1977 Trek TX900
05-12-22, 12:07 PM
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1977 Trek TX900
Hey guys! Had a stroke of luck today and came across this early Trek. It's a 1977 TX900, lovely frame with some fun details. The paint is beyond shot, but so far it seems mercifully free from structural rust. Will be stripping down the paint and starting to think about how I want to build it. The parts that came on it were a total hodgpodge, I'm guessing most of the original stuff was harvested ages go. Leaning towards a more modern drivetrain, just something I'd be more likely to ride regularly.
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05-12-22, 01:09 PM
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Mine started out as a frame as well. I think you will like it very much.
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05-12-22, 02:01 PM
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Bikes: 1978 Trek TX700; 1978/79 Trek 736; 1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport; 1984 Schwinn Voyageur SP; 1985 Trek 620; 1985 Trek 720; 1986 Trek 400 Elance; 1987 Schwinn High Sierra; 1990 Miyata 1000LT
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That old Trek green is really cool.
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05-12-22, 02:36 PM
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Pedal to the medal
Congratulations on the new acquisition. What I love about old Trek is their versatility, you can go modern, leave it vintage; either way you'll love the ride. At least I do!
05-12-22, 03:43 PM
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I have a '78 TX 900; just a great bike.
05-12-22, 04:30 PM
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Couldn't help myself, started stripping some of the paint. Here's the seat cluster bare, did a little tidy of filing.
Last edited by cmsanfor; 05-26-22 at 08:37 AM.
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05-12-22, 05:49 PM
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Congrats! Nice find, that will be a fun build, I think the modern driveline is a good idea.
Here is my 77 TX900. Sold in Oshkosh to the original owner as a complete bike, as per the 77 catalog. Original owner put a lot of miles on it, replacing the Cinnelli saddle with a Brooks Pro, and the Champion arc en ciel rims with Maviic blues. Bike was repainted by Trek before I purchased it.
As the second owner I replaced the Cinelli stem, and Brooks Pro saddle, love Brooks but not that one, and rode it until my first flat. Then had new wheels built around hi flange Campy hubs, using a set of nos Super Champion Gentleman 36h rims. Replaced the Regina freewheel with one a little more hill friendly.
The Cinelli stem, and Regina freewheel are in a box somewhere, and selling the saddle and rims to other forum members, almost covered the purchase price of the bike. It is a beautiful bike, I love that it represents the pinnacle of Treks early efforts, and I was fortunate that the original owner ordered all the braze-ons, but to be brutally honest, my 88 Trek 400t is a way better ride.
A modern driveline might change my sentiments, and I second your color choice of dark green, mine would have been, if I was the one who took it back to Trek for a repaint.
Tim
Here is my 77 TX900. Sold in Oshkosh to the original owner as a complete bike, as per the 77 catalog. Original owner put a lot of miles on it, replacing the Cinnelli saddle with a Brooks Pro, and the Champion arc en ciel rims with Maviic blues. Bike was repainted by Trek before I purchased it.
As the second owner I replaced the Cinelli stem, and Brooks Pro saddle, love Brooks but not that one, and rode it until my first flat. Then had new wheels built around hi flange Campy hubs, using a set of nos Super Champion Gentleman 36h rims. Replaced the Regina freewheel with one a little more hill friendly.
The Cinelli stem, and Regina freewheel are in a box somewhere, and selling the saddle and rims to other forum members, almost covered the purchase price of the bike. It is a beautiful bike, I love that it represents the pinnacle of Treks early efforts, and I was fortunate that the original owner ordered all the braze-ons, but to be brutally honest, my 88 Trek 400t is a way better ride.
A modern driveline might change my sentiments, and I second your color choice of dark green, mine would have been, if I was the one who took it back to Trek for a repaint.
Tim
Last edited by tkamd73; 05-12-22 at 09:50 PM.
05-26-22, 08:32 AM
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Quick update on this. Frame is at a local powder coater, went with a metallic emerald green. Took some time this week to sort out the headbadge and was really pleased with how it came out. Figured I'd share.
I started by trying to handpaint this guy after polishing, and it looked about as good as you'd expect. I have a small hobby vinyl cutter and figured I'd just make an adhesive stencil to spraypaint it instead. I was surprised how good it looked with just the stencil! I hit the vinyl with a heatgun for half a second to shrink it and get it to adhere a little better. Time will tell how well it holds up, but a cool process.
Also, you'll notice the black areas are reversed from the original design. I'm planning to go with mostly black parts on the build, and I thought this setup would actually suit that pretty well. Plus, I can always just swap it out later if I so desire.
I started by trying to handpaint this guy after polishing, and it looked about as good as you'd expect. I have a small hobby vinyl cutter and figured I'd just make an adhesive stencil to spraypaint it instead. I was surprised how good it looked with just the stencil! I hit the vinyl with a heatgun for half a second to shrink it and get it to adhere a little better. Time will tell how well it holds up, but a cool process.
Also, you'll notice the black areas are reversed from the original design. I'm planning to go with mostly black parts on the build, and I thought this setup would actually suit that pretty well. Plus, I can always just swap it out later if I so desire.
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06-04-22, 02:14 PM
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Frame came back from powdercoat and I got decals from Velocals today. Came out great! Gonna clearcoat the seat tube in a few days but otherwise that's mostly a wrap.
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06-04-22, 03:09 PM
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06-05-22, 06:03 AM
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Totally! Will give it a whirl. Anyone have recs for clearcoating over powder and decals by the way? Was going to try some spraycan 2k urethane.
06-05-22, 08:51 AM
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06-05-22, 11:43 AM
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06-05-22, 11:50 AM
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The '82 720 is a touring bike; the TX 900 was a racing bike though today we might call it more of a sports touring bike as it has long reach brakes and eyelets. The 720 touring series are fine bikes as well; more of a cadillac ride though.
06-05-22, 12:45 PM
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Ok, I thoght the TX900 was one of the ones with long chainstays like the 720.
Plus I just looked on Vintage Trek - 900 is a little racier than all of the others, and none of the others for 1977 have the touring geo features, as you say..
Plus I just looked on Vintage Trek - 900 is a little racier than all of the others, and none of the others for 1977 have the touring geo features, as you say..
