illwafer

So I went to look at this Trek on the San Diego CL today:


I didn't end up buying it because it was so similar to my current 520, but I've been looking for a few hours trying to figure out what bike it is exactly. All the decals were removed. There was a "73" stamped on the head tube. I'm just assuming everything is original.

Here are the details:
The guy says he thinks it's around 1982.
27" wheels.
3 water bottle mounts on the downtube.
No shifter bosses; Suntour barcons.
Campy headset.
Black Dia-compe Royal Gran Compe 500 sidepull brakes (no cantis).
Sugino AT crankset.
Suntour Mountech FD and RD.
Front rack braze ons on the fork (halfway up).
Suntour GS dropouts.

I suppose some of the parts could have been swapped out and/or the fork braze ons added later, but it all looked original to me.

EjustE

There are a few things that seem mixed up in this bike.

My guess is that it could be any 1982 entry/mid trek bike. They all came without DT shifter bosses. The fork braze ons have to be later. The first Trek to get a fork braze on was the 83 720, but also had canti brakes. I suspect that the additional water bottle mounts were added later. No Trek bikes came with Mountech derailleurs in 1982.

illwafer

this bike didn't have shifter bosses, just brazed on cable stops, which gave ample room for the extra water bottle mounts.

edit: misread. you said WITHOUT DT shifter bosses.

cooker

vintage-trek.com

wrk101

Too bad you didn't get the serial number, as you can look them up directly at the vintage Trek site and know exactly what model the bike is.

Perhaps you can have the owner supply the serial number?

illwafer

I peeked at the serial when I was there. I'm 99% it started with an E. E = TX500.

MetinUz

Are you sure this is a Trek to begin with? Earlier frames had Trek engraved on the seatstay caps. Later frames had it cast in the seatpost lug. The only exception to this is the early fastback stay racing frames (TX900). This frame in the picture is clearly not a touring frame, as the chainstays are too short. I am guessing a Japanese frame? If it has the Trek engravings, then perhaps a 600 series frame with a later touring fork?

illwafer

It does have TREK engraved on the seatstay caps. This was virtually the only indentifcation that it is a Trek.

I think the TREK was actually embossed/raised instead of stamped. Maybe not.

EjustE

The problem with this is that a touring fork would have canti brake bosses. This doesn't.

illwafer

SN is: E5K7C84

E = TX500,
5 = 25.5",
K= November
7 = 1977

So, 1977 TX500 with Ishiwata 022. Strange how this was modded then. Lots of upgrades that probably occurred around 1983-4?

kroozer 

Are you sure the "73" isn't the frame size?

JohnDThompson 

TREKs of that era had stamped seat stay caps. The "TREK" name was stamped into sheet metal and brazed over the end of the stay, then sanded to blend with stay tubing.

Some 600 level frames had lowrider mounts on the fork blades, but no cantilever bosses. Does the fork crown have "TREK" on it anywhere? If so, where? Crown shoulders or over the brake hole?

JohnDThompson 

No, "73" is the lug angle.

JunkYardBike

The early Treks were also available as framesets only, so they were often built up at the LBS according to owner's preference. Also, it's my understanding that custom details could be ordered (eyelets, tubing changes, braze-ons) directly from the factory. I'm not sure geometry could be changed, however.

Or, as EjustE postulates, the braze-ons were added later. Is the frame a light metallic blue? I've got a '78 TX 500, but no mid-fork braze-ons.

illwafer

it was silver (solid) and a lighter shade than the 520/620/720. My 1985 520 has sparkly stuff in it. This done does not. Similar to yours above.

JunkYardBike

Well, I'm fairly certain pewter was a common color, but it was metallic. Mine is metallic as well, though you can't see it well in that photo.

EjustE

This is consistent with the SunTour GS dropouts as well. Mountech derailleurs were introduced at 1983, so I think you are correct about the timing of those upgrades

unterhausen

every Trek built in '77 was custom ordered, even the ones that were just a bare frame. Used to drive me nuts. We had zero stock of built up bikes or even painted frames. You could order almost any braze ons you wanted, but I don't remember ever seeing a cantilever boss at the time and I don't know if they would have taken that order or one for low rider mounts or water bottle mounts under the DT.

You couldn't order a different geometry. The jigs were fixed geometry. A fork crown on a '77 would have been from Hayden and not specifically a Trek part.

Sixty Fiver

Some early 80's Trek touring bikes were fitted with side pull brakes...

MetinUz

True, but apparently these did not have low-rider mounting holes in the fork. Perhaps a framebuilder added these these to the original fork?