I'll agree, those early Treks are great bikes, more durable than most and with very durable paint. That's quality!
My take on the shifting issue is to use modern chain, the narrower, the better. I put a Shimano 9-speed chain on my Masi for Saturday's fast-paced Colnago Gran Fondo ride out of Auburn, and believe me, the shifting has never been close to this good using the Ultra-6 cogset, even with it's thick cogs and narrow spacing. There were no issues with shifting at the front over the NR chainrings, another surprise. I was using a freshly-lubed pair of NR shifters and the whole setup was flawless under pressure for the whole, hilly 50 miles. (For standard-spaced 5 and 6-speed freewheels, any modern 8-speed chain improves shifting A LOT, as used on my Raleigh Pro, also with NR derailer/shifters)
One of Hugh Enochs' Jevelot frames also stood out among the crowd of more modern rides, along with one of the team's (Danish rider) pro's very costly, current Colnago race bike.
Lastly, the older Stronglight 93 and SR Apex Cranks are the only cases where narrower, 8-speed chains have created difficulties for me. I've had to bend all the small ring's teeth in order to (easily) narrow the effective chainring spacing and prevent the chain skating atop these small ring's teeth after a downshift.
It would have been a great improvement if we had these modern chains back in the day, but it's never too late to try them and I can't think of anything, anything else on these old bikes that can be so improved.
David Snyder Auburn, CA usa
John Thompson wrote:
>
> IMHO, the best way to improve the shifting of a Campy Nuovo/Super Record
> derailleur is to use it with Simplex Retrofriction shifters.
>
> Ride it. It's a great bike and deserves to be ridden.
>
> (john@os2.dhs.org)
> Appleton WI USA
> _______________________________________________
> Davedude11@aol.com wrote:
>> I could just blather on about the bike and how much I like it..
>> But I'm not conversant with the Nuovo Record rear derailleur. (Pat.84.
>> is on it..)