J.Higgins 

That's sort of my method, except that the sunshine up here pales in comparison (literally) to the sunshine in ATL. I use a heat gun, peel the decal, wrap the adhesive with strips of toilet paper, and then squirt with WD40. Crack a beer, and enjoy my evening. In the morning it all comes off, but sometimes the stubborn leftovers need a shot of mineral spirits. I'll then "feed" the paint with a little Fluid Film. Hey man, its got lanolin! Wax with Renaissance Wax after that.

madpogue 

Yes, tell us more about this "full sunlight" phenomenon of which you speak. The elders here regale us with stories of experiencing such things in days of yore here in the great mid-wet... er... mid-west, but we often have to ask them to stop before they start confusing and frightening the young'uns.

OldsCOOL

I had one of these ‘85 460 “weekend racers” as they were billed. Loved it! Had all the right stuff for entry level competition. I sold it after 9 seasons and thousands of miles. You can ride these hard and the quick handling is very maneuverable and lively. I now have the big brother 760 and will never sell it.

jlaw

@mr,grumpy - yours looks like my '85 410 when I got it (photo below) - Campy Triomphe drivetrain, etc. - Tru Temper decal on the bottom of the seat tube.

It's a nice sport/tour design suitable for whatever you want to do with it.

I did a modernized 650b conversion with fenders, 2x10 drivetrain, indexed DT shifters, long-reach dual pivot brakes, modern bars.....

original



current config.

downtube42

I had a mid 80's 560 for about a decade. It was almost twitchy; fun to ride up to about 40 miles and exhausting thereafter.

While visiting Reno in the late 90's I volunteered at the Reno Bike Project for a couple days. I pulled an unknown model "400 Series" out of their donated stock, and prepped it to sell. I recall it being my first experience touching a Maillard Helicomatic hub. After new grease, cables, rubber, and brake pads, it was ready to sell. I promptly bought it myself for a very reasonable price.

I rode it around Reno for the next week or so, including a trip over to Lake Tahoe on Mt Rose Highway. I found it a much more pleasant ride than the 560. While it handled beautifully coming down the twisties back to Reno, it was neither twitchy nor tiring. I didn't have a way to transport it back home, so I donated it back to RBP.

From what I've read here, it must have been a 420.

J.Higgins 

What I like about my 460 is, like you said, it can be ridden hard and fast. I like how it puts every watt to the pavement. Definitely NOT a tourer.

OldsCOOL

I rode my first Century on the 460. The tires were cheap, heavy wire bead 25mm Bontragers. That next spring I tossed them for a fresh set of Michelin 23’s and began a season of speedy TT style riding. Here is a pic of mine:

scarlson 

Oh man, such memories! My 1984 Trek 400 got me back into distance cycling after a four year long hiatus where I only rode short hops to the store on an old mountain bike.

I saw it on top of a pile of junk in the bed of a scrap truck parked at a meter outside the local greasy spoon in a small Vermont town where my then-girlfriend lived one Sunday morning. I walked past it and kept going, but couldn't stop thinking about that bike, so after ten minutes it became unbearable and I rushed back and wrote a note to the driver and slipped it under his wiper, saying "I'll pay you more than scrap for that bike!"

I saw he'd left his parking meter when I passed by a few hours later, so I figured he ignored my note and didn't get my hopes up, but later that evening he called me up and offered to give me the bike. I practically had to shove a twenty in his pocket to get him to take money for it. I still wonder who that guy is, but I'd like to buy him a whole keg of beer.

Someone had replaced the helicomatic wheels with decent 700c Matrix-rimmed wheels from another Trek, so there was really nothing wrong with it. I rode that bike for four years, including my first 60-mile ride and my first tour I'd done in ten years and my first race. It made me feel fast. The brakes were lousy, but I threw a triple crank on it and 700x32 tires and fenders and bar-end shifters and took it on the gravel and passed people with carbon bikes cranking up the steep sections of the famous Vermont "gaps" (lowish but very steep passes in the Green Mountains).

I sold it for $300, I think, back in 2015. What a bike!!