Quemal

I bought this new...in 1982

Marrock

And what, just kept it in your living room?

That is nice and I love the racks.

Grim

Thats an interesting front rack. Any idea of the manufacture?

sfclearwater

Just finished this for my girlfriend. Started with the frame and added a mix of 80's and 90's components, I think it worked out pretty well.

green lizard

it is almost done

Grim

Very nice!!

Sugino cranks? whats the tooth count on those?
What brand fenders?

Are they plastic or painted metal?

I like the way they did the mounts. They look excellent.

sfclearwater

The crank and the fenders are both from Velo Orange. The cranks are 48/36/26 and the fenders are anodized aluminum that matches the old anodized Araya rims almost perfectly. I had to do a little cutting, grinding, and bending to fit the fenders but no big deal.

Crank

Fenders

Grim

Can't believe I missed those. I go in there and drool on the rack page all the time. Thanks for pointing them out.

That crank tooth count by far is my favorite for general road riding. Man I can put the hammer on a hill on the 36 tooth ring. It works perfect for me. I have a set of Octalink Shimano's on the 98 T700 that I think are ugly but love the gearing (48/36/26). Wouldn't mind putting those Sugino cranks on it to dress it up and then put the Octs on my 95 T700 that has a 22/32/44 set I don't care for the gearing on.

badger_biker 

Here is my 1984 Specialized Expedition loaded down. I have a Blackburn Expedition rear rack and Jandd Exreme front rack. I added a Topeak slide to the Novara trunk rack and a matching tray to the top of the Jandd so it is quick to take off.
I bought the frame and built it up with Suntour XCD 6000 derailleurs and 7 speed Accushift barcons and most of the rest is Deore LX. It has Shimano 600 hubs and Sun 16 rims.

green lizard

well, it is finished.
tell me what ya think

Poguemahone

1984 Trek 720.



Found at a local thrift store (Fan thrift, Richmond Va) three-four years ago. It looked rough, bought it largely so it wouldn't get converted into a fixed gear, with all the braze ons hacked off. I don't have anything against conversions, but no one should convert a bike like this. It's made to be a loaded tourer. It spent the next couple of years sitting in my basement, and then last winter I finally decided I'd take a real serious look at it, see if it could be fixed up (as opposed to fixied up). It cleaned up real nice. In fact, I had to haul a load today and rode it; since the above pic I've added a Tubus rack to it.
Bike was 75$ at the thrift; I spent more on the Tubus rack.

Chris W.

Very nice

Cheers,
Chris

flian

I think ya need bigger pictures!

RFC

I am digging this stem. What is it?

vjung001

I don't know if this is a touring bike or not, but I'm only assuming because of the rack.

Today I finally decided to take a look at my dad's old bike. It's been hanging from the ceiling in our garage for about 17 years or so. It's probably been used only a few times during that time. I plan on riding it to school in September.

At the top of my list is to get rid of all that green, orange, and reflective tape. I wonder if it was used as a theft deterrent?

So, anyone have any idea what this is? Here's hoping to a long lost hidden gem in my garage! Haha. Thanks

Blue Order

Low-end sport tourer (a road bike, but not a racing bike, not a loaded tourer. Suitable for light touring and commuting).

But in great cosmetic condition, and not particularly desirable to college campus bike thieves, so a good choice for the job.

24tracktape

1984 Trek 620 purchased a couple of months ago, it came with a second wheelset that had Phil hubs w/mystery 40 spoke (front and rear) ceramic rims.

I added:
TTT bar and stem
NOS Grand Compe aero levers
Suntour Barcons
Kool Stop pads
Pasela TG tires
Trashbar bags
B17 Champion

vjung001

A sport tourer, huh. And low-end too? Damn, and I thought I was gonna be all cool cause I saw some Shimano shifters. Now I'm hoping those aren't bootleg haha

So, what exactly is the difference? Besides the foam grips and extension levers. This will be the last of my questions I promise.

Blue Order

The stamped dropouts are a giveaway. Plus the extension levers and lack of tubing decal. And possibly the cottered crank (although it does appear that it may be alloy).

On the other hand, it's not that bad. It does appear to have alloy wheels, for example. And a sport tourer is a good all-around machine. And because it's not high-end, it's going to be easier to hang onto at school, assuming you use a good quality u-lock and proper locking technique.

stronglight

Now THAT is what I call one fine looking TOURING bike! Very nice build up! Everything you could want for a long cross-country tour.

Great choice of brake levers too. Funny how everyone seems to love traditional brake cable routing on older touring bikes. I admit that I too like the old "look"... but aero levers are really just soooo much better. And they are definitely very practical when using a handlebar or rack top front bag.

Here are scans I made of a truly classic 1948 Rene Herse bike: https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongl...7618749510933/ The illustrator, Daniel Rebour, makes specific note of the "extra long" brake cables which were fitted on this bike - to allow easy access to the bag opening. I suspect Herse would have loved to use aero brake levers on such a bike, if they had been around in the 1940s. They would have fitted in perfectly with his extensive use of internally routed cables which eliminated so much "clutter" on his bikes.

stronglight

24tracktape

Thanks for the compliment!

Thanks as well for your work on those Herse scans. I saved those images to my computer in order to make some prints of those.

Great stuff, even 60 years later!

Best-
Rich

joninkrakow

Man, I never thought about that before.... but back in the 80 and early 90s, I had a Raleigh Rampar 14 touring bike that had extra long brake cables also. I never really gave it much of a thought, until you just mentioned it now. Weird. I guess this sort of became the norm for touring bikes?

-)on

cycleheimer

This bike may be 29 years old, but it rides as though it were brand-new. The Cat's Eye bar-end reflector is a great help on the road, and the Cannondale handlebar bag allows me easy access to my cell phone and water bottle. I have two sets of rear panniers to go over the Pleitscher carrier, and store a spare tube & tire levers & mini pump in the saddle bag. The leather covered "Look" saddle is pretty comfortable and the SKS fenders not only look good, but also keep the tires from splattering wet mud all over the place after it rains. Still haven't tried the head lamp, though.

nlerner

More sport-touring than true touring, here's my 1983 Trek 640, now shod with steel fenders, aero brake levers, bar-end shifters.

Neal