itztrue

So after fiddling around with my Lambert, making it single speed and getting rid of the death fork, I asked a family friend if they had any old bikes laying around (looking for spare parts). Sure enough, he had an old Trek 560 Pro Series that his wife used to ride, and gave it to me for FREE! I couldn't believe it. The frame is TINY! I'm used to riding a 52cm and this one has to be 48cm, or something. However jacking up the seatpost like that (don't mind the girly seat) seems to fit me quite well.

Looks like it has all Shimano 105 components, Reynolds 531 tubing, and its in fairly good shape. I just put new tubes into it today and it was up and running! Derailleur may need some adjusting, and then that led me to think - what if I made this SS/Fixed? Part of me wants to, part of me wants to keep it in the shape that its in (just some more cleaning up, of course). I'm trying to decide, but I have some Weinmann DP18's waiting for it

chewybrian 

My non-expert vote is that this is worthy of being what it is. If you gave it to me (and I was 2 feet shorter!), I would fix/restore, and maybe upgrade. I don't get the SS thing; it seems like the bicycle version of low riders with spinner hubs, etc. Hate to see that happen to a sweet old muscle car, but if you want a weirded out Vega, whatever. I wanted SS, I would start with either a lesser/unworthy frame, or a real track bike.

USAZorro

Trek's early, and short-lived attempt to enter the tri-bike market. I had a 530 about a year ago. It seemed nice, and fit me, but it just didn't suit me - so I sold it.

chrispe

The "girly seat" looks to me like a sella san marco rolls which is quite a nice saddle and not made for girls or in any way what I would consider girly. I have been wanting a white one for a bike I'm putting together, but they're kind of expensive generally. It is a sweet find especially for free, but I would say leave it complete because it seems fairly original, which even though that bike isn't really very collectible (though it is a very nice bike) is pretty cool. If you do make it a single speed definitely don't cut anything off like the derailuer hanger and it would be good to keep all the parts together in a box or something so you can put them all back on if you want. If you do that its just a matter of a couple hours work if you want to make it original again.

douchebagonwhlz

I agree about the seat, I have been lucky to come across a couple used ones. not the most comfortable to me, but fetched a nice sum on ebay.

douchebagonwhlz

my friend's girlfriend needed that exact bike a month ago..... tiny

itztrue

Well, it's been a week later and a lot sure has changed on the Trek. I decided to go the fixed gear route..but no worries - nothing is shaved off, and I still have all the original components labeled in individual bags so that if I ever do need to bring this back it original spec, it shouldn't take long.

I upgraded the wheelset to Weinmann DP18's (flip flop hub), a new Shimano chainring (that Biopace thing wasn't working for me), cog, lockring, etc. Running 42/16 and I love how smooth the bike feels.

Sirrus Rider

Fix and restore, but no fixy! Good 47 -48cm frames and whole bikes (which are the size that I ride) are hard to come by so naturally I'm against anything that removes bits from the frame.

USAZorro

See post #7

bdrake

i am not really for fixies, but this bike looks awesome! love the wheels with the white bar tape and saddle. snazzy! congrats! i have been wanting and vintage trek in my size for so long now... every time i think i might finally have it, it slips through my fingers. enjoy your ride!

douchebagonwhlz

Fixie haters! If you got 10 bikes, why not make one?

j0ew00ds

If you've got 1 bike, why not make one?