Here's my 1978 Trek TX700, which I bought new in 1978, just a few years after Trek was founded. It was their best touring frame at the time, with full Reynolds 531, silver-soldered, investment-cast lugs, Campagnolo dropouts. (720s were four years in the future.) While I could only afford low-end components (Weinmann sidepulls, Shimano hubs laced to Fiamme Red tubular rims, SR crank, and Suntour derailleurs; this was paid for with lawn-mowing money, after all), the idea was to rebuild it full Campagnolo "later." Well, the Fiamme rims died immediately, so I put on used Campagnolo Nuevo Record hubs and Hardox rims. After a decade in Denver, moved to San Francisco, where I switched to a Sugino triple crank, Deore XT derailleurs, and Royale Compe sidepulls. A decade after that, moved to Boston, where the bike became my winter rider. By the summer of 2006, after many, many miles, the bike had numerous dents, a crack below the seat-post lug, and half its paint. Took a final ride that July from Boston to Montreal and back, then rebuilt it: one patch, 24 braze-ons, two sets of reproduction decals, and a coat of original-color paint later -- as well as a mostly full-Campy rebuild -- here it is. While it's not at all "worth" the time and effort put into it (one framebuilder went so far as to suggest that I keep the head badge as a souvenir and pitch the rest), I'm delighted to have given the bike a second life.

Here are the specifics:
Frame: 1978 Trek TX700, lugged steel, Reynolds 531 tubing.
Handlebars and stem: SR bars (original), unknown stem.
Fork and headset: Reynolds 531 fork, first-generation Dura-Ace headset (original).
Wheels: Campagnolo Veloce eight-speed hubset, 36 hole; Mavic Open Pro rims, Continental Top Touring 2000 tires, Berthoud stainless-steel fenders.
Crankset and bottom bracket: Campagnolo Racing T triple crankset with 48-38-28 TA chainrings, Chorus sealed bottom bracket.
Saddle and seat post: Serfas Cosmo seat, Campagnolo Record seat post
Pedals and chain: Shimano PD-M324 flip-flop pedals.
Derailleurs, shifters, gearing: Campagnolo Racing T front and rear derailleurs, Record 8-speed brifters, SRAM chain, 13-26 cassette.
Brakes: Campagnolo Euclid cantilevers.

After the rebuild, the bike has taken several tours, most noteably going from Berlin to Budapest in the summer of 2007 -- that one alone was nearly 1,200 kilometers without the slightest problem. Now that's what I call a good investment!

For those interested, here's another way-early Trek on Cyclofiend: http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/2007/cc261-pauljacobson0207.html.

And, of all things, it's another one-owner bike.

All the best for 2008

Leighton

leightonwalter@yahoo.com