Well, soon after posting I realized I lack a couple fender mounting points so never mind (for the time being).
This is a bit convoluted so bear with me. Right after the most recent round of stimulus checks, I impulse-bought an '80 Trek 710 frame (which I later discovered turned out to be from a forum member) with the plan of slowly acquiring parts to do a 650b conversion. A few weeks later, I saw a Nishiki Cresta listed for $50, and having just seen someone put 700c x 40mm tires on one, I figured I could do that to have a gravel-y bike until the Trek was up and running. It turned out the Nishiki had been saved from the trash but was pretty beat up and would've taken a bit more time and money than I wanted to spend to get running again. I still bought it to sell off the parts to fund the 710. Around the same time, I saw an ad for an '82 Trek 613 which had already been converted to 650b. So, this was the plan: Buy the Nishiki, start parting out the Nishiki, buy the 613, swap the parts from the 613 to the 710, then sell the 613's frame. When all is said and done, I should have a 650b'd 710 for the price of the frame. [Wildly, all three of these were 25" frames]
Anyway, I've got photos.
'82 Trek 613
Nearly as purchased (bag, bottle, and bottle cage were already mine). I swapped the 11-25t 10-speed cassette to an 11-28t 8-speed. The Blue Line rd could shift across 9 of the 10 cogs, but the chain bucked quite a bit unless
perfectly trimmed. The 8-speed is plenty of gears for me, coming from the 5 on my Voyageur, and the small jumps between the 10-speed felt unnecessary. It also had a light blue cotton tape.
'80 Trek 710
Largely the same as above. The blue Trek had Nitto B135 Grand Randonneur handlebars and an SR stem. I decided to use the Sakae Road Champion handlebars and Custom stem from the Nishiki, but I'm probably gonna swap the Nitto bars back tonight. I really dislike the Road Champions, which were also on my Voyageur when I bought it. The stems seem the same, except that this one doesn't have a large, garish SR on the side. The Dia-Compe brake levers are also off the Nishiki. I wasn't wild about the Tektro levers and figured I'd get gum hoods and some white cotton bar tape for a classic look. The bar tape should be here any day. I changed the front tire from a 38 to a 42. Still a 38 in the rear... for now. Both Pari-Motos.
I trimmed the cables after the photo and a quick shakedown ride around the neighborhood. This will slowly get updated, probably with a Brooks Professional first, but I'm happy to ride it as is for now. I'm thinking it will eventually be some sort of restomod Shimergo jawn. Having the Nishiki to teardown before starting on the 613 was a good learning experience, and building up the 710 was a fun challenge. This was my first time putting a bike together and most of the hangups were due to finding where I could get the proper tools. It's all worked out in the end, and I'm super pumped to be able to ride this thing! It's SO much lighter than the Voyageur. I can't wait for the rides to come!
And as an unsolicited plug, I had the rear dropouts spread by Keystone Bike Co. in Philly. If anyone's in that area and looking for a shop, check em out. Great people!