I posted a similar thread on the C&V Appraisal forum and have received some good advice. However, this forum may bring a different perspective since the 520 is not very vintage.

I picked up a frame and fork locally for $25. A little rust inside the frame but I'm taking care of that. The paint is very good considering the age. The question is: Should I restore the 520 to original specs (mostly Deore LX groupset) or go the Alivio route with an entirely new groupset. I think a new Deore LX will cost more than the bike is worth and I will be selling it when it is completed. Age and health preclude doing multiple day tours.

Thanks in advance for your opinions and advise. Stay safe....

If your goal is to put parts on it and sell it, considering the shortages of parts there is probably nobody that can tell you the best way to make a profit.

I just paid $1800 for my 2022 Trek 520… just throwing that out there.

I probably should have been more clear on my goal....not looking for a profit just want to produce a desirable tourer. I just don't want to put $1200 dollars into a bike that can sell for $350..

Often times, last year's Deore is this year's Alivio, as Shimano trickles down their newest componentry to lesser group sets. And as much as I feel Deore is the lowest level that I personally would ride on, you might not have any choice but to go with the lower priced Alivio in order to make your money back.

If you could find parts from a bike on craigslist, and move the pats over to the Trek, that would an affordable way to go. Going out and buying all the parts new, not so good/ will add up too quickly.

I'm thinking just sell it to someone who will build it the way they want.

Yup.

A bit over a decade ago there was a particular bike I wanted to buy, not sold in USA and I was not too interested in paying a lot in customs duty to import it from Europe. Then one popped up on Ebay, it was in Canada. And it was my exact size. I wanted the frame but it had a bunch of parts on it that I was not interested in, so I did not bid. But watched to see what it sold for. Apparently nobody else wanted that mix of parts, nobody bid. I e-mailed the owner to see if he was interested in selling the frame and fork. The end of that story is that I bought the frame and fork from him, have done several tours on it, and I likely will do more on it.

This Trek, not sure if that is still a USA made one or one that was welded in Taiwan, but those old Treks can be sought after for commuting, touring, fixies, etc. At that time I think that was the only steel bike that Trek sold, a friend of mine did not like his aluminum bike, so he bought a 520 to get a steel bike, would have been about that point in time.

I built up a couple Trek mountain bikes recently with old parts I scavenged. If I had to buy the parts, I'd have put more into the bikes than I could have gotten out of them in the end. If you're not already sitting on a big supply of parts, it probably won't be worth the time and money to build it up.

Unless you have a large spare parts bin or a donor bike, flipping frames / bikes usually yields little to no profit.