Tuesday, July 5, 2011

New Trek for Bill

As I mentioned in my last post, Jon brought to Indiana this Trek 710, which I purchased from him. He had the bike cleaned up, with new cables, cable housing, and bar tape. Aside from the paint scratches (it's a 30 year old bike, after all!), it rides like a new bike. Essentially it is to me.


I didn't ride it to work today like I had planned, but I did go for a nice, long ride tonight after supper. It rides straight and true with no hands. A very good sign.

I added toe clips to the pedals. These pedals and clips fit my ape feet very nicely.

The Tange fork, not original equipment, nicely absorbs rode vibrations. On gravel, below, I can actually see the fork ends moving slightly as I roll down the road.


The curves on the SR Randonneuring bars fit the palms of my hands so nicely!

The body support system - handlebars and saddle, are a great combination. I've had this saddle on three different bikes now, I believe it shall stay on this one from now on.

I've had this Blackburn rack for probably over 30 years. It's been on almost every bike I've owned since then.

What attracted me to the bike in the first place is this TA Specialties crank. A French-made component, all three of these rings can be replaced with different-sized chain rings, for almost infinite gearing options.

When I first hopped on the bike, it felt a bit small for me. This frame is slightly smaller than my Trek 500. But after riding it yesterday and again today, it feels very comfortable. Maybe my other Trek is too big for me? With my stiff back, I feel like I'm really stretched out on the 500. I'll need to do some long rides to know how it'll really feel. I predict it'll be just fine.

Happy riding!

Bill

10 comments:

rlove2bike said...

Congrats. I can see already you are enjoying it.

I like the idea of being able to change the rings out when one wants to. I suppose that would be because I like a small ring.

Nice!

Steve A said...

Ihad a TA crank for 30 years until I couldn't get replacement bolts. Good stuff.

GreenComotion said...

Congrats, Bill!
What make are those pedals?

Peace :)

Pondero said...

Nice addition. I've been looking for a nice old Trek myself, but can't seem to find the right one.

Big Oak said...

Chandra - they are SR SP-150 pedals. I found a nice photo on the web of them at http://velospace.org/forums/discussion/2542/best-pedal-value/

These have a different thread than is used on standard Shimano cranks. I assume SR made these to fit Shimano and other crank arms also, so if you find a pair of these pedals, be aware of the thread spacing.

Dano said...

Nice bike! Im always looking for old Trek stuff but cant seem to find the cool bikes....

Apertome said...

I feel lucky that I got to see this fine machine in person. It really is a striking bicycle. I really like those Randonneur bars. I hope the sizing is right, it's probably just that feeling of being on a bike that's different from what you're used to. I'm sure you'll have many great adventures on this bike.

jeff said...

Very nice! And that Brooks saddle looks like it has found where it belongs.

Jon said...

I'm glad the bike suits you. I still wish it had been my size...

Big Oak said...

Jon, yea, well, too bad. But I sure appreciate you posting it on your blog and selling it to me!