bike wank, part 5

[kirkcudbright]

Mid-80's Trek 520 touring bike. This is a beauty, all Campangolo parts, lugged steel, in pristine condition, a real collector's piece. In fact, it appears to have been in a collection for the last 20 years, and never ridden. At any rate, I've never ridden it.

See, Dan bought it off eBay for his wife. But she didn't want it, and he didn't need another touring bike of his own. So when they broke up, he gave it to me. In pieces. There was the frame, the wheels, and a body bag duffel bag with everything else - fork, handlebar, cranks, etc. I assembled it in one evening in the winter, but I never rode it.

It's a beautiful bike, but I don't have a niche for it; it doesn't fill a need for me.Touring bike? Already got one. 80's bike with downtube shifters? Already got two.

And it's got a couple odd mis-features that don't encourage me to use it as a touring bike. It only has fittings for one water bottle cage. My other bikes, even the racing bike, can take two water bottles, and modern touring bikes (including the 520) have fittings for 3 bottles (the third is underneath the down tube).

Secondly, the gearing is kind of martian - the front chainrings are 48-44-28. Normal gearing would be more like 48-38-28, which gives you a range of high, medium, and low gears. This is more like an extended range of high gears, with a big step down to the low gears.

Ultimately, I'll either figure out a use for it, or I'll sell it, or I'll give it back to Dan, and let him sell it.