1985 Trek 420

"A sport touring bicycle designed for fast day tripping!"
with the largest chainring up front being a 50t it certainly feels quick. You'll reach top speed in no time. I used this bike for a short while after I got it and put brand new tires on it. The frame on this particular bike had a 49cm seat tube (the smallest frame size available), and as is with many Trek bikes, the top tube was longer near 53cm. The sport touring geometry makes for a great quick responsive commuter although the dried out brake pads on the Dia compe 500 calipers on the this one were not the best to ride around town in. The bicycle is equipped with Shimano's Z-series derailleurs. The have a similar feel to Shimano's arrow or early 105 components, precise friction shifting. Most bikes in the Trek line and from other manufacturers were already running 6 speed rear freewheels, so it came as a small surprise that this bike was equipped with a 5 speed rear freewheel. This is attributed to being a Maillard heliomatic unit, which were regarded as the freewheel to have on a touring bike due to easy maintenance and ability to quickly and "easily" changing out cogs on the road.
The bike was equipped with a triple chain ring front crank set making it ideal for hilly areas. This era of Trek Bicycle are my personal favorite simply for the attention to detail and ornate design that Trek built into their frames. The tubing on this bike is True Temper chromoly double butted joined with Trek investment cast lugs.

for more information on this trek check out the 1985 catalog HERE