rseeker

So envious of you 750 owners. All y'all. I tried hard to get one, I really did. Some day.

combover

yeah, one of my all time favorite bikes for sure! I live in the SF Bay area and have had many of them, its like bikes come here to be forgotten over the years after they are purchased by the owner due to Waaaay to many obligations and having to work to much to pay for the over inflated cost of housing here, they are getting scarce now, few years ago you could find one a week between garage sales, thrift stores and craigslist, not to many of the 790's but lottsa 750s and 730s over the years, used to find them hanging in garages at the garage sales all the time, with NO miles or scratches, nice old bikes !!I really dig the early lugged 930s and 950s too! outfited with that old DX and XT stuff.........

Korina

Mine came from the Bay of e, so keep looking. The right bike will find you.

rseeker

Yeah, that's a good way. I have searches set up on the Bay.

A year ago I ran across this one in a regional big city and the guy wanted to trade with me (for a little money too, which was fair) for my black 720. His was my size but too big for him. My 720 was too small for me but right for him. I just couldn't get there in time, I had too much already going on, and he was five hours away. Black, lugged, good condition.



But my 730 is a great bike and close enough for now. I had my first real ride on it last night. It was so smooth and all the hills were only half as tall as before.

Korina

You want to compare ones that got away? Last month I spotted an ad on CL for a "Specialized Work bike" for $175. WTH is a "Work" bike? (Why yes, I did have the dumb.) Asked over at C&V and they gently explained that it was an early S-works mountain bike; rare, in very good condition, and worth $500 (described as a "grail bike" for the right person). We took too long to get to it, and it was sold out from under us. Hopefully to someone who knew what it was. Then there's the early, lugged Stumpjumper on Fb for $40. The ad's still up, but the owner hasn't responded to any of my pleas to let us look at it.

ja1124

@rseeker, if you are in the Atlanta area, you may find a purple steel 750 at Play It Again Sports, the North Druid Hills location. I saw the bike on craigslist and replied. The ad had been up only six days. He replied that he already sold it to Play It Again Sports. I asked what he got for it and he said $50. It was in excellent condition.

Cutsit

This is my first post. I have been riding a hand-me-down Diamondback Wildwood and was looking for something else. I just purchased a 1997? 700. It has the black frame and has the Shimano Altus components. Looks brand new and has the original tires. I came to this forum after a google search to learn about my new purchase. I'll post photos when I get enough posts.

Picked the bike up Friday, rode 8 miles Saturday on the street and 13.5 miles on the Rock Island Spur on Sunday. So far, so good. I do miss the seat post suspension of the Wildwood. The stock seat will likely be replaced. Any suggestions are appreciated.

The tires hold air, but are age checked. New Kenda 830's and tubes have been ordered. I went from 700x35 to 700x38 hoping for a little softer ride.

I know very little about bike repair but am not scared to try anything. I've twisted a wrench or two in my day.

Let me know about you thoughts.

hokiefyd 

Welcome @Cutsit. These are great bikes. You can probably go up to a 42mm tire pretty safely; the 38s should fit without any problem. I'm a "big tire" kind of person -- I generally like to use as wide as will fit in the frame. Those Kendas should work fine. As for the saddle, it's very much a personal preference thing, unfortunately. The stock saddle, if it still has that, is likely pretty uncomfortable. Depending on your physical dimensions (like width of your sit bones), it's pretty hard to recommend a good saddle. If you have any good bike shops local to you, they can often help measure you (some even have equipment to measure your sit bones and riding posture and recommend a saddle model for you).

rseeker

Glad to hear about your new bike. I/we want pictures, of course.

I'm on my fourth seat now and it's still not right. I've identified a trend though, and it's toward increasing flatness. Less up-lift toward the back of the seat, no rise at all in the nose.

Getting new tires is the right move.

I've been doing my own maintenance for three years and this forum and the people on it are a godsend. @hokiefyd and dozens of other people here have helped so much.

rseeker

Wow, that's really nice of you to mention. I know that area pretty well, I used to live around there and my work-study job in college was on Chantilly Drive off of La Vista. Atlanta is the regional big city five hours (or more - traffic seems worse all the time) away. Which is too bad, because there's great used stuff on Craigslist all the time. My little town basically has nothing, which I think is because no one here was riding bikes BITD and now there's nothing used to sell.

hokiefyd 

Even if Play It Again marks it up $100, that's still a great deal for a very nice bike.

combover

+1 !!

Phamilton

@Cutsit, a 38 will fit fine, a 42 will be tight in the rear. You can fit fenders over a 38 with a little work on the rear mounting.

Cutsit

Glad to hear that the 38 will work. Thought I would try that over the 40 to start with. Seems like the 35s dig in on chat. Maybe the 38s will help. Put another 10 miles on the street this evening before dark. I'm going to need a suspension seat post or softer saddle. 59 year old keesters get sore.

Cutsit

Mounted the new Kendra's and tubes tonight. Rode around the driveway and liked them so far. Have to give credit to the 22 year old stock tires.

billnuke1 

Couple of my smaller Treks, the white has a luggage frame...have more, bigger frame stashed somewhere...

Cutsit

Rode 10 miles on the new Kendas. Like them much better than the weather checked stockers. Rolling resistance is much less. Maybe a little more noisy. I've taken pictures and would like to post them but need to get to 10 posts..

denada

^i like the black!

seems like the seatpost is up crazy high.

Cutsit

The black with purple decals has aged nicely, I think.

The seat post is high. I have lowered it some. I couldn't find a frame size when I looked at it before purchase. It may be too small for me. I do like the way it fits from the saddle to the bars. The Amazon truck is bringing a suspension seat post and different saddle.

It took awhile to get the requisite post number to post photos.

Once I get the new parts on, I'll take an "after" photo with the new tires.

katsup

It looks like a 15" and you may be around 5'11" judging by the seatpost. You can confirm the frame size by measuring from the center of the crank up to the seat post clamp.

I'd just ride it while keeping an eye out for a larger one.

Phamilton

For reference (if it helps) I’m 5’12” and this is a 23” frame. Fits just about right.

Phamilton

@Cutsit, I believe your bike is subject to a Trek recall involving the crankset, as was mine. Last fall my LBS replaced crankset, bottom bracket, front derailer, and chain, I had to cover labor cost, was like $30. I guess the original cranks had issues with crank arms breaking. You may want to look into it. A fellow BF member advised me of the recall.

Cutsit

Top of the seat post to center of the crank is 17". 16 1/2" to the seat clamp.

Cutsit

Thanks for the information

katsup

Looks like your 700 is a 1995 and Trek called it a 17".