I remember seeing a few of the first Trek road bikes come into the shop around 1980 I think. They left me with a bad impression, which hasn't gone away much since then. They had paint that was peeling off, and you could see that there was no primer underneath. One (or was it two?) in particular had a bad crack through the seat lug, and their owners were having trouble getting Trek to fix it. There was nothing about these bikes for me to be impressed with. In fact, I think I would rather have a Viscount with the aluminum fork, even today. My impression back then was that Trek was following a long standing BMA-6 tradition of cutting back on quality in favor of lower prices. Sure they were lugged frames, and made from quality materials, and they had decent components, but quality materials, by themselves, don't make quality bikes. It takes skilled workers, and from what I saw, Trek didn't have any of those. If my words seem too harsh, I'm sorry, but that's what I saw. I will say that Trek seems to have improved over the years, but I still don't want one yet.
"Bicycle Mark" Perkins Visalia, CA
On Thu, 25 Jan 2001 08:56:15 -0500 "Bingham, Wayne" <WBINGHAM@imf.org>
writes:
> Jeff -
>
> Please keep us (I know there are several Trek fans lurking here besides
me)
> informed on any serial number, dating or model information you're able
to
> come up with. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get anything out of Trek.
They
> only seemed interested in being recognized for their industry "firsts"
that
> had everything to do with aluminum and carbon frame construction and
nothing
> to do with their lugged steel frame origins. As the owner of an '81,
two
> '84s and an '85, I'd really like to gather as much information as I can
on
> the early frames. What is the "Trek historical book" anyway, and if
it's
> historical, why does it only go back to the early '90s when Trek was
> building frames for 15 years prior to that? Anybody know what year was
the
> first for Trek? '76/'77?
>
> Wayne Bingham
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Archer [mailto:firstflight@abts.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 9:36 PM
> To: Classic Rendezvous
> Subject: Re: [CR]Trek serial numbers
>
>
> I have been talking to the guy who put together the Trek historical
book.
> The book only goes back to the early 1990's but has complete info down
to
> spoke lengths, bb lengths..... He is supposed to be trying to round up
some
> catalog copies for me. I have emailed him and asked him about the
serial
> number system. If I hear anything positive from him, I will let you
know.
> Jeff Archer
> First Flight Bicycles
> 216 S. Center St.
> Statesville, NC 28677
> 704.878.9683
> firstflight@abts.net
> http://www.firstflightbikes.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "KCTOMMY" <KCTOMMY@email.msn.com>
> To: "Classic Rendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 7:41 PM
> Subject: [CR]Trek serial numbers
>
>
> >
> > This may have been asked before, but does anyone know how to date
Treks
> >from their serial numbers? Is it possible to deduce any further info
such as
> >model or style from the numbers? Anyone have a contact at Trek that
could
> >elucidate the Trek system?
> >
> > Tom Adams, waiting for snow in Kansas City
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> _______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
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