Personally, I don't think it's worth it, although it is certainly not a horrible deal. I bought a 1991 520, assembled, in very good condition, works perfectly, for $200, this summer.

One can only dream about finding a deal like that here in Phoenix/Tucson.

I got 520 frame for free. Only thing is it was almost completely stripped and bent, really bent. I stripped the rest of it and may have plans for the triple crank. After the crank is ousted - the frame will be ousted from my basement.

all you people and the great deals you find, in austin, tx the "vintage" scene is so huge any bikes that are from the 80's and before fetch over 200 usually if they look decent.

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/1448510382.html

1984 Trek 760 12 speed - $500 (arlington, ma)

FOR SALE 1984 TREK 760 12 SPEED BICYCLE. Custom bike...with
CANE CREEK BRAKES-like new, used once or twice, vintage CINELLI drop bars,
CAMPOGNOLO gear shifter, many original SUNTOR SUPERB parts, NEW cables and handle bar tape....
asking $500
*******WILLING TO SELL BRAKES SEPARATELY FOR $200****
CALL JESS
617 501 7184

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/1443371298.html

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/1445485922.html

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/1447629818.html

https://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/bik/1450312732.html

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/1444437777.html

If it's your size then go for it. Why wait for who knows how long for another in your size to come along just to save 50 bucks? You could be riding now..
Our trek 420's....

^ nice bikes! That blue one is amazing. The more i see of these bikes the more excited i get.

I 100% agree.

apples and oranges...

the bike in question is an mid-entry level trek with true temper tubes and mid-entry level components with a sport/touring geometry. The 760 had a full 531 frame, racing geometry, top of the line Suntour Superbe components (7sp), Wolber tubular rims and was about 21 lbs.

+1 IMO, This subforum is not "can you top this deal?", but rather, is this bike a fair deal (market price). I could list all the deals I have gotten in the last year, but I don't think that matters. And to get such deals, I look every day, and I buy deals regardless of size. Most of my "deal" finds have not been my size. I ride a 22 inch frame. My last five road bike finds: two 18 inch frames, two 19 inch frames and one 25 inch frames. Its unusual to find so many small frames, I usually find 21 and 23 inch frame bikes. I hadn't found an 18 or 19 inch road bike prior to this time in several months.

+1 And I buy deals whether I have room or not. So last week, I picked up seven bikes. The deals tend to come in spurts. I filled up last fall and winter. Looks like it is happening again!

I have paid market pricing for a couple of bikes I regularly ride. They are my size, and what I wanted, so even a thrifty guy like me did not mind paying full market. I bought one from a flipper in Atlanta and another from a flipper in Charlotte, they made their money on the flips, and I got the bikes I wanted. Full market pricing on a vintage steel Trek is still a deal IMHO. You would be getting a great bike, that could easily last another 50 years

RE: apples and oranges...

After subtracting the $200 for the brakes he only wants $300 for the frame.
Not to bad for 531 in good shape


Back to the original question, assembled makes it a much better deal.

if you would read the whole thread you would notice the bike will be assembled. all these bikes from other regions can't really compare to what people are selling here, if you find links of better deals in austin i would look them over a bit more.

I want to have this bike already. got some bars from the bike coop on campus today, some nice and shiny 3 ttt drops. just need some brown tape and ill be set!

Like a friend told me a long time ago (this was regarding working on your home), you've got to consider your time to be worthless. As an example, I spent 28 hours restoring a Peugeot this spring. If I had only assigned $10 to every hour I spent, I still would not have been able to get my money back in a resell. But there was a tremendous sense of satisfaction.

here is the bike. I had quite a time finding some bars that will fit in the stem for some reason. So these are from an old old rusted out huffy haha. Problem with these bars is that the brake clamps don't come down tight enough to keep them secure so ill keep looking for some more. Also, when i pull either of the brakes the handle don't automatically go back out. I have to push the levers back out, they just stick. Is there a quick fix to this? new cables? something is too tight?

Also I'll get better pictures one day when the camera charger decides to show back up.

Thanks
Craig

It's possible the cables are too loose.

Bike looks good

ya i think ill replace them since i believe they are original as well. Everything on the bike is from the day it was bought except a new BB, handlebars (of course), and the rear tire. Pretty nice ride though from what i can tell around the block so far.

Stems have different clamp diameters. The (most common?) standard for older US, Japanese and English(?) bikes is 25.4mm. The new standard is 26.0mm. And old French bikes had 25.0mm, which I found out the hard way. I've seen mechanics force a 26.0mm bar into a 25.4mm stem, and a 25.4mm into a 25.0 stem, but the consensus on the mechanics' forum says this is a no-no.

So I'm guessing you've got a stem/bar incompatibility. Buy yourself a set of inexpensive digital calipers - best tool in my arsenal.

Looks much better assembled despite the blurry pic, I wish you luck with it!

Sounds like you need new cables, they're probably full of oxidation... Since you intend to keep this bike, don't go with the cheap Walmart cables, stainless steel is the way to go, and not much more expensive.

I think I'm with you in spirit, but I would suggest using a different word. Your time is priceless! If you are doing something you enjoy, even if it is at times frustrating, it is time well spent.

It's well worth it