I work at the PD with a fellow officer named John. John doesn't ride a lot, but he has listened to me expound on the beauty of Single Speeds so he asks me to pimp his ride. John later pulls up in his mini pickup with a 1983 Trek 022! I immediately notice three things; the bike was very dirty but there is almost no rust, the bike is way to big for him (he's 5'11" and the seat tube is 61cm), and at has some weird ass Profile aero bars. John tells me he bought the bike when he was in the Navy, but has not ridden it for years. Recently some guy in a bike shop convinced him the aero bars were a good idea. Yea, like a bike with a top tube 3 inched too long needs an aero bar.
The bike has a Suntour grouppo with DiaComp brakes. Now the derailleurs and cables were shot (I know, who cares), and brakes desperately needed cables, housings and some TLC. So I went to work; tore off the derailleurs and shifters, took off the chain rings and scrubbed and polished (I even used a wire brush at the end of Dremal tool). The rear hub was a freewheel type so I was stuck with a 6 rear cluster; I think that was a good thing. The small front chain ring was a 40T. I added a 1/2 link to the chain so John can switch from a 16T to 20T.
Now what to do with that handlebar; hey I have an old Rivendale Mustache bar! It's mountain bike size so I worried it wouldn't fit, but by golly it did. So, submitted for your approval, John's pimped Trek. Man am I glad it was so big or I wouldn't have been able to part with it.