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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Telling Secrets

Well, I don't want to be too mysterious, so here's the new bike project:



It's a Fuji touring bike, mid-80s from the looks of it.  I swapped the wheels, before I took these pictures, but other than that, this is the "before" shot.

 I love Fuji bikes, and I love touring bikes.  So, when I got a chance to trade for this, I jumped at it.  The bike has a lot of cool tuches, like the chromed and pantagraphed fork crown...

 ...the stylized Mt. Fuji head tube badge...

 ...and quad-butted tubing.  It also had the chainstay-mounted extra spokes, which act as a chain-slap preventer, but I forgot to take a picture of it.  Next time...

It has a little wear and tear on it, including this little shallow dent in the downtube.  But, overall, it is in good shape and has a pleasing patina.

I am hoping that my new brakes will allow enough adjustment to line up the pads with the 700c rims on these wheels.  If not, I'll make them work, anyway.  I would just prefer that it be easy, for once.

I bid on some 8-speed Campy bar-end shifters, on eBay.  I was really hoping to get them, and round out the drivetrain with Campy parts.  But, even though I bid a stupid amount for them ($122.00!), I still lost the auction. I just bought some Shimano Ultegra bar-ends to put on, instead.  I'll run friction, at half the cost.

Now, I suppose, I need to sell the Nishiki road bike with the gold SunTour cranks to someone.  This bike will take the place of that one.

x
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8 comments:

  1. Pondero5:07 PM

    Great project. I'm looking forward to the final product...and the adventure you have planned for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Big Oak5:30 AM

    I've heard of triple-butted tubing, but not quad-butted tubing. What is that?

    That is a sweet-looking bike. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jon10:01 AM

    Chris:

    Thanks. You just gave me a thought which is too long for this forum. So, it will be a blog post, soon.


    Bill:

    Same thing, except that there are four different thicknesses along the length of the tube. Normally, it is like the lightweight triple-butted stuff, with the addition of a thicker area where the tubes join.

    Theoretically, this gives you the ride characteristics of the triple-butted stuff, but with stronger joins between the tubes.

    It may well be the "Gillette Quadra Razor" syndrome. If three butt

    s is good, four must be better...

    ReplyDelete
  4. thomas10:26 AM

    What is that in the rear wheel? A spoke card?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jon12:54 PM

    Thomas:
    The little sun face is not in the wheel. It is a candle holder, stuck in the ground. The bike is just sitting in front of it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Christopher11:51 AM

    Lovely bike, I enjoy classic road bikes with fatter tires, the proportions are just right to me.
    So what is your goal for this? Commuter, touring, cyclocross?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jon1:39 PM

    Christopher: See the next post...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aerospoke12:26 AM

    Good post..

    ReplyDelete

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