I ran onto an old 520 yesterday. Ser#071607....The paint is almost pristine. I believe it is all original. Even the tires are Trek 1 1/8 X27. It is a 6 speed with Suntour dt friction shifters. My original intent was to clean it up and put it all back together and sell it but the Rigida rims are oxydized beyond my abilities to make presentable. Right now I am considering parting it out. Sorry for the ramblings. Thought some of you fellas might like to see the pics.

Close ups of rims?

I will try this pic

You are correct....they look rough. Are they pitted?

Aluminum Jelly may work.

Sweet find. Honest question, is this bike worth more or less parted out? There is little doubt that it's nice, but I don't think those components command the individual prices to make it worthwhile.

Maybe I am wrong, but the way Treks are selling you could probably do pretty well in complete rough condition even.

I don't think those wheels are that bad. Definitely not bad enough that I'd part the bike out.

I don't think parting this bike out would make much sense. Mid grade or lower components. I would look for a set of donor wheels myself. They will net you more than trying to clean up those rims.

Once you have good rims on that bike, it should command a really good price. Any vintage Trek touring bike will sell well.

Yes, they seem to be pitted. The biggest problem visually is the dark spots. The spokes look bad as well. They are dark and will not shine up like I think they should. Are they stainless? I would guess yes. The thing that surprises me is the nipple/spoke contact seems to be free and not frozen. At least the ones that I have tried are turnable. I currently have the bike down to the bare frame and none of the threaded fasteners were frozen or rusted together. It came apart as easy as a new bike.

I've seen worse.

The easiest thing, in the long run, is to unlace and polish on a buffer and re-lace. If that is beyond your capabilities, a tub of Mother's and a 6 pack will work wonders.

It has been 35 years since I built a set of wheel but I would not be adverse to the idea. I don't have a buffer though. I have never used the aluminum jelly and had not really thought about it but I might give that a try first.

Aluminum jelly with 0000 steel wool would wonders on the rims.

Apply the jelly, let it do its things for awhile and them work it in with with jelly soaked 000 steel wool. Work it in 1 direction only.

Here's a pair of Rigida wheels in New Jersey. They were $45 a week ago;
https://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/1354896862.html

I sold a really small one two years back for over $400.00 on e-bay. I think these do much better sold in good working condition than when parted out.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will keep it as a complete bike. The original show no discernable wear and the brake pads also have no wear. I am kinda looking forward to getting this thing back on the road so I can take a short spin on it. It is light for a 501 tube frame and not real high end components.

The crankset is going to take almost as much work as the wheels. I am still going to try the jelly but I think the OFG has the right idea about taking the wheels apart. ( I sure hate to do that though )

YEAH, Another bike LIVES!. Unless the thing is for **** I'd rather see it stay the way God (TREK) intended. I've upgraded bikes as components wore out, but that's different then stripping just to make a buck. I've got a trek 613 right now that needs a rim job... uh poor choice of words. I've used cleaner on a rag and run it back & forth between the spokes and gotten aluminum to shine like chrome. A dremel tool is invaluble in buffing out small parts like derails & brakes. If you don't have one... get one. Best $30-40 you'll ever spend. You can cut, grind, polish, Sand etc... Spokes are a bugger unless unlaced but you can probably get Most of it w/o going that far, at least cosmetically. Not familiar with Alum Jelly, but I assume it's sim to Naval Jelly but for Al & Alloy.