bikemig 

The top end Treks from the late 70s like the TX 900 are fine bikes as well. I have a '78 Trek TX 900.

homelessjoe

Ive owned seven or eight vintage Trek bikes and I wanted to know what everybody else thought of them.......it seems no one wants to compare them to high end Italian bikes even though some are equal.......and lots of guys just love their Colnagos or Bridgestones or Centurians and wont stop singing their praises......greatest road bike ever and sleep with them ect.......but most people just agree that Treks are really nice bikes ....[even a 900} ....but wont commit to saying that they are the best or they blow DeRosa off the road........why is that????.........maybe I just dont pay enough attention and maybe Im wrong......I was wrong once before but that was when i was a kid

bikemig 

I'm a fan of vintage Treks. I worked in a bike shop in the 80s that sold Treks. They are well made, well thought out bikes and have a terrific paint job. I own and ride a 1978 TX 900, a 1979 510, a 1982 720, and a 1992 950.

SJX426 

Yeah I thought I made a mistake once but I was wrong too.
@homelessjoe - For me, the root cause is that its not really about the bike as much as it is about the people associated with it. Ernesto Colnago associated himself, or was picked by some very successful riders and teams. There are some on this forum that don't see Colnago as being any more special than some others. Some even have the opinion that they are not as good as others. Ernesto did a great marketing job too. He offered some differences in his frame designs before others or at least made them known and got the credit for them.

I bought two Treks because of the praise on this forum. I have not built them up and so don't have a lot of miles on them. The 760 is now assembled and has maybe 3 miles on it! It is a really nice bike. My Colnago was the first Italian race bike after riding a Peugeot for a number of years and a Motobecane Le Champ. When the Moto was mangled in an auto encounter, the Colnago was the replacement. HUGE difference. I fell in love with the ride. I didn't appreciate the fact that it was a bit small until the PInarello joined the stable, Not much real difference except for the indexed dt DA, which I really appreciated. The Botteccha is a throw back to the early 70;s with friction shifting and is still an improvement over the Moto. The De Rosa was on my short list of desired bikes and it is my favorite now.

I still lust after other Italian makes however, it is time to go the American route. I would really like a Vanilla, Strawberry or Sachs in the stable.

So part of the preference is to have a bike that is not the run of the mill. Trek, like Bianchi, has a wide range of bikes to offer. You see the brand frequently on rides. You don't often see the Italians. I will admit, I want to be associated with something different and recognized as a desired, quality bike. It says mroe about me than the bike.

The same kind of discussions occur on photography forums, car forums, gun forums. Everybody has a preferences based on different set of value criteria. Sometimes it is fun to test your own. Being a Campagnolo fan, I have a full 8V DA group that performs without complaint. I also have full 105 and Suiperbe Pro. I encourage exploration and testing of what you think is best, for you.

homelessjoe

I get it....many of those Italian bikes are works of art.....some Colnagos are just to nice to even ride with gold plating and engraved super record and such........Ive been through hundreds of bikes I tried everything out for myself......went through an Italian phase and an historic phase had a huge collection once but no mater what I told myself or convinced myself what was a great bike I always gravitated to certain bikes that I road and loved and they were never the most valuable or desirable.....that might be a mental glitch.....but when you like something you cant help it no mater what....you just like it ....and when you dont like something no one can convince you otherwise...I would say most of the top of the line models have to aggressive geometry and are to uncomfortable for cruising the neighborhood coffee shops and getting groceries for most people...........wow...just realized......I guess my racing days are over

alexihnen 

I just think there’s a bit of a stigma with “Trek”. Clearly they did and still do make world class bikes, but the name is so common and on so so many very average and low-end bikes. The name itself doesn’t have the cache of some names. That said, the 80s 170/770/760 are better than many Euro production bikes. The folks in Waterloo knew what they were doing.

SJX426 

@homelessjoe - That is a good point. If you like to cruise on the beach, a Colnago won't cut it with 21mm tires! Same is true for touring or other types of riding.

I still push it every time I get on a bike. I don't really cruise unless riding with my wife or other occasional riders. Then I use another bike, not a one with race geometry. Unless we take the tandem out. Then I can push hard and not loose my wife behind!

@alexihnen - My point exactly. Bianchi also made great upper end bikes. Colnago, Pinarello, De Rosa did not make bikes for the grocery getter.

homelessjoe

I have never seen a 170 in person....but have dreamed of owning one.......I would really like to take one for a little spin.....and spend some time just looking at it........Im sure its probably the nicest bike ever made in the whole world or ....as good as........

OldsCOOL

I’m not ashamed to admit I would like to own the 170 for the unobtainium mystique. Other than that, my 760 would run alongside it in nearly every ride category.

alexihnen 

If you ride a 56 and you’re ever in Cincinnati and the pandemic is over, let me know!

homelessjoe

I wasent trying to throw shade on the 760 by mentioning the 170......my point is those old Treks are beauties ...all of them.......hell I have an early 412 and the geometry and proportions and design ... is pure fine art ....the lines....the craftsmanship.....understated elegance...AND....spend a million bucks and you wont find a bike that feels as good to ride

OldsCOOL

I had an ‘85 460 that is an entry level racer for weekend warriors on a budget. I rode a century with, enjoyed several area top 10’s (strava) and generally rode it hard. I even bent the bar hammering on a sprint. That is the bike that introduced me to a lusting after the 760, thinking if the Trek 460 really is this good, imagine the 760. I was not disappointed in finding this pristine ‘86 760 4 months after selling the 460. They are top shelf bikes in the lineup.

M1T

My first real bike was an 84 760, 2CM's too big, but still a great ride. I bought it new and didn't realize the gem I had until it was gone... So in February, I purchased an 85, 55 C to C, but the paint is beyond saving. I have several Italian classics (Pela, Galmozzi, etc.) so I'm not so much interested in being period correct or paint correct with the 760. I bought it partly of out of nostalgia and partly because they ride so well. I have a complete 7 speed Shimano 600 Tri-color group, so covered there.

The decision I'm struggling with is should I repaint it red, or go with something else... the something else could be a lot of options like dark grey with bright blue decals (Velocals). So the question is more around trying to duplicate the original bike, which once re-painted, partially goes out the window anyway. Resell is not a concern and most people today would have no idea about the original color, etc. But the 'wrong' color is one of those things you instantly recognize if you know the year/model, etc. But I never liked dark red. Decisions, decisions - see what I mean!?

Sedgemop 

Man, the pandemic asking prices on the 760's have really exploded. I wonder if sellers are getting anything close to these prices. Still not selling mine, though. Did a quick 40 miler today and it was glorious.
More Expensive

Expensive

Mad Honk 

Well OldsCOOL,
I finally got my 1985 670 back from the powder coaters and here are a few pics. This one is a 57cm and really bums me out that I can not even straddle it today thanks to shrinking from age disease. It will be a great ride for the next owner as I am the original owner getting it direct from Trek when I was working in the biggest Trek dealer shop in the US. It got some paint damage in a house fire when it was in the garage so it got a new paint job and here it is now, It will need decals and a clear coat to protect them but will be like the team ones from 1985. I left a color ring on the head steerer tube to give an idea if the color for the bike in '85 which was a teal color with white decals.

my crappy camera wouldn't let me get a better picture than this

The detail of the methods of the painter's use of tapes to cover the essential pieces

the powder coaters clear coat the details of the serial numbers

They keep the chrome details the way they should be to stay period correct

The threads are protected in coating so the bike will be easy to re-assemble
Smiles, MH

OldsCOOL

Mad Honk

Mad Honk 

OldsCOOL,
I contacted Greg about decals and have not heard back from him. I am going to sell both the 670 and 770 and I guess I need to know about values. I am thinking about posting in the valuation thread for both of them to get an idea. Normally I would pass them along but I have a bit of $ invested that would be nice to recover for the cost of coating the frames and replacing them here. Smiles, MH

natterberry 

What color/size is the 770? I could be interested.

Mad Honk 

natterberry,
The color is identical to the 670 posted above. I had them both coated at the same time with the same red prismatic color. Size is 58cm I think I only had about 1500 miles on it when I put it away for the winter and it was paint damaged that year. It has been hanging until now so I could clean it up. I got it from Trek to replace my team bike that was stolen. If needed I can post pictures. Smiles, Honk

M1T

Anyone know the length of the Sugino (or any) binder bolt? 8mm diameter, but want to order the right length. Thx-

tendency

Trek made very nice bikes back in the day - no doubt about it. HOWEVER (yes, you knew that was coming ) there is something about them that simply does not have the collectibility or cache of many other models. Perhaps it's - as others have said - there's just a ****-ton of them out there and alot of them are low end bikes. Dunno. Maybe some of it is the paint jobs of their old steel bikes, frankly, to my eye many of them are not attractive. Take the 170 - pepto bismo pink? Ugh. To each their own.

I had a 760 for about a year and for me it was an OK bike. Nothing special. I was not compelled to keep it and eventually sold it. I found it to handle a little skittishly but the workmanship was solid.

retroshifter

I've owned a few Treks from the early 80's to the mid 90's. Good workmanship on all of them. Back in the day, I lusted over the 1986 760 (green with purple head tube) on display at the Missing Link in Berkeley. At the time, I was racing a lower model celeste green italian made Bianchi and discovered how poorly it was made as I worked on it and upgraded parts. I still think the 86 760 looks great and love the component selection, but I don't ride my racing bikes or drop bar bikes much anymore.

OldsCOOL

By time the ‘86 model was released the line was already coming to an end. The component selection was as varied as any of the Trek road racers, though always top-notch stuff. My ‘86 Pro Series has a braze date of 12/84, ready for the ‘85 lineup but not painted until ‘86. By then the line was disco’d and had much different componentry than the brochures stated. Mine has the full 531c frame, Campagno NR derailleurs crankset and shifters. Brakes are the Modolo Equipe’ that the brochure 560’s were wearing, they also tossed in the Superbe pedals. Very nice bikes.

With the tubular wheelset this one weighs 20.5# and rides like it.

Mad Honk 

OldsCool, and others,
I was a lucky rider back in the late 70's and the early 80's working in the biggest Dealership in the country. I also got to ride along in the RAAM with a team for part of that time. I was lucky enough to ride a handful of Piccio's, Raulers, Tommasini's, Tomasso's, and other Italian bikes that were truly race geometry as well as the top of the line Gitane racing models. My experience is that the 670's, and 770's handled as well as those true race bikes and rode with the same ride for comfort. The bottom bracket height was pretty close to the same on all of those bikes. And the rear stays were very close in length so the worked the same way. In my experience if you drop the bottom bracket height by 2cm and make the chain stays 2cm longer you can turn a racing frame into a touring frame. Change the trail on the fork to more and it will make it less twitchy but will feel like pushing a wheel barrow full of bricks. Frame geometry is important and getting it right for the type of ride is even more important. I'm pretty sure the Trek folks got it right with the racing geometry for the 670's and 770's. I don't really recall much difference in the rides of all of the top models, except for the differences in the way the sizes rode. JMHO, MH

thumpism 

Not mine.

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