The Chainlink

Restore to former beauty? Or respect a lifetime of service?

Tonight I picked up a 1987 Trek 330 Elance with Reynolds 531 tubing, and it's got all the original stickers and decals to prove it.  I think I'll be keeping it in the long run, and I'd love to eventually clean it up. I mean, it's almost as old as me and the paint job... well, it's far from gorgeous, and all the stickers are peeling pretty bad, and the headbadge is a wreck.

So how does everyone feel about keeping a bike like this in tact, original, as much as possible vs stripping it, repainting it, and finding fresh decals? A Trek enthusiast friend of mine strongly encouraged me not to touch a thing where the frame is concerned, and I get that, but I also am a fan of aesthetics and restorations and updates and all that.

Opinions?


For reference, here's the original bike:


Now imagine it with 23 years of paint chips, mismatched touchups, scraped decals, and peeling stickers.

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Permalink Reply by cutifly on March 9, 2010 at 8:15am
Would you bed down with an 85 year old woman or at least get her a face lift and boob job before you do ?
Permalink Reply by J on March 9, 2010 at 8:15am
Unless there's emotional attachment, I wouldn't restore it. It's a nice frame, but the 330 was in the lower echelon of lugged Trek sport/touring rigs of the day. It has a nice seat cluster, but is otherwise mundane.

But there is also a middle ground here. These frames have pretty simple short point lugs, so you won't risk losing a lot of detail if you powder coat it (vs painting). A few years ago I coated a rather dinged up 400 series Trek and it came out beautifully. For <$150 you could strip and coat it any color you want, and for a few more bucks, print your own decals on waterslide paper.

If trying to justify the cost, another way to look at it is that were you to buy something new, you really won't find a better made frameset under $600 these days.
Permalink Reply by Primitive Don on March 9, 2010 at 8:36am
I'll echo Matt's comments about the fit being the most important factor.

In terms of the finish, it would be helpful to see a pic of the actual bike before making a suggestion. But I'd say if you want to customize it like your argyle bike, then it's worth it to invest in a proper powdercoat or paint job vs. rattlecan job. It'd be a good idea to have the frame checked out to rule out any damage and deal with any frame alignment issues before starting an expensive project.
Permalink Reply by mike w. on March 9, 2010 at 12:42pm
From Rick Smith:

Permalink Reply by Michelle Green on March 9, 2010 at 12:52pm
After serious consideration of all this sage advice, I think this bike is getting stripped and powder coated in the near-as-possible future and then it will take me on short tours of Our Fair Region. Thanks, all.
Permalink Reply by dan brown on March 9, 2010 at 1:54pm
sweet bike.
the beautiful thing is you can do *whatever* **you** want.
period.
that even includes spray painting it !
DB (I am going to wrap the tubs on my (SE Lager) brown bike with tubs.

why ? I have no idea. so there.

p.s. I had an older trek (1400) Reynolds 531 (IIRC) aluminum frame (white : circa : 1997 ?) that was my tri bike for years.
I started to take parts off one at a time and sold it (cheap) to Robby at rapid transit
and now it will ride again (like a phoenix rising from the ashes).

Michelle Green said:
After serious consideration of all this sage advice, I think this bike is getting stripped and powder coated in the near-as-possible future and then it will take me on short tours of Our Fair Region. Thanks, all.
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 9, 2010 at 3:15pm
Both options are great, what matters is how YOU want it to look.

I'd never do it unless it was REALLY trashed (anyone who has seen my conversion knows I have a liberal definition of trashed) but It's not my bike so you should do what makes you happy.

If you do choose to leave it looking haggered I would hit it with a coat of clear.
Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on March 9, 2010 at 4:18pm
I would recommend riding it for a while before stripping it down for refinishing. This way you could figure which bits you want to upgrade without risking damage to a fresh coat of paint or powder later on.

Michelle Green said:
After serious consideration of all this sage advice, I think this bike is getting stripped and powder coated in the near-as-possible future and then it will take me on short tours of Our Fair Region. Thanks, all.

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