Worth emphasizing a huge factor is the clearances. My Trek 520 could (barely) take 32's and then had to do a split fender workaround. Now I'm gonna rock fat & happy 40's with ultranormal fendering on the Sam.
On Feb 8, 1:57 am, Mike S <mikeshalj...@gmail.com> wrote: > I was in a similar scenario two years ago, though I was way too broke > to get the Sam Hillborne frame of my dreams and chose to parlay my > bike budget into a 1986 Trek 520 frame. The frame was traded with a > friend for a (nice, but too small) 80's Raleigh Grand Prix I bought > for $150 on Ebay, and it was a Craigslist find my buddy scored for > free, because I was desperate for the 64cm size. > > I couldn't live with the battered paint on it and went for a gorgeous > $300 powdercoat in orange. Got all of the corrosion off and made it > look factory fresh, a really handsome restore. All told, I spent $350 > (powdercoat + headset) of cash on the frame and attached all manner of > fancy Rivvish parts to it. Nitto cockpit, lugged seatpost to make the > too short top tube work, Tektro long-reach brakes, nice wheelset, > hell, even a split fender setup to work with the too-tight clearances. > Basically, I threw good money (nice parts) after bad (powdercoating an > anonymous decades old frame) and rode it about 2000 miles. > > Then, in November, I began to notice the fork wobbling a bit for about > a week. The problem gradually got worse until I eventually realized > there was a crack running all around the headtube lug. The vintage > Trek that I had planned to get 20,000 miles of sadly barely got warmed > up, and now it will just be a flamboyant piece of garden art or some > such. I think the take-home message from this verbosity has already > been said in the thread: don't do this sort of thing unless you are > the original owner because god knows what that frame has been > through. > > The story does have a happy ending, as the Hillborne of my dreams is > arriving at my LBS tomorrow and it's going to be united with all that > bike finery I invested in. At long last I will have a frame that truly > fits my crazy 96 PBH and will confidently truck through wherever I go > with whatever I carry for hopefully 100,000 miles or so. Can't wait! > > TL;DR: Threw $350 at an unknown frame, it broke after not much > mileage. Mourned it's loss and got funds together for a Sam, gonna be > riding happy a long time to come. > > On Feb 7, 9:05 am, trek610 <tspin...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Hi all, > > > I am at a cross roads and need some help deciding on how best to spend my > > money... > > > I am looking to get a nice all around bike for commuting, perhaps a century > > or two, 2 day bike overnight credit card, and light trail (crushed > > limestone/dirt) type riding. In the summer I wind up with 50 - 150 miles > > per week. I am currently using a Surly LHT for this type of riding, and > > really like it, but am longing for something a bit more .....sprightly. > > Here is a picture of my current LHT to give you an idea of how I would > > like to setup this new ride. > > > <http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/e_merlin/LHT%202010/IMG_0016.jpg> > > > I am not the tallest guy and ride a 50 - 53cm frame depending on the setup. > > I would outfit his new bike in a similar fashion with fenders, racks, > > rando bag etc... > > > Here is my problem. I found a 531cs Trek 610 from 1984 that has (IMHO) > > nice geometry for my needs. Some specs - 430mm chain-stay, 52mm rake, 72mm > > bottom bracket drop, and i think 72 for so seat and head tube angles. Trek > > does not publish the geometry for anything but 22.5" frames that year... > > > Trek Upgrade Path > > > 1. 700C or 650B wheel conversion - bigger tire, better ride, more fender > > clearance (I already have a nice set of velocity 700c wheels for this > > project....) > > 2. complete powder coat > > 3. Canti brake studs added > > 4. brazeons for various items > > 5. cold set the rear end > > 6. etc... > > > I guess in the end this will require many new parts, some of which I have, > > but will be a considerable investment nonetheless. > > > Now here comes the San Marcos.... It seems to be a nice solution as well > > and may very well similar in price to the trek by the time I am done with > > the frame parts. The San Marcos may be a bit more, but may be a better > > choice in the long run. The San Marcos seems to have perfect geometry for > > my kind of riding... > > > What would you do if you were me? What bike will better serve me in the > > long run. I have to admit, since I live in Madison WI the Trek has some > > sentimental value to me. The San Marcos lugs look really nice however! I > > am torn with which direction to go, and since this is a big outlay of cash > > for me I am looking for some advice before going one way or the other... > > > Thanks in a advance to any/all help. > > > Thanks -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
