I found a specialized expedition. It is a cool bike. From the date code on the components I think it is a 83. It has a deore rear derailleur, a "deer head" front, but suntour shifters and suntour brakes. It is in decent shape, but it has a fair number of scrapes. I bought it from original owner, and she had toured with it all over. So it has some use.

I was hoping my wife would like it, but it is a 56cm and might be too large. I don't know why I can't ever find anything in a 54cm.

I am going to clean it up, and let me wife try it out. If she doesn't like it I will try and flip it or trade it away.

With this in mind what should I do with the brakes? The brake levers are Superbe, the brakes themselves are Mavic. The hoods are trashed, and they are not easy to squeeze. I found some hoods at loose screws for 18 bucks. But I am not sure if that is the best approach. I can buy new Tektro aero levers for just a bit more. If my wife was going to keep the bike, I would probably do that because they are easier to squeeze. But if I end up selling it, would the Tektro levers be detrimental?

Jared

You could keep the original brakes and give them to the eventual purchaser with the deal if they're sticklers for originality. But I doubt they will be- these bikes tend to be ridden rather than collected.

Wow...Just about the most sought after touring bike ever...In the top 5! Nice score...Do what you will with the bike just don't toss anything and include the parts if you do decide to flip it. Should bring a pretty penny too!

+1.

Top-tier touring bike, highly-prized and sought after by the touring crowd. Plus, at 56cm it is in the sweet spot for reselling. Overhaul, clean, and tune - and leave it in touring configuration. Sell it for good money, and then buy the bike your wife wants.

I'd be tempted to pull the Superbe levers and replace with the Tektro's. The Superbe's will bring decent money on eBay, and their absence shouldn't hurt the resale value of the bike as a whole.

I have a 1983 54 cm Expedition that I picked up from craig's list a while ago. It came with all original parts, including Suntour Mountech derailers and Shimano Deore brakes.

I have been commuting on it this summer and greatly enjoyed it, even though it's not my ideal size (56 cm would have been perfect; if you were in the SoCal area, I'd love to work out a frame swap with you!).

Hope your wife could fit it comfortably and enjoy the bike!

So are the Deore deraileurs on this bike not original? Does that mean it is possibly not an 83 like I suspected from the shimano date code?

Jared

I'm pretty sure it's a 1983, since it doesn't have dt shifter braze-on. The original owner might have swapped out the Mountech deraileurs at some point. Based on what I've read, this might well be for the best since the rear Mountech was known to have reliability problem.

The Deore is def. an upgrade. I owned an 83 expedtion and it came speced out with Mountech. The Deore is pretty sought after as well. I sold the frame fork, headset and and BB for $400.00 on Ebay. I still have the stem, Superbe levers, Wobler super champion 700c wheels with specialized hubs. I poached the AT crank for my Franklin build. I still ave the Mountech, but it is pretty much worthless. If you decide to sell it on Ebay you can easily make $600-$700 if you part it out. Mine was in rougher shape than yours.

I owned one just like that but I bought it new as a left over 84' in 1985. Did the Icefields Parkway with it twice and sold it to a buddy who eventually (4 years later) gave it back to me to keep for him.
We both still miss the old "mule". Nice bike.
I believe my bike had Shimano "deer head" RD and FD.

That Deore is an early-ish indexing unit, which means late '80's to mid '90's. Definitely an upgrade- the Suntour Mountech deraileurs had a reputation for coming apart.

if you switch out the brakes. I could use the mafac's that are one there.

Thanks for all the advice.

I have pretty much decided that I am going to sell this. I paid the "sellers fee" a while ago, so I will put up an official for sale thread soon to avoid any rule breaking.

Jared

Hi, are you interested in selling this bike?

Hope his wife isn't waiting 8 years for this to sell...