I'm looking at a bike on CL that is advertised as a vintage Trek touring bike. Here's the link:

https://tucson.craigslist.org/bik/432068433.html

I contacted the seller and he told me the serial number is 32197, but the frame has been repainted so there may be another number that was obscured, which would make sense since most old Trek serial numbers are six digits. There is also the sequence 58TSI stamped on the bottom bracket. I went to vintage-trek.com but couldn't get a positive ID from the serial number database. My best guess is that it's a 1988.

Here are a few photos he sent me:

https://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...926070803c.jpg

https://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...926070803b.jpg

https://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...926070803a.jpg

I can't tell if the brakes are mounted on cantilever bosses or not, something which might help ID the bike, but I do know that the frame has brazeons for a rack on the seatstays. It has 27" wheels, and I believe 1988 was the last year with 27" wheels. I don't think the derailers, bars, and shifters are original. Anybody got any clue?

Centerpulls, not canti. He IDs them as centerpulls in the ad, also.

A forum member sent me this a few days ago www.vintage-trek.com or email Skip at skipechert@comcast.net they were very helpful! dont be afraid to contact Skip, hes great and helped correct the year of my bike when I emailed him just have your decsription ready along with the serial number

This is a quote from the notes section on the S/N page of vintage-trek:

So maybe 032197, an '82 Trek 720 in 22.5"?

The rear dropouts look like the long Campagnolo 1010 available on this model, and the under chainstay cable routing looks the same. Hard to tell, but looks like the older style seat cluster treatment as well.

So are centerpulls always mounted on bolts instead of canti bosses? This is something I was unsure of.

EDIT: I'm heading up there this evening to take a look at it, hopefully it'll still be around.

That looks just like,,,,,my Trek! Same color even. Original equipment included Suntour Superbe brakes, levers, Suntour deraillers, campy record hubs with Mavic anodized "Open CD" rims (slightly aero), Sugino triple crank, Rino seatpost. Looks like this one may have some of the same stuff (I can't view the photobucket shots, blocked). If you get it and it does not have the original tubing decal (like mine did), take the fork out and look for markings one the steerer tube. Mine was marked Reynolds 531. Good luck!

I guess if you wanted to, you could call cantis a form of center pull as the force is applied from the center. In this case, you will note the brake arms "scissor" which would indicate a center mount; a classic centerpull brake. A canti would not exhibit this characteristic.

They used to mount Mafac centerpulls on cantilever style bosses. Paul components makes a version of their Racer centerpull that mounts that way.

Just picked it up. As soon as I saw it I knew it was a 720, it has that nice big gap b/w the rear tire and the seatpost indicating those long chainstays. Then I flipped it over and was able to make out the 0 in front of the serial number and I knew I had a winner.

There are no decals anywhere, no headbadge, and the first number of the serial is partially obscured by paint. It looks like a pretty good paint job, not a rattle can. I would have said that it definitely wasn't original, except that evwxxx says that his/her Trek is the same color, so maybe it was original, who knows. I guess the headbadge fell off. If anybody knows of a way to identify tubing w/o taking the fork out let me know.

It's a 22" and too small for me, so it'll get a bit of a cleaning and then either off to eBay or back on Craigslist. Thanks for all your help, I wouldn't have been able to figure it out without the responses on this thread.

Well, if the S/N is accurate, and vintage-trek.com has it right, it's full Reynolds DB 531, forks, stays and all. Seatpost should be 27.2 - that will at least tell you the seat tube is double butted Reynolds 531.

Another thing this thread has taught me is that I need to read vintage-trek.com much more thoroughly.

Hey, it doesn't hurt to have a couple extra set of eyes helping! That website is so comprehensive, I know I've missed things before in my own searching.

So, how many Treks does this make? I think you must have enough for a small museum!

This makes three: 1982 720, 1983 520, and 1983 730. Total for all three: $325.

It's not a 720, it's a 1982 Trek 728. The 728 had conventional sidepull/centerpull brake boss mounts - the '83 -'86 720 had braze-on cantiliver posts.

-Kurt

DB,
Got any pictures of your '83 520??

This was mine a few weeks ago, now it's apart for a repaint.

The photo of the 720 frameset in the 1982 brochure disagrees with you.

https://www.vintage-trek.com/images/trek/Trek3pg8.jpg

Redneckwes, that's a great looking bike. What's it going to look like when it's painted?

I wish I had photos of my bikes to post, but I don't own a camera, so I don't have photos of anything I own. Mine 520's the other color, the grey, and once it's fully assembled should be a beauty too.

It should look just like it did in the photo, just without all the rust, my camera did a good job of hiding it's flaws. My only problem now is finding correct decals for it.

Post rebuild it will get a Brooks and alloy fenders. It might also get a Stronglight crankset and Sachs/Huret group, I got it as a frameset without any of the factory components.

The photo you linked to says 728. It's late, and I'm tired, and I'm probably missing something. Can you save me some guessing and tell me what disagrees?

I'd be happy to have a 720 or a 728 (happier with a 720 though I think)

I believe that the 1982 720 and the 1982 728 are the same thing, but the 728 was the complete bike and the 720 was the frameset. If you look at the index, you'll notice that it says "Page 8: 728, 720 frameset" and then when you go to page 8, the header says "728" but the small inset photo on the lower right says "720 also available as a frameset".

And USAZorro, if you're serious and are interested in my 22.5", PM me.

Looks more to be a numbering discrepancy. Does the catalogue have specs for the frameset? If so, do they differ from the respective specs for the built-up machine?

-Kurt

https://vintage-trek.com/images/trek/Trek3pg3.jpg

The specs for the 720 and 728 are the same. I think I've seen this with Treks before -- the frameset and the complete bike are numbered almost the same, with the frameset XX0 and the complete bikes XXA, with A being a non-zero number. This following blurb from the serial number page of vintage-trek.com seems to confirm that:

"For some years, the model number given may be the lowest number (or an X00 number) for a series of models that have the same frame. For example, a 1981 frame appearing on the list as a Model 610 could have been built into either a 613, 614, or 616 bike."

Sounds like it's really a 1982 22 inch 720, a great touring bike. What's the seat tube length, c-c, in centimeters?

Kurt does have a point. The '83 to '86 fully built 720s with the canti bosses are highly sought after. Not that this particular frameset is inferior at all. So, Trek numbering here does become a bit confusing. Just another adventure in vintage collecting!

+1

I'm still a bit mystified as to why Trek, knowing all that they did about serious touring, would make such a dedicated tourer w/centerpulls as opposed to cantis.