'82 Trek 311
 

I've posted a bit over in the Long Distance forum, but I'm new here in C & V. I've been lurking a bit because through randonneuring I've really come to admire lugged steel frames and all those other shiny vintage bits and pieces.

Anyway, I figured I'd dip my toe into the C&V water when I ran across an old Trek on craiglist a while back. As I took the bike apart and started cleaning things up an putting it back together I realized that this bike had never really been ridden much at all. It still had the original Trek branded tires with virtually no wear, and what seemed to be the original chain, cables, bar tape, the works. While it hadn't been ridden much, it had been stored on a fishing boat for several years so there was a lot of corrosion and a some rust, though nothing too terrible.

So here it is after some clean up, new tires, cables, chain, brake levers (sorry, I decided to go modern there), bar tape, a Brooks saddle I had sitting around and some fenders. I took it on its maiden voyage today, about 30 miles, and we got along very well. Looks like this will probably be my ride on my next 200k.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/...c589249c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/...370f477c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/...45702540_b.jpg

Ah you're from Seattle. I am too. Nice clean build. I think the Tektro levers are a great addition to many vintage bikes. They have that Campy shape to them, which feels great compared the the smaller Shimano ones. I have pretty small hands, but still like the feel of those. I can't tell, but it looks like you have an arx derailleur, Sakae crank, and some sort of shimano shifters on friction?

Welcome to C&V lonesomesteve.
I'm glad you rescued it from that salty dog on the fishin' boat. If he had taken a ride with it, they both might have ended up in Davy Jones' locker ! ! :eek:

I like the color combo - very understated but unusual.
Of course I don't have to tell you what nice bikes the old Trek steelies are.

Yeah, I love the shape of the Tektro levers and while I love nearly everything else about pre-90s bikes, the look of those cables sticking up out of the brake levers is just something I can't get used to. Yes, derailleurs are arx and the cranks are sakae. The shifters are the one part that I'm still looking for. The original shifters were very corroded and the rear shifter broke off the first time I tried to use it. So I bought a set of the Sunrace clamp-on shifters that are all over ebay. Unfortunately they're really crap, not to mention all wrong for this bike, so I'm looking for something better but getting by with the Sunrace shifters for now.


Thanks, I know the colors aren't at all period correct, but I kind of liked the way the bar tape and cable housing match the gum wall tires.

Yesterday was my first ride on an old Trek and I was really impressed. What a smooth comfortable ride. Felt like an old Buick.

Loving that Trek!
I like the "Grey Paint"

I cant wait to finish my build.

Very nice indeed...... What brand and model fenders are those? Good luck with that fine machine.

nice!! i have a 311 in the same colour. i dug around for info on it and if i remember correctly, '82 was the only year it was made. it's been a nice solid ride for me for almost 2 years now. enjoy it!!

Thanks, fenders are Planet Bike Hardcore Road 45mm. Living in Seattle, I don't really consider it a complete bike until it has fenders. I thought about putting some nice VO hammered aluminum fenders on there, but that didn't seem quite right since the fenders would cost almost as the bike itself. Besides this bike will probably become my daily commuter and plastic handles getting slammed around in the bike rack at work a little better.

I'm curious if yours still has the stick-on blue label on the seat tube? I wanted to keep it, but on mine it was bubbled and torn and peeling off so I had to remove what was left. Seems like they really weren't made to last.

Very nice, I really dig the color combination ;) I've seen all sorts of Sutour shifters on ebay, and you might also try the ISO/trade thread here on C&V.

Cheers,
Chris

lonesomesteve, I recently scored a box full of Suntour shifters; are your originals clamp-on or were there shifter bosses? Most of what I have are for braze-on mounting but there might be a clamp or two buried somewhere in there.

I would need clamp-on. Let me know if you've got one.

it's still on there now but its really mangled and i've been thinking about removing it for a while. i agree that it doesn't seem too hardy

I may have some suntour ones and we may be able to meet somewhere in Seattle. I'll let you know.