I have a vintage Trek, I have no idea what model, I am guessing a 1980 or 1981 412 or 414, but I'm not sure. I bought the bike off of the original owner, he had newer bikes and this had sat in his shop for like 10 years untouched. It needed a little TLC so I dropped it off at a shop here in Omaha NE.

The older guy in the shop immediately offered me 300 cash for the bike (I paid 30 bucks for it) so I knew it had to be something decent. I turned the offer down and then they talked about a trade for an even pricier bike, thought about it but then turned that down too, the bike had character. So i paid about 150 bucks to get it tuned up to ride, and I have put about 1000 miles on it. The unfortunate issue is that they replaced the rear cassette and after that the cassette + chain + front gearset have never quite been right.

This is the bike today:



The identification number on the bottom of the frame is M5D1A19, and on the vintage trek website, I tried looking that up, seems that the M means a 412 or 414 model, the second symbol "5" means 25.5" frame, the "D" means it was built in April, the last 3 "A19" might mean frame designation "A" and the 19th frame from that designation, the information is a little obscure.

I'm hoping someone can tell me a little more about this awesome bike.

Oh and I might make this a bit of an introduction thread, as this is my first post, this is my other bike:



2006 Specialized Allez, just recently got it, got a little tired of friction shifting the ole' Trek.

My history? Grew up with a 1970's Mongoose BMX bike, then in the mid 1980's, move on to a 1972 Schwinn 10 speed. Put about 3000 miles on that bike from my 7th grade year till I graduated high school, and my brother still has the bike and rides it around to this day, it was a wonderful old bike.

Then I got the Trek, and now I have my Specialized. I don't mind mountain biking but my real passion is the road, and by road I mean road biking on the highways in the midwest. A road bike just doesn't seem at home on a trail, and most trails aren't built for a cyclist who likes to average 15 to 25 mph on his rides

So, anyways, hello!!!

I used to own a Imron blue 1981 Trek 412. Mine had an alloy seatpost, black cage MKS Sylvan pedals, brazed-on top tube cable guides, and a Maillard Atom 77 freewheel (there were no cassettes back then) but otherwise it looked about the same as your bike.

Judging from the decal on yours I'm guessing its a '79 or '80 412. The specifications for the 412 & 414 didn't change much so if you look up the specs from the 1982 Trek brochure at the vintage-trek site you'll probably be able to match the components on your bike to the correct model. As I recall, there is also a page at the vintage-trek site with 1980-1981 documentation from a California bike shop (including specs) that may be helpful. While you're at the site, download and print the 1985 Trek Owners Manual; it contains important service information you can use.

As for your drivetrain problem, it appears that your bike still has the original Maillard freewheel hub. What kind of chain and freewheel did you have installed? If its one of the newer chains with bulged side plates (like the SRAM 830/850/870) then an incorrect chain design could be contributing to your performance issues. If that's the case I recommend replacing it with a NOS Shimano HG or SRAM PC-48/58/68 chain. If your new freewheel is a cheap Falcon or something similar then the freewheel could also be a factor. The people at the bike shop also should have replaced those zip ties with 3 chrome SunTour top tube cable guides--parts which can still be had with a little research.

If the Trek is the correct size and fit for you and those drivetrain issues are eliminated you might start liking that old school steel bike more than your Allez.

Welcome to C&V, nice bikes!

Thanks for that info! I'm not totally up on the bike lingo, so freewheel is likely correct. You think it might be the chain? I'll have to look into that. The shop that did the work seemed kind of shady to me (I've never been back) and kept trying to get me to sell/trade the bike to them, so who knows if they even tried to fix it correctly.

I'll get some more photos up once I clean the bike up nicely, I haven't had it apart in probably 3 years now.

As far as liking it more than the Allez, I don't know, the indexed shifting is really awesome for riding hills. On long fairly flat rides maybe, but then even on hilly rides I pretty much try to use just the front gear and charge hills pretty hard to get a good workout going (probably one of the reasons I generally don't ride more than 40 miles at any given time heh heh).

I know I could upgrade components but I think I'd like to keep the bike as stock as possible.

Hi, RT, nice bikes!

You want to get more info about your bike and its parts. Go back to the vintage Trek website and go through the serial number again. One of those earlier characters is the year of manufacture. The last three characters, like you say, aren't understood well.

Then go to the "brochures" tab and you can read up on some of the geometry information, the tubing specs, and the OEM build from the Trek sales brochures for that model year. Plus you can see if it was their "racing," "sport," or "touring" model. I'm going to guess from the lack of a color panel on the seat tube that it's late '70s or early '80s. In my opinion those are some of the most desirable vintage steel Treks.

Road Fan

For your shifting issues try checking the derailleurs first. If you print the '85 Owners Manual there's a section on 'The Derailleur System' with instructions; its pretty easy and you won't need any special tools.

If you look up the specs you'll find out what freewheel and chain were originally on the bike. I'm guessing it will be a Maillard Atom 77 14-30 6-speed freewheel and a Sedisport (now SRAM) chain. Your new chain and freewheel should have specs that are close to original. If the shop didn't replace the chain or replaced it with something cheesy I wouldn't recommend ever going back there.

I agree that you should keep the bike as close to stock as possible. I'm assuming that the bike shop gave you your old freewheel back. If they kept it that might be another reason for never going back. Late '70s or early '80s higher-end SunTour stem mount or barcon shifters together with a chrome SunTour downtube cable stop would be a nice vintage upgrade if you don't like the downtube shifters. By keeping the original parts you could always reverse the upgrade later if you wanted to.