Clunker Challenge 2019: Let's try something different this year....

I wrote about the Clunker challenge last year basically - find a bike and get it road worthy for $100 or less and ride said bike for a total 100 kilometers, all within 100 days.  The clock started on April 3rd this year.  I used a 1990 Bianchi Apex in 2018, which I got for $80 and didn't have to do much to, and successfully completed the challenge.  This year I thought I would change things up and find a steel frame, 700c wheeled, hybrid like the Trek 700 above which is $75 on local CL.  I had to go to Bike Works for a seat post so I looked in their warehouse, just out of curiosity of course.

As I was looking in the project bike area this sticker caught my eye, I have never had a bike made of the mythical Reynolds 531 and when I see them they are usually priced beyond my range.  I saw it was a Trek that looked roughly my size although it had a fade paint job that I hadn't seen on a Trek before (not that I am an expert) and the top tube said Cirrus which was a model I didn't know as the vintage Treks models are usually numbers.  And then I saw this..

And my heart beat a bit faster and then I saw the sticker on the stem..

Suddenly the plan wasn't Hybrids anymore and I was asking for a measuring tape while holding onto the bike with a firm hand.  It measured out at 22.5 inches for the seat tube which is the same as my Trek 420 currently set up as the trainer bike.

So here is the before shot at Bike Works, if I hadn't been so giddy I would have asked them to throw in pedals but my parts bin has them and I just got a Vintage Trek 520 which I regularly see priced over $200 for $75!!

When I got home I went to Vintage Trek and found I had an 1987 520 Cirrus, the only year with Cirrus in the name, with the alternate Burgundy to Slate fade paint job.

One nit to pick is the rear wheel is a replacement as is the free wheel although its a 6 speed mega range with a 34t log cog like I just put on the Novara and the SIS indexing actually works!  I usually just go to friction because I don't want to fuss with setting up indexing but I will use it if its already set up.

It also had a hideous rusty pump holder that I quickly removed and recycled.

The Shimano drive-train was intact and and functioned fine in the stand including the aforementioned index shifting.

In addition to putting air in the tires which were a bit sun faded but not bad and giving the chain a WD 40 wipe down I had to reconnect and adjust the front brake cabling.  I assigned a buck a piece to the no name stamped steel rat trap pedals I fished out of the parts bin and the old bottle cage that was on the Moto_GT so $78 all in.  The cables and housing, along with the other consumables could use replacing but for the purposes of the challenge I am standing pat and saving my extra $22 of budget in case something really needs to be fixed.

Really loving the fact this bike still has its original Blackburn rack since they were essentially sized to a specific frame unlike today's adjustable fit racks.  This bike has started all sorts of the thoughts going through my head; is the Trek 420 is now expendable because I can't have two 80s Treks? (can I?), can I do the Tour De Lopez on a Clunker ? (Should I?) What will become of the Novara assuming I can solve the seat post issue? (more on that later).

Normally I would want to change out the cockpit among other things but it's not an option during the challenge.  I did find on the 1 km test ride that I didn't mind the vetta saddle or standard stem and narrow bars or the bio-pace chain rings, and I like feel of the brake levers and the working indexing.  We'll see what tune I am singing after 20 or 30 km. 

Ride. Find a once in a blue moon deal. Smile. Repeat (hopefully).