I loves me some vintage trek as much or more than the next person, but that one has some things I’d really want to check out first.
The serial number doesn’t really match what’s on the vintage-trek serial number decode page.
All those braze-ons (double bottle bosses, DT shifter bosses, TT housing guides, pump peg) were not standard, though available as a custom option in the early years. However as a custom option you’d expect to see them on a top-of-the-line frameset (which maybe that is considering the serial number is off from a typical TX500).
The paint chip on the DT near the shifter boss (helpfully shown in a close-up) is likely from the front brake impacting there when the bars got fully turned in a crash or just tipping over would do it.
At a minimum, you really want a pic of it built up, or a measurement of axle center to brake mount hole center. I have owned a Trek this old that was supposedly for 27" wheels but in fact really only fit 700x26 on one end (which is another annoyance when front-rear clearances don’t match).
I’d also ask them to run their hands all over it and confirm no dents or ripples in the tubes, hard to tell from those pics.
This could be a sweet custom job from the factory -weird serial numbers aren’t unknown. Or it could be a bike someone later added on the braze-ons to then repainted. Or maybe the serial number wasn’t typed correctly for the ebay listing and there are more digits to it.
Finding a bike that age that will fit a 700x32 comfortably (aka came with 27" wheels originally) AND has double bottle bosses and the rest of the good braze-ons is kinda tricky, so if it’s just paint chips and the tubes are other wise straight I’d go for it.
I did notice the serial number not adding up but good notes on the other issues. Thank you for talking me out of it as I am not allowed to buy it regardless of it’s condition lol
This S+S coupler bike been on Craigslist for ages and I keep coming back to fantasies of bringing a bike every time I go on vacation. I have all the stuff to 650b convert it. I wanted to buy a brand new gravel bike but this would be half the price and do roughly the same thing if 650b converted.
do we have an open mold carbon thread? I want to get an actual road bike and, Jesus take the wheel, I’m looking at AliExpress frames.
What do we think about this guy? Pros: light, many color options, disc/TA, BSA BB, no fucky headset cable routing. Looks pretty incredible for the price and seems like a popular “brand” in Indonesia. Only con I can see is the max tire clearance, but I think I could live with 28s on wide rims.