BenA

I got this '85 770 about 4 years ago from the original owner and it had been repainted orange. My hope was to get a pink one, but they were nearly impossible to find. After a couple years I got hell bent on restoring it to its original pink. For the past two years I've been searching for the that pink. I posted a couple times here searching for information. I never found the actual color - no one knows, not even Trek, not Dupont. Finally, I found Rich Ferguson in Chicago who had one and was willing to help (and he was a GREAT help - thanks Rich). We had his bike scanned and color matched through Glidden paint because there is no surface area on a bike that is big enough for a car paint scanner - believe me, we tried that. Glidden matched it and we had paint samples made, then paint draws made from that. Then we had those draws scanned by Dupont for a match, had paint samples made, & had draws made from that - then matched those against the Rich's original bike - seems to be a perfect match! Turns out that Dupont did have an existing color that matched exactly, which could be the original color that Trek used back in '85. Word is that Trek often mixed custom colors, but they used existing colors as well.

Here is the bike, nearly complete with new Dupont Chroma paint, decals by Velocals, and as much original equipment as I can find so far.

If anyone needs to know the original color - I have it!

Michael Angelo 

Very nice work work, it was worth all the effort. Beautiful.

gomango 

Greetings from St. Paul!

She looks great.

Please join us on our Twin Cities C&V spring ride!

BenA

Thanks, and what's the deal on that ride - when, where, how far, link?

Phil_gretz

Great job. Really. You deserve credit for persistence and an eye to detail. I'd be proud to ride that bike (even if is ... um...very pink). You should join the ride so other C&V'ers can see it up close. Phil

sloar

beautiful trek.nice job...

gomango 

Link is still in my brain.

Watch here for details on the Twin Cities C&V ride in May.

KonAaron Snake 

I love it! Great color choice and the effort you put in only makes it more special. I especially love the white saddle/tape/hoods/housings with the paint scheme.

runningDoc

I will re-quote one pic with large image for prosperity. Nice bike!

OldsCOOL

Very nice!

Brake lever question: Why didnt Trek install aero levers on such a high level bike?

BenA

Thanks for the comment, I appreciate it. We called Sherman-Williams stores, a bunch of auto-body shops, Dupont themsleves, and none of them could do it. They were willing to try, but all said that they cannot be sure that there would be no light leak with an auto body paint scanner - but doesn't matter - we got the scan.

Ben

BenA

Who knows why Trek did not install aero levers - but I kind of like the cables.

Snydermann

I like pink bikes and indeed a pink Lotus Supreme is on my grail list. I admire your attention to detail in finding the exact right color, most people would have settled for close enough and painted the bike the wrong shade. It's also very nice of Rich Ferguson to help you out. Great Job!

I also prefer exposed cables, it looks "more vintage".

stausty

Gorgeous work. And just my size!

Yo Spiff

Nice job! Nice Ride!

Kobe 

I lie it a lot, and for the record my bike is a space violet Bridgestone, not pink.

You have me regretting not going with white tape and saddle, if only Brooks did white.

Rocket-Sauce 

Beautiful job. You painted the water bottle cage bolts?

KonAaron Snake 

I should kick myself for not bidding more on one when I had the chance!

BenA

Thanks for the note - and yes, Rich was great to help me, and a great guy. I think the pink '85 770 was ahead of times in terms of what the market was ready for - given that Trek themselves had to have many repainted (info from Joe Bell who said he was asked by Trek to repainted many). Even today most men would not ride a pink bike - and many women I imagine. To me this marks that bike as one of the more unique production bikes produced in the US - and I figured that someone had to get the color match right - for posterity. This is where Rich came in - he is (I think I have this right) a studio photographer, and has a very developed sense of color because of it, and knows a ton about Treks. His eye is way better than most when evaluating color and he felt we had a match to his original 770. Getting close on this color was not close enough.

Thanks again,
Ben

BenA

Standard equipment on the 770 was a white San Marco - but now a swear by the Adamo saddles, and they make them in white leather.

BenA

yes, but it is painted underneath the bolts as well. Since I often don't ride with two cages, its nice to have those bolts blend in.

Snydermann

I can second the sentiment on pink bike production as it relates to Lotus. I have comments from a quite a few Lotus retailers from back in the day complaining about pink bikes and sew-up tires. One reason the early Supreme is difficult to find is that it only came in two colors, Pink and Blue, the Super Pro Aero was also available in pink and is today very difficult to find in that color. It was just an unpopular color at the time, add to that they were only available with sew-ups and that made them even less popular. Lotus seemed to like pink, as their caps and jerseys were also pink.

The warehouse manager for Lotus in the early 1980's was offered a free bike as a parting gift when he left the company. He chose an Aero Sport because the only Supreme in inventory was pink.

I'd love to find an original one of these:

kiwigem

Here I thought myself an inveterate pink bike hater, but this makes 2x in one month that I've had to eat my words! Yours is the prettiest one I've seen. Thanks for sharing your labor of love.

BenA

Thanks man. When I first told my wife that I was going to restore it to it's original pink she said - YOU are going to ride a PINK bike? Once she realized I was serious she was all for it. I'm telling you, there is something a bit fantastic about rolling down the road on a sunny day with the sun sparkling off of the pink ride beneath you.

tugrul

Just post what it is. Somebody who finds this page in ten years will be glad you did.