CharmCityCycle

First of all, thanks to everyone for bearing with me. This is my second post asking what are probably pretty elementary questions to most on this forum, but there is so much to learn/figure out, and I want to get my new (old) bike up and running some time this century. I recently purchased a 1984 Trek 620. I'm going to have it stripped and powder coated as there are a few little rust spots, and I'm not wild about the pewter color.

Question 1:
My lbs already got it down to the frame and fork for me, but they didn't remove the headbadge. I didn't even think to ask about it until I got home. I'm wondering how I can go about removing it before I take it to the powder coat place. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Trek glued their headbadges on rather than riveting them. Mine has a few rust spots on it anyway, and I don't feel the need to advertise for Trek, so I don't care overmuch if the headbadge is damaged, but I don't want to hurt the frame. Thus prying it off sounds a little dicey. I'm sure the powder coater could mask it with tape, but I think I'd rather have it off, so the whole frame can be coated. What should I do?

Question 2:
I noticed a wee bit of rust (or maybe it's just gunk, it's hard to tell) inside the top tube where it joins the headtube. The rust spots on the outside of the frame will be taken care of by the powder coater, but what, if anything, should I do about the inside?

Question 3:
I want to swap the downtube shifters out for bar ends. But the lbs only has indexed bar ends, and with everything else I'm doing, I can't afford to swap out the rear derailleur right now. I looked on ebay, but I really don't know what to look for when it comes to the old Suntour barcons. There seem to be a variety of them, and of course in all different conditions (of which I am not yet really qualified to judge). Rivendell sells some friction shifting bar ends, but they themselves state that they have a plastic part which is prone to breakage. Their website downplays that fact, but if I'm going to drop over 90 bucks with shipping, on a new part, some assurance of reliability would be nice. I may still go that way in the end, because at least I will know what I am getting (and they say it comes with everything necessary), but if there is some better option, I would love to know about it.

Thanks as always. This forum is a great resource, and the folks here on the C&V part seem to be among the most helpful.

jtgotsjets

I don't think I could recommend buying anything from Rivendell unless you're rich.

Nothing wrong with them, but vintage stuff (of any kind) is always going to be a niche and thus retro-seeming new item prices are always going to be inflated. Actual vintage stuff has the advantage of being pre-owned, almost by definition, so you can usually find a deal if you know what you're looking for.

I bet if you took a poll in this forum about Rivendell's bikes it would look like this:
Do you like Rivendell's bikes? 100% Yes
Do you really lust after Rivendell bikes? 80% Yes
Do you own a Rivendell bike? 99% No
Everyone here would rather just get a late 80s Bridgestone.
Same goes, to a somewhat lesser extent, for componentry.

auchencrow

Hi Charm city -

1) Usually you can just wait for it to fall off by itself ( a common complaint).. I don't know what glue they used, but I would go for the hairdryer to see if it helps loosen things up before trying anything else.

2) I would daub on a little Rust converter - available in the paint aisle at Lowes.

3) I am a big fan of friction because it is reliable no matter what - whereas indexing may result in your needing to replace everything.

wrk101

The indexing comes from the levers, not the derailleur (the levers need to coordinate with the cassette or freewheel). The Trek 620 I had last year had the Maillard Helicomatic freewheel, an obsolete and undesirable set up. Sheldon Brown website has a review on those hubs.

That Rivendell bar end (at least the one for $50) is just the housing, it does not include the shift levers.

Meanwhile, it is common to see good vintage bar end shifters, complete, delivered, for about $30 on ebay.

The Shimano SL-BS 77 (Dura Ace) barcons are on sale right now at Niagara for $50. That's a smoking hot deal. I have never used them, but they look like an interesting option. What little I have read on them is that they can be run in friction mode, which would allow you to run anything right now, and supposedly, they are compatible with Ultegra and 105 components (9 speed) if you go that way later. I would recommend you research them as a possible option.

CharmCityCycle

Thanks for the responses.

Just to clarify, I know the indexing comes from the levers, but I was under the impression that it won't usually work with older derailleurs. Is that not correct? I'm saying I want friction shifting barends, so I don't have to replace anything else.

Oh, and the wheels are not original. I had heard about some issue with the old hubs, but these aren't they, so I think I am ok on that count.

unterhausen

I used dental floss to take one of the glued headbadges off. I was going to heat it first, but that wasn't required.

Grand Bois

https://cgi.ebay.com/vintage-suntour-...item1e5b53364d

JohnDThompson 

Head badges on early Treks (pre-1980 or so) were fastened by two small brass screws. If you head badge doesn't have screws, it is held by adhesive. Careful prying should remove it.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

If the rear derailleur has a barrel adjuster on it it will generally work with indexing pretty well. If it doesn't have a barrel adjuster you can usually get it to work anyway as long as you incorporate a barrel adjuster somewhere inline . Since you're looking to use Bar-ends you could make use of adjusters on the downtube cable top.


like these

If you don't have Shifter Braze-ons on your downtube you can get a set of these on a clamp-band

CharmCityCycle

Well I got the headbadge off with a little heat and some dental floss, so thanks for that. I'm going to pick up some rust converter this weekend, so we'll see how that works out. Really I just need to figure out this shifter situation. If I pick up some old Suntour Barcons on ebay, will I need anything else that the lbs isn't likely to have? Also, the Suntours where a fairly simple device right, and not too likely to wear out?

I may upgrade the whole drive train someday, but certainly that day is not today. Also, I may just get used to friction shifting. A lot of people seem to think it is more reliable all things considered.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Yep the Suntour Friction Barcons are very simple devices...not much to break or wear out on em except the plastic covers on the levers.

Friction shifting IS more reliable, but it does require 1/4 of a brain to operate versus the brainless bliss of Indexing

Honestly though, a nice modern HyperGlide Cassette, a good Suntour Rear Derailleur and a decent set of friction shifters (like those Suntour Barcons) and you won't care a bit that you don't have indexing.

Grand Bois

I like my Suntours better without the plastic covers on the levers and with a full polish.

auchencrow

+10. Stick with friction (pun intended) - You won't be sorry.

mkeller234

Interesting, got a picture?