ctmullins 

Not sure this deserves its very own thread, but I didn't see a "Show us your vintage Treks!" or "Let's see your 531 Frankenbikes!" thread, so....

When I got into cycling seriously, in the mid-80s, I built myself a very nice Nishiki Prestige, with SunTour Superbe/Sprint stuff. Put a lot of miles on that bike, and loved them all, but I began to hanker for something a little more practical, pedestrian, and mundane - a general-purpose around-town bike. At the time, the obvious choice (to me) was a rigid steel MTB frame, built with roadie parts. So I built it. And I rode it a lot, and liked it well enough. Then, last year, I decided that the frame was a bit too large for me, and a bit too heavy as well. So I trolled eBay for smaller steel MTB frames, and found a GT Talera frame, which fit the bill, so I bought it and transferred all of the kit to it. And I rode it and liked it well enough.

But both of those bikes really were a bit too heavy and dull-riding. They weren't the kind of bike that makes you really want to go riding, you know?

So it was back to the drawing board. After building and riding my wife's Raleigh mixte last year, I was convinced that what I really wanted was a nice mixte frame. But the right one just never came along. And then I found the Trek - a 1981 710 model, Reynolds 531, slackish angles, a bit smaller than the Nishiki, and I took the plunge.

It meant dismantling the 26" wheels and building 700C ones, but it had been many years since my last wheel build, and I knew that would be enjoyable as well. And it meant new brakes, but I had been wanting to try those fancy new-fangled dual-pivots anyway, so what a perfect opportunity!

So here she is - built over the last few weeks, with the maiden neighborhood ride this afternoon:













As you can see, it's a mashup of parts, old and new, based on what I like and what I think is practical in an around-town bike:

- Campy Record high-flange hubs laced to Sun CR18s with DT Competition spokes
- Rivendell Jack Brown 700 x 33.33333 tires
- Campy Super Record rear derailleur, Huret something-or-other front derailleur
- VO "Limited Edition" compact double crank, 34-48*
- Shimanopore 13-28 freewheel (soon to be replaced with an IRD)
- Campy Nuovo Record pedals with generic plastic half-clips
- SunTour Power Ratchet barcons
- Nitto moustache bars on a Nitto Dirt Drop stem, with black cloth tape
- Honey Brooks B17 Special on a generic Kalloy post
- Tektro 466 dual-pivots
- Campy Record (or whatever) brake levers with generic hoods
- Big ugly U-lock for riding around town
- Generic bottle cage & seat bag

* (the one they had on sale recently, because it accidentally got manufactured with a shiny chrome finish, instead of the usual semi-matte aluminum look)

I especially love the graceful fork crown, the "TREK" cast into the top of the seat stays, and the above-the-bottom-bracket cable routing.

The initial ride was really nice and smooth, but I'm going to need to check the true on the wheels after the spokes settled into the hubs & rims. Looking forward to a proper shakedown cruise!

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll report back soon, after I've put a few more miles on it!

Puget Pounder

Very classy build! I love the moustache bar/bar ends combo. If it were me, I would've gone with tape that matches the saddle. What about fenders? Doesn't look like much space after putting those fatties in.

Orrery

I'm diggin' your build. It nicely combines my two current obsessions; vintage Treks and the XO-1 with its moustache bars. The only thing I don't like is the lock holder covering up the beautiful Trek decal. I suggest the hipster solution of stuffing a mini U-lock in your back pocket

4Rings6Stars

Very nice. I'm building up a 710 as my commuter right now. It's a lovely bike. I'm fighting with mine though, having trouble fitting x32 Paselas + VO hammered fenders on it...

Chris Chicago

there are a few trek models from the early 80s that have very similar frame geometry to the xo-1. the 610 is one iirc

a77impala

Beautiful bike! I have a '79 710 that I converted from 10 speed to a triple with 7 gears in the rear with bar ends on the drops. It is my favorite ride.
Hope you enjoy yours for years to come.

ColonelJLloyd 

Wow, that's a nice selection of parts. Seems like you could use a larger frame size, though. I think your U-lock bracket may be on upside down.

Those are nice tires, huh?

BRAZUCA

Very nice Trek, congrats! Question here from a guy that is new into cycling. In order to fit larger tires like yours, I would need to replace my 27" wheels with 700c? Could I fit larger tires to make my Trek 630 into a neighborhood ride? Thanks. (By the way, I would like to do that with minimum $$$ expense possible)

jstewse

Love it. I've been thinking that my Trek needs some Jack Brown's.

ctmullins 

Thanks guys!

The bar tape was already there, but yeah, good point - when it comes time for a replacement, maybe I'll go with Brooks honey wrap....

Fenders would be nice, but it is rather tight in there with the Jacks. We'll see....

Agreed. The lock is temporary, methinks...

Do let us know how those fenders come out!

Thanks! A lot of the Campy stuff came to me for free, actually - a family member had a rental property at which somebody had abandoned a couple of bicycles. One was trash, but one had all this Campy stuff on it - score!

I intentionally wanted a lower top tube on this one, for, um, "comfort".

Most I've ever spent for tires, but yeah, they're nice!

Chris Chicago

here is a pic of my 80s trek frankenbike. somewhat similar...bars, dual pivots, color, etc.

simmonsgc

Did you change to 700c, or working with the original 27s?

4Rings6Stars

700c with these brakes. https://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...ch-brakes.html

Orrery

^ Ditto, I did the same on my '83 620. They work great.

The Golden Boy 

I have a 78/79 736 and 32s won't fit- even without a fender.

JohnDThompson 

That would be a Huret "Jubilee" front derailleur. Fragile, and fairly valuable.

Henry III

After you told me about how fragile they are when you worked at Trek. I try not to even look at the one on my Raleigh Comp in fear of it breaking. Hahaha. I do really like the look of them and it shifts pretty good also.

kc0yef 

OK here is one of mine 420L (ladies' mixte) 1984, mariner blue Shimano 105 hubs uniglide 27 inch wheels,


This on is not mine but I found it while working on mine... another 420
https://www.flickr.com/photos/4176463...7623211837194/

ctmullins 

Holy smokes - it's my bike's evil twin!

Awesome. It was scavenged from the same abandoned bike that brought me the Campy stuff, so I figured it must be decent. And yeah, it works a treat!

A vintage Trek mixte - that would have been exactly what I wanted! Ah - except I do prefer the classic "twin top tube" mixte style.... But that one is very pretty indeed!

brockd15 

So what was this bike all these parts came from anyway?

ctmullins 

LOL! I knew somebody would ask that question!

The short answer - I have no idea. It was quite a number of years ago, so my memory is a bit hazy, but I remember that it wasn't quite complete, and the front wheel was tacoed. The main reason that I stripped it instead of fixing it was that the frame was waaaaaaay too big for me. But the strange thing was that the frame seemed to be completely covered in primer. I mean, it was a good quality frame, judging from the lugs, dropouts, and fully chromed fork. But there was no way I could ever actually ride it! So I advertised it in - I think rec.bicycles.classified? - this was well before the day of eBay, back when NCSA Mosaic version 1.0 had just come out. Anyway, I put it up for sale, somebody else was interested, and I sent it on its merry way. I like to think it went to a better place....

ctmullins 

There, that's better!



Racked, and I was pleased to discover that the U-lock fits neatly into the rack, with a bit of velcro to keep it out of my spokes. Trek sticker restored to its former glory!



(Even though I grew up on SunTour, I will always be a sucker for the aesthetic of a classic drop-parallelogram changer. And yes, the pulleys have cracks; and yes, I need to trim the cable end....)

Fitted the IRD freewheel (13-15-17-19-21-24-28). It's a Shimano-free bike again! It's shiny, and meshes well aesthetically with the rest of the bike, methinks, especially with the shiny VO crankset. More importantly, it shifts very smoothly (as any modern ramped freewheel should), and it's very, very quiet! It's a completely different feel than my old familiar SunTour freewheel, with its solid and reassuring "clunk". Not better, or worse, just different. Well, definitely better in the sense that the chain is now eager to jump to the destination cog.

Got a chance to commute on it today. The whole bike has a solid, quiet feel to it, like gliding across the pavement. The Jack Browns are definitely quieter and roll faster than the Kendas that were on the 26" version of this bike (no surprise there). Not sure I like the cloth tape, though - some honey leather wrap might be in the near future after all.

Orrery

Beautiful! What rack is that? I like the looks of it.

FlatTop

Practical check. Fun check. Really great looking double check.

ctmullins 

Thanks for the compliments guys! I'm really happy with how it turned out, too!

The rack is one that my Dad gave me some number of years ago for Christmas. It's a Trek-branded rack, which is purely coincidental. It has the newer (current) Trek logo. He probably just got it from his LBS. It is nice and light (even if the U-lock isn't).