1982 Trek 728 touring bike
Believe it or not, old Trek touring bikes like this one are still pretty hot.
A good touring bike needs to place your luggage out of the way of your body, the bike needs to be stable under load and in crosswinds, geared to crawl up steep hills, easy to stop on the way down big hills, easy to fix by a non-mechanic, and comfortable to ride for long hours. The 728’s features hit all of these requirements 40 years ago, and with a few component changes, would still hit them today.
While not setting the world on fire with their beautiful graphics (what’s not thrilling about brown and taupe?), Trek’s manufacturing methods, frame tubing, and paint quality was really some of the best to be found in 1982.
An element that always surprises me about these older bikes is how different the manufacturing and retail landscape was in the ‘80’s, and what that meant for the bicycles on offer. For example, a modern Trek touring/gravel bike would be outfitted with Sram or Shimano brakes & drivetrain parts and the rest of the components would be Trek’s house-brand Bontrager stuff. On this old Trek, the equipment came from all over the place.
The derailleurs are made in France by Huret. The shift levers that work those derailleurs are made in Japan by Suntour. The crankset is a Sugino (again, from Japan). The chain is a French Sedis. The brakes are made by Dia Compe, the handlebars and stem are from Cinelli (Italy), and the headset is a Tange model. The wheels aren’t a pre-made Bontrager model. No. The wheels come together by lacing up Suzue hubs to Rigida rims and throwing tires from National on them.
While technology and perception of what makes a great racing bike has changed in the past forty years, and the manufacturers (and country of origin) for a lot of the parts has changed, the things that make for a great touring bike have largely remained the same.
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