Here’s my single-speed conversion of a Fuji road bike. It had been the “bonus” bike in a bundle with a Trek Multitrack 750. Top bar rust, and the general ugliness of its decals, and its less-than-premium steel almost had me scrapping the bike – well that, and the notion that selling the Fuji head badge would more than pay for the 2-bike purchase.
I came around to seeing its potential as a single speed bike. The “Valite” tubing is said to fall somewhere between HiTen and CroMo, something like Chrome Vanadium. The top bar rust would clean up ok, and I figured even I could make the paint look passable, with masking and contrast color. I used Goo Gone and a lot of scraping with the edge of a credit card to remove the old decals. Then splurged on some “Sagres” vinyl decals of my own design. Not sure how well the vinyl will last.
The 700c wheels came off of a Pure Fix Original “Golf” that I had bought well-used several months back (marketing pic below). Those “aero” wheels are fairly well worn, and weigh at least a pound each more than a normal type wheel. When I got a look at them on the Fuji – Shazaam! — they sold themselves for the build. Unfortunately, I had just ridden through some dewy cut grass before making my pics, and they take some effort to keep shiny, anyway.
Oh, the handlebars… another favorite part. They came off a child’s bike that I bought at a thrift shop for $8, just to take a chance on them. They are about 85% of adult size, and given how yuuge they are on an adult beach bike, they’re just right for this bike. Well, after I cut 2 cm off of each end.
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Here’s my single-speed conversion of a Fuji road bike. It had been the “bonus” bike in a bundle with a Trek Multitrack 750. Top bar rust, and the general ugliness of its decals, and its less-than-premium steel almost had me scrapping the bike – well that, and the notion that selling the Fuji head badge would more than pay for the 2-bike purchase.
I came around to seeing its potential as a single speed bike. The “Valite” tubing is said to fall somewhere between HiTen and CroMo, something like Chrome Vanadium. The top bar rust would clean up ok, and I figured even I could make the paint look passable, with masking and contrast color. I used Goo Gone and a lot of scraping with the edge of a credit card to remove the old decals. Then splurged on some “Sagres” vinyl decals of my own design. Not sure how well the vinyl will last.
The 700c wheels came off of a Pure Fix Original “Golf” that I had bought well-used several months back (marketing pic below). Those “aero” wheels are fairly well worn, and weigh at least a pound each more than a normal type wheel. When I got a look at them on the Fuji – Shazaam! — they sold themselves for the build. Unfortunately, I had just ridden through some dewy cut grass before making my pics, and they take some effort to keep shiny, anyway.
Oh, the handlebars… another favorite part. They came off a child’s bike that I bought at a thrift shop for $8, just to take a chance on them. They are about 85% of adult size, and given how yuuge they are on an adult beach bike, they’re just right for this bike. Well, after I cut 2 cm off of each end.
The Fuji Sagres weighs 25.2 pounds as shown.