albrt 

I acquired another bike I did not need this evening, a 1979 Trek 710. I did not talk to the prior owner, but I understand he bought the bike new and it was a custom build (which I think was normal for the 710). The frame appears straight and sound, but the paint is not great. Gorgeous midnight blue color but probably 10-20% scrapes. A little rust, but it looks like from riding in weather, not from being left out in the back yard. I could not look inside because the seatpost is stuck hard.

The component mix is unusual. Galli hubs and brake levers (gold to match the head badge), but Weinman centerpull calipers. Campy dropouts and shifter levers but Suntour derailleurs. Shimano 600 headset, Super Mighty cranks, well-worn Blackburn rear rack. AVA death-stem that appears at least 10 years older than the bike.

I own two other early 80s Treks, a 500 and a 614. Honestly, I was not that impressed with either. Solid mid range bikes (emphasis on solid and mid-range). The 614 has been for sale for months with no takers and the 500 is at the trailer by the lake for grocery runs. They are both that gun-metal blue color that about 90% of Treks from that era are.

As soon as I picked up the 710 I could tell it was a totally different sort of bike, without even looking at the crib sheet for the incomprehensible Trek model hierarchy. I was able to ride it for a few hundred yards and it just feels like a high end bike. The seatpost is stuck at a height that would work for me for city riding if I decided not to resort to an immediate escalation of force. The price was very reasonable so I would say it is a no-lose proposition, except for the too-many-bikes issue.

I'll try to get a picture or two tomorrow.

albrt 

Here are a few pictures.

SJX426 

Not that familiar with the 710 but it has longer stays than I would have expected. Great find and it looks good.
Interesting rear rack mounting!
Original Campy axle adjusting screws too!

PhotonDon

My 81 710 is a great rider. Too bad its too small for me

thumpism 

I got rid of mine years ago once I found out I could not trust the handling under touring load; too spooky on descents. Wanted to love it but could not.

The Golden Boy 

Congratulations and good luck!!!

I've read of other people saying this same thing... the early (76-85) nomenclature system completely makes more sense than any other bike's naming convention.

A 900 series bike is ALWAYS COLUMBUS
A 700 series bike is ALWAYS 531 frame/fork+stays
A 600 series bike is ALWAYS going to have a 531 main frame with CrMo or some MnMo fork and stays
A 500 series bike is ALWAYS going to have a CrMo frame, most often with CrMo stays and fork
400 series bikes kinda change from year to year
200-300 series bikes are ALWAYS Hi-Ten

An X10 bike is ALWAYS going to be a sport/touring model
An X30 is ALWAYS going to be a "racing" model
x20 bikes are ALWAYS touring bikes

There's a few models interspersed- but for the most part- the VAST majority of the bikes you see you can tell a racing from a tourer by the distance between the tire and seat tube.

The point is if it's a 700 model, you know it's 531/531. If it's a 600 series model, you know it's 531 with CrMo or some sort of MnMo fork and stays... and so forth...

albrt 

Thanks for the primer - I had sort of figured this out (probably more than once) from looking at the catalogs, but I always manage to get confused again. I think the system is counterintuitive unless you're a serious tubing enthusiast - most people would think the type of bike is the most important piece of information so it should be the first number.

RCMoeur 

And as I recall 1200 series bikes from that era are aluminum. An ex-girlfriend had a 1220 - nice bike, but I think she preferred her Ciocc.

Al, hopefully that seatpost will understand that cooperation with the new owner is preferable to other fates.

albrt 

I reassembled the overly complicated seatpost clamp and I think I'll ride it a bit - if a seatpost is going to come loose it's usually while I'm trying to ride.

albrt 

The bars are GB, look about the same vintage as the stem. The rims are 36-hole Super Champion Gentleman. Seatpost still stuck, but rides great other than that.

SJX426 

I wish you the best on the stuck post.
Several years ago, when I was commuting, I parked my bike in a bike room in the building I worked in. One of the other commuters rode a Langster. I thought it looked kinda cool and was thinking about SS/FG as an option for n+1. In our discussion he showed me how the top of the post came loose allowing the saddle to rotate freely and the post was too low for him. He couldn't get it to move. A bolt through the pillar and head solved the rotation problem. I brought Kroil with me and periodically applied it to the post over a 3-4 month period.
I didn't see him for a couple of weeks until I ran into him in the shower room, not literally! He had left his bike outside of his apartment locked to a railing and found it Sunday morning without wheels and cockpit. He was done with it, saying he was going to put it on CL for $100. My response was to ask for first right of refusal. Two weeks later he offered it to me without the brakes.
I countered with $50 and the brakes with the comment that the seat post was still stuck and if I couldn't get it out, I would have nothing. Sold.
Well it wasn't just the post, the BB was toast too.
P1030270 by Patrick Boulden, on Flickr

The post went from this stage
P1030267 by superissimo_83, on Flickr
to the final stage after lye treatment pf
WP_20160107_001 by superissimo_83, on Flickr
About as thin as AL sheet in your kitchen drawer.
Endded up with about $250 invested to get this
2010 Langster Steel 61cm by superissimo_83, on Flickr

Frame is a bit on the large side but not when riding. Great ride too. Well worth the effort and expense

steine13

>> it was a custom build (which I think was normal for the 710).

I've got a 1978 710, see https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...710-story.html. The first post has the serial number with decoder ring at the bottom. We have the same model, color, and size, built a year and a month apart.

Mine has cable guides on the top tube; I saw an order sheet where you could specify just about any braze-on, with prices of a few dollars each. In that sense, they were probably all "custom" though they may have been ordered by the stores, not the individual customers. The clamps are kind of silly, but they have a very retro, classy vibe. I'd take it either way. I also read somewhere that a 'frame-only' order would get the N00 model number, while the teen digits denoted the models for complete bikes. I can't remember the source.

When I showed my 710 to the longtime owner of the LBS, he right said, that's the way they came back then. By which he meant the kit on my bike -- Suntour, SR, Rigida... It seems weird that you'd order the frame a specific way, but then the bike would be sold with standard equipment.
There doesn't seem to be a single part our frames have in common. Well, maybe the seat post binder with the imperial threads

I hope you get the seatpost out so you can enjoy it properly set up.

cheers -mathias

Chr0m0ly 

Another way to think about it is the odd number bikes are full frames and even numbered bikes have different steel in the stays and forks.

900 700 500 300 are Col, Reynolds, Ishiwata, and Hi-ten
600/400 Reynolds/Ishiwata triangle and chromo, manga, or hi-ten fork and stays. Same information, but that's how my brain organizes it.

albrt 

Nothing to report, sorry to say. Rode the bike again today and Francisco Franco is still dead (aka seatpost still stuck).

If I ever get the seatpost out, does anybody know a good painter in the Phoenix area? I love the original color but it's in pretty rough shape. This might be the bike for my first full restore.

albrt 

Tried alternating heat and cold on the seatpost, no luck, so I started jailbreaking. The walls of the post are thicker than I had hoped. Three vertical cuts so far and it's not moving. Back at it tomorrow.

RCMoeur 

The last time I had a full frame repaint done locally was in the 1980s, and I know he's long-defunct. And I don't know any mediums who could put us in touch with Zombie Colin Laing for a recommendation either.

Andy Gilmour in Tucson is charging $300 for a frame repaint, but the price list is dated 2018.

Only other ideas I can think of might be an auto body shop or motorcycle shop. Maybe 1110 has some good go-to guys.

albrt 

Since I posted that, I'm actually leaning more toward just cleaning it up and clear-coating over the patina. I'm thinking this bike may end up in Ohio where it will get ridden more.

albrt 

Now up to 6 vertical cuts. Not moving. Need to go back with a fresh saw blade and try to make sure the cuts go through all the way to the bottom of the post.

albrt 

Well, I finally got that sucker out. Thanks to dddd for advice on another thread, especially using a sharpened spoke to detect where the vertical cuts were not going all the way through the seatpost.

albrt 

Here are a couple of pictures of the bike on a tour through northeast Ohio last week. It performed admirably.


I like the bike a lot, but I would agree with thunmpism's comment above that it's too flexy for heavy load. The mini-panniers on the back didn't cause much trouble, but I think a load on the front would make it too wobbly.