52telecaster

Mostly completely original with chrome under the paint. Missing only the correct bars and brake levers. Best part is the bike was 50.00!
also, its my size. I need this like a hole in the head but i couldnt pass it up.






Chrome under paint.

bikemig 

This is a cool bike esp. at $50. This is my $50 1982 Trek 720 as found in the wild:





This is that bike today:

celesteguy 

Nice score! Those are very nice riders, I quickly fell in love with one of those that I picked up last year. Good job not passing it up at that price. Enjoy!

cb400bill

Welcome to the 1986 Voyageur Club!

52telecaster

damn that looks nice bill.

UKFan4Sure

Yes indeed! As Bill said, welcome to the '86'er club! I just added an '88 to the stable also (Emerald Green).

52telecaster

beautiful. I am thinking about putting some 700c wheels on this. Have any of u guys tried that with these brakes?

bikemig 

You can run 700c wheels on an old touring bike built around 27 inch wheels but it does present some issues. (1) Typically the posts on vintage bikes are closer together than is true for modern bikes. That means that many modern cantilevers are likely not to work. I know that the Tektro CR720, a really fine cantilever, didn't work on one of my older bikes. So you're likely better off sticking with older cantis. (2) The other problem is whether the canti has the adjustability needed to drop down 4 mm. Some do, a lot don't. There is some trial and error here. I don't have any experience with this but there are threads where people have had success using shimano br mt60 to do this kind of conversion.

VeloBase.com - Component: Shimano BR-MT60, Deore

Ged117 

Great find, 52! I love my Voyageur despite it being too small. I'm installing Albatross bars to make it more comfortable. I notice that the Columbus Tenax bikes are 2 pounds lighter in the catalogue than my '90 Tange frame bike. I wonder why.

See here:

52telecaster

after looking at this in the light of day, it has plenty of room with the 27s so i might just stay with them. I just dont want to build a dynamo wheel for it. However i do have a bottom bracket dynamo i could use. Eventually i will probable put better bars on with barends.
the thing is, i now have a 98 volpe in my size, this bike and my bob jackson world tourist. I remember jonesing after a cantilever brake touring bike when i was 30 and knowing i would never have one. Now i kind of have too many. First world issues.

bikemig 

Yeah, 27s are fine. I'm running 27 x 1 and 1/4 michelin proteks on my Sekine. They measure out a fat 36 mm width on my rims and have a reflective strip which is a plus for a commuter.

I wanted a Reynolds 531 or a Columbus tubing bike when I was in high school but I sure as heck couldn't afford one. Now I have a bunch of them, . Definitely first world problem.

bikemig 

That's what it measures using my calipers. You can do the math if you don't like metric measurements.

UKFan4Sure

OK... 1.25 inches times 25.4 equals 31.75 mm. I still say 36mm is kinda big for a 1.25 tire. So, no I kid not. Like I said, my Schwalbe 1-1/4 are 31.5mm according to my digital calipers at 80psi.

bikemig 

You're kidding right? The math is obvious.

Tires don't always measure out to what they are marked on the sidewall. The michelin proteks run considerably wider on my rims than they are marked. I like them for that reason.

52telecaster

After changing the freewheel to a better gear selection for half step... 14,17,20,24,28 i also changed the chainrings for loaded touring with an old body... 24,40,44.
i had an old set of fenders an a subietz bottom bracket generator plus a Blackburn style front rack. It got me to the bike shop in style, where i picked up some vo porteur bars. They go on next as well as an old brooks.

at bushwhacker.

bikemig 

Because that is what I said in my first post. I said they measured 36 mm on my rims.

It's tough finding a fat 27 inch tire with a wire bead that will work with a hookless rim and a lot of older 27 inch rims lack a hooked sidewall.

UKFan4Sure

And yes, I agree. I've had all kinds of weird measurements on tire width claims, some wider (Continental always running wider), and some smaller (Kenda, for example). I still think 36 on a 1-1/4 surprises me. That's quite a bit off, even for a Conti. But OK, if you say so. It will be one for me to consider in the future with that knowledge.

bikemig 

I was surprised as heck when I saw how fat they ran on my rims. In fact, I was so surprised that I've measured them a few times even though an eyeball test tells you that they look like a 35c or a 1 and 3/8.

UKFan4Sure

OK, I was just confused about what math you were talking about? 1-1/4 is 31.75mm, 36mm is 1.42 inches. I understood tires aren't always what is stated on the sidewall, but 4.25mm higher than stated is quite a bit. It's good to know, maybe I'll run those next round.

Whit51 

Back to the topic of brakes. I’ve been able to switch between the stock 27” wheels and 700c wheels with no problem on my 87 Tenax Voyageur. The original equipment brakes will adjust down just enough to avoid rubbing the tires.

UKFan4Sure

I'm running 46/36/24 up front with a large 30 in the rear on mine. It gives this tired old 58 year old body a break climbing up those hills. Besides, I've never met a hill I couldn't walk! haha!
You're going to love the Voyageur. Such a nice frame! I can't wait to see how you fix it up!
I noted that quill stem looks like she's up past her limit by quite a bit? Maybe not if it's not the original. You might want to check it and make sure.

UKFan4Sure

I wonder how much difference there is in the Diacomp 981 (earlier) vs 983's (later)? I have 981's and someone in another thread with 981's said he never could get them to work properly with 700c wheels. Hmm...

52telecaster

its well below the limit. But ty!

The Golden Boy 

Congratulations!!!

For fun and excitement and those playing along with copies of the home game- stronglight 's EXCELLENT Flickr album details this bike: https://www.flickr.com/photos/strong...57605576341958

Are you sure that's an 88? That looks very 86 "British Pine"-y rather than the Emerald Green. The British Pine is more flat and the Emerald Green has more of a lustre to it. Although it doesn't mean much- your FD looks a lot like a Z-206 and the crank looks more like the FC-124 than an MT-60.

I think the DC981s on here is one of the cantis that is adjustable and usable with 700c wheels.

For years I just used 27" wheels. First- because I had them. Second- because I figured I'd probably be using Paselas anyway. Third- because everyone says that you need to switch to 700c- "**** you- I'll ride what I want to ride." Then when I got a set of the Compass tires- man, it made my cushiest tires seem stiff and rigid in all the worst ways possible. For me- I'd change to 700c as money/time allows and get Compass tires- but in the mean time- roll with Pasela 1 1/4" or the Sand Canyon 1 3/8" tires.

When I was getting into this bike hobby- I saw people posting all these beautiful bikes, and I saw people posting about SCORING these beautiful bikes... I just had my same bike that I'd had since 1987 and I wanted something more glamorous- less utilitarian... and I NEVER saw that kind of bike for sale around me... or I'd JUST miss it. I loved it when people would do all the super cool detailed photo essays in threads. One day I chased down one of those super cool bikes... and then they were just *there.* I try to take pix that I think I would have liked seeing before I got these bikes.

UKFan4Sure

Sorry, maybe my post was confusing. The one in the photo is my 86. I just bought an 88 (photo below) also that I plan on fixing up. Maybe I"ll do one of those fix'er up threads when I get it!