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Info on 1986 Trek 620
Knowing my growing frustration with attempting touring with my Trek
mountain bike, my wife just snapped up a 1986 Trek 620 for $200 on Ebay. It is supposedly mint condition, ridden only 20 miles and hung in a garage until now. If any of you are familiar with this bike, I'd appreciate some opinions/info. First, sizing...I weigh about 160 lbs., and 5'6" tall and buy pants with a 30 length. The frame specs are 47 c.m. seat tube, 52 c.m. top tube, and 45.5 c.m. chainstays. Should this fit me OK? Second, what components, if any, should I look first to upgrade...and will I be able to find newer components that will fit? If you're interested, here's the full specs from the auction page: "This bike is brand new with less than twenty miles on it. Although it is an older bike(1986) it is Trek at its roots best. Handmade, lugged, Reynolds 531 tubing...this bike can easily be converted to a top quality competitive cyclocross bike. Features are Normandy hubs, Deore crankset, canti brakes, Huret Crane deraileurs and shifters, Stronglight headset, Blackburn rear rack, Kirtland rear rack top touring pack, Zefal HP frame pump, Cat Eye computer (verifies low mileage). The frame specs are 47 c.m. seat tube, 52 c.m. top tube, and 45.5 c.m. chainstays. This is a very nice quality bike that was simply never ridden, just hung in our garage." Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer. Mark T |
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#2
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Info on 1986 Trek 620
First, sizing...I weigh about 160 lbs., and 5'6" tall and buy pants
with a 30 length. The frame specs are 47 c.m. seat tube, 52 c.m. top tube, and 45.5 c.m. chainstays. Should this fit me OK? Very nice of your wife to be looking out for your cycling! But... If the sizing given is accurate, that's a non-fit. The issues are two-fold- First, getting the seat height set properly is going to have you towering over the handlebars, giving you that nose-in-the-gravel feel that very few would enjoy. Second, you'll be hanging way over the front end of the bike, due to the too-short top tube. The 620 was a pretty decent bike back in the day, and for $200 might make somebody a pretty nice ride, if it fits them. The sizing information implies that the bike would be better suited to somebody about three inches shorter. At first I was thinking that perhaps the 47cm seat tube was a center-to-center measurement (which would make it a bit taller), but the 52cm top tube is about as short as you can go without having substantial pedal/front wheel overlap. Fit is the place to *start* when looking for a new bike. It's not an afterthought. A $1000 bike bought for $100 that doesn't fit still puts you $100 further away from the right bike. The biggest problem, of course, is how you deal with the fact that your wife did something very nice for you that may not work out. That's almost as bad as riding a bike that doesn't fit. Maybe worse! I'm sure that however I've dealt with such situations I've bungled them badly. Still married though... --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com "Mark Traphagen" wrote in message m... Knowing my growing frustration with attempting touring with my Trek mountain bike, my wife just snapped up a 1986 Trek 620 for $200 on Ebay. It is supposedly mint condition, ridden only 20 miles and hung in a garage until now. If any of you are familiar with this bike, I'd appreciate some opinions/info. First, sizing...I weigh about 160 lbs., and 5'6" tall and buy pants with a 30 length. The frame specs are 47 c.m. seat tube, 52 c.m. top tube, and 45.5 c.m. chainstays. Should this fit me OK? Second, what components, if any, should I look first to upgrade...and will I be able to find newer components that will fit? If you're interested, here's the full specs from the auction page: "This bike is brand new with less than twenty miles on it. Although it is an older bike(1986) it is Trek at its roots best. Handmade, lugged, Reynolds 531 tubing...this bike can easily be converted to a top quality competitive cyclocross bike. Features are Normandy hubs, Deore crankset, canti brakes, Huret Crane deraileurs and shifters, Stronglight headset, Blackburn rear rack, Kirtland rear rack top touring pack, Zefal HP frame pump, Cat Eye computer (verifies low mileage). The frame specs are 47 c.m. seat tube, 52 c.m. top tube, and 45.5 c.m. chainstays. This is a very nice quality bike that was simply never ridden, just hung in our garage." Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer. Mark T |
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Info on 1986 Trek 620
Thanks for the responses, guys. Mike, don't worry about my wife, she
knows it was a crapshoot and won't be disappointed if it doesn't work out. As far as size, we'll wait and see. While I am 5'6", I have very short legs and usually feel more comfortable on a bike a little smaller than other people my height would use. mark t |
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