp on mine is very light but I think it's H3E9A2 which puts the frame as May 1979, 2 years before the bike was sold. I have the Trek letters on the down tube but otherwise, your bike looks just like mine when I picked it up.

I found a few old posts that describe the process of frame building versus final fitting of braze-ons, paint and headbadge at Trek BITD.

Saving Private Columbus or a Trek TX900

This 710 has the braze-ons that were standard in 1980 whereas my 1978 TX700 has only a cable stop for the RD.

I'm unsure about decals, i think velo decals is out of business which is a bit of a problem,
but then how do i decal this blue frame, what style was used i only have my 1982 to compare too. Any suggestions?

No, Joe didn't start at Trek until 1981.

Hmm! Any ideas?

No, 1977 is well before my time as well. I started at Trek in 1980.