VictorKnox

Finished a couple bikes in the last few weeks.
First, a 1981 Trek 614 (24"). Bought it pretty original and turned into an upright townie/commuter bike to avoid overlap with my other bikes. Swapped to a triple crank so I could use it to tow my kids in a Burley trailer. The bars are Soma Oxford, basically a copy of Nitto Albatross. Not really a fan of the bars so far. I am not used to sitting so upright. Might try some moustache bars soon.
DSC03248 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

DSC03250 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

DSC03253 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

DSC03254 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

Next, a 1984 Trek 510 (19") that I picked up at a garage sale and overhauled for my sister who was looking for her first road bike. I'm kind of jealous: the Suntour Cyclone shifters/derailleurs shift better than any bike I have ever ridden.

DSC03276 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

DSC03286 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

DSC03290 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

DSC03285 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

DSC03278 by Jonathan Kauffman, on Flickr

jpaschall

Wow! The paint looks like it is in great shape! Details on the gearing? Are you just running the Shimano bar ends in friction?

Here's my '82 613 caught out in the rain the other day:

VictorKnox

Paint is mostly ok. It's got some bad spots up close. Crankset is a Shimano N600 48/42/26 from an '84 Trek 620. Freewheel is 6 speed 14-28. Bar ends are 8 speed running in friction mode.

That 613 looks great!

abellanti

Here is my latest project, a 1982 trek 720, complete with huret duopar derailleurs, Ideale 90 saddle and Phil Wood hubs. Only needs a rack or two and some funders. Rides like a Cadillac!

jpaschall

Absolutely insane build.

sloar 

Just picked this up today. Needs a complete overhaul and cleaning. I'm thinking a Brooks saddle will finish this thing off nice.

EightiesTreks

New to the forum. I worked at a Trek dealer while in college in the 80s. I still have a 1983 Trek 720 and a 1984 Trek 170 that I purchased at the time. Here's the 170: 170 frameset with Campagnolo Super Record, Cinelli bar and stem, Wolber Aspin rims with sew-up tires. The tires, handlebar tape, and brake lever hoods (Modolo anatomic) have been changed over the years but everything else is still original.

The Golden Boy 

What perfect bikes to have hung onto over the years!

I'd love to see more pix!

Welcome to the Bike Forums!

The Golden Boy 

Beautiful bike! It's rare to see the smaller models- and it's great that not only to find a vintage bike that fits, but to have it be the quality of the 720.

While people always talk about "rides like a Cadillac," on the Trek 720, you really get that effect of the long wheelbase combined with the 531 frame and fork- Very Cadillac. Like a 1972 El Dorado- 3 city blocks long and a 455 just gliding along.

Sedgemop 

Welcome and yes, please keep the pictures coming. Would love to see more of this one. Is it a 58 cm?

The Golden Boy 

If you're running friction on your bike, you should just snag that Cyclone- the GT should handle a triple well enough! I don't know how well the front works on a triple, but that Z206 in the front is pretty cool in its own right.

Kobe 

That is awesome what you did with the 614. So practical.

Ryvers

Just picked up a 610. By looking at it, it is obvious it is an '84. The serial lookup (103914) says it is an '83. The stickers are completely different than the '83 models though. Am I correct that this is a '84?



I was given the original seat post and handlebars/stem as well. I will be putting those back on. It came with these CX tires which I will be replacing. Hoping to use this as my fair weather commuter and my '89 520 as my rainy day ride. Any suggestions on a low profile rear rack that will fit this?

smontanaro 

Probably just late '83 production. Serial numbers would be stamped before paint and decals were applied. If they were out of '83 decals at that step or the frame was held over in inventory beyond the model year changeover, they would probably have just grabbed '84 decals.

The Golden Boy 

They'd build the next year's model year at the end of the previous season- similar to cars ("the new Oldsmobiles are out early this year") If a previous model year bike was still at Trek, it'd be painted and decaled as the current model year.

All the 1984/85 Trek 720s were brazed in 84. It wasn't a big seller (as it was an EXPENSIVE bike), whatever 720s didn't sell in 84- they changed the decals to the 1985 version.

It's interesting seeing the 1986 Trek 620 Cirrus. There was no Trek 620 for 1986- but they had leftover frames- so they were done up with 1986 paint and decals (with the "cirrus" decal from the 520) and called the 620 Cirrus.

sloar 

This is still my favorite out of all my Treks..

simmonsgc

Yeah, and with the esp. small frame that @abellanti posted, those chainstays look like they put the wheel somewhere in the Midwest, and I live in NC
My wife's '82 614 is that size, and the different geometry of the 720 is very apparent from that photo.

jeirvine 

That may be my fave factory Trek color. Nice specemin.

And I don't think I've posted my recent Trek 930 build here yet. Here she is:

Machine Age

What a great group of bikes on this page! VictorKnox I love your 614 build. I have Albatross bars on one bike and they got a lot better with the whole bar wrapped instead of grips so you can ride on the forward bends.

BTW I have a pristine Cyclone M-II GT derailleur set up on Ebay now if anyone's looking (can I say that here?).

OldsCOOL

Machine Age

Here's the one with fully-wrapped Albatross bars. 1981 25.5" 710 frame w/some of the original 715 build and the rest replaced with new. The matching luggage was an absurd indulgence



As long as we're Showing Our Treks, here's my other 710. 25.5" with 531 frame / fork in wonderful condition. Got it in a trade for an aluminum 1200 frame! Still has original sticker from Bud's Bike Shop in Claremont, about an hour away from me. Serial number says 1977 according to vintage-trek but 710s weren't in the catalogs until 1978 and weren't listed with full 531 until 1980 so the exact year is a mystery.

I love both of these bikes. About to convert this one to a triple or wide-range double and try some longer distances.

The Golden Boy 

(Most) any 7xx series bike is going to have a 531 main frame with 531 fork and stays.

There were a few 700 series bikes made with Columbus tubing. For some reason.

The naming convention is kind of simple until 1986; the 200, 300, 400 frames are all going to be either hi-ten and/or Japanese steel. 500 is going to be CrMo. 600 is going to be 531 main frame and fork and stays of CrMo or Manganese Alloy, 700 is 531/531 and 900 is Columbus.

There are a few very rare variances, but for the most part the rule holds true.

In 86 it went all nutty with mixing 531 main frame tubes with Tange CrMo... human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together- mass hysteria.

lonesomesteve

I've posted this bike before in this thread, way back on page 8. But since then a lot has changed. I'm not even sure if it still qualifies as a Trek...

It started out as a 1982 Trek 311. After riding it as a single speed for a couple of years I decided to use it as a 650b test bed. I loved it so much with 650b wheels and 38 mm tires that I decided to make it permanent by adding brazed on mounts for centerpull brakes positioned for 650b. Once I had the torch fired up and the paint ruined, I got carried away making some other modifications. Here's the end result:



In addition to the centerpull brake mounts, I added downtube shifter bosses, water bottle bosses, new cable routing for rear brake and derailleur cables, a pump peg on the non-drive side seatstay, mounts for the front rando rack, mid-fork bosses for a low-rider rack, and wiring guides for the dynamo hub wiring. I also cut apart an old VO rando rack and rebuilt it to mount on the brake studs, and then built a custom decaleur to hold the handlebar bag in place.

It was a lot of work to get it all right, but I had a lot of fun doing it.

jpaschall

Well if that's not cool, I don't know what is.

Machine Age

thanks for the explanation...I was confused by early catalogs listing forks made from "New Continental Oval" until Googling it just now to find it's a type of 531! From 1980 the catalogs say "Reynolds 531 throughout."

With a serial number date of June 1977 this frame must be pretty early in the 710 run. Neat. It's in such great shape.