1984 was not only a year of great music releases: Van Halen- 1984, The Smiths debt s/t LP, Prince- Purple Rain, Metallica- Ride the Lightening, The Replacements- Let it Be Minutemen- Double Nickels on the Dime… I could go on and on.. it was also the 2nd year of the Trek 560 (and arguably the best looking year, if black bikes are your thing). The 560 was designed and marketed as a budget racing machine. With super responsive frame geometry identical to more expensive Trek race bikes, light weight Reynolds 501 tubing and decent quality components just a step below Trek’s Campy equipped 660. The brochure exclaims: “Finally, a racing bike for under $500 that won’t get you laughed off the starting line.” I picked this bike up with hopes of it becoming my new “around town” bike. After some tuning and new bar tape I took it for its inaugural ride and found the bike to be a bit too large-framed (at 25.5″) and the narrow tires/rims to be less than suited for pot-hole ridden city road riding. Nonetheless, I decided to pass it onto someone who would appreciate it more than I was able to. However, this bike is the one that triggered my obsession with vintage Trek bikes. I have since bought three others (640, 420, 520… more on those later). This bike now lives happily on the left coast of the USA.

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