My new old bike Fuji Special Tourer

As I mentioned in my previous post, I got a second road bike. Commuting to the train station on my mountain full suspension bike was not fun. First of all I had concerns about it being stolen completely or by parts even tho, it's a pretty safe area. Cable lock that I used is a piece of ... well let's just say it's not much of a challenge to anyone with simple wire cutters. And it's pretty hard to lock both wheels, sit post and the bike all the same time. It's a cheap-o "walmart variety" bike, but still I'd be upset if someone takes it. So at first I looked at the better locks a-la "cryptonite" at the bike shop in downtown area. Holy cow, those are expensive! Some go as high as $120... It would be much cheaper to just replace a bike if it gets stolen. But that wasn't the only reason I bought another bike. My mountain bike is no fun to ride. At least not after you try road bike. Wide noisy knobby tiers, full suspension that is useless on the decent pavement and super heavy weight. Riding that thing is like trying to ski with no snow. I needed fast but ugly bike, something that nobody will want to bother to steal...
Craig's list to the rescue! There were quite a few listing there. Most road bikes were in $100 rage, so I hesitated a bit. But then I found it. Fuji Special Tourer "for a tall rider" whatever that meant. Ad mentioned that chain needs to be replaced, bike has some rust, but otherwise in working condition. And price wasn't too bad - $65. But best thing of all, seller lived very close to my town. I asked if bike was still available and then negotiated price down to $50. I picked it up the same night.
Well, bike was in a much worse condition than described. Dérailleurs were a mess, rust was all over (except for frame), and rear wheel was way off practically stuck against brakes. Most of this I noticed only after I got bike home. Bike was pretty heavy too. If I have to guess, about 30-35 lb. Oh yeah did I mention the color? Super ugly purple! LOL, probably was a "hot color" back in the 1970s... Still I wasn't upset, I like the challenge every now and then. I was already fantasizing how I would take it apart, replace some part and build me a mean beast :)
Here's a pic I took this morning :

(pay no attention to quality or guinea pigs in the background :), I did this in a hurry with P&S camera just as I was running out to work)

Inspection



The very next day I put bike on the stand, and inspected it closer. Yes I do have a bike stand, and no I don't know that much about bike mechanics. I picked up few things here and there, mostly from bikeforums.net and from the bike book I got... And when I was a kid I had to repair my bikes, but those were mostly single speed bikes...

Anyway as I mentioned biggest issue seemed to be with the rear wheel, it was out of alignment and getting stuck when turning. There was rust on most chrome parts, pedals, front wheel rim, chain, gears, stem and steel cables for shifters and brakes...



Frame looked very good, I didn't notice anything wrong it. Most of the original ugly purple color was there. I started off spraying rusty parts with some WD-40. At first I wanted to fix the rear wheel, but I wasn't sure how to do truing (thats the name of the process to straightening the rim) so I started to work on chain and rear dérailleur. Still not quite sure why seller mentioned that chain needs to be replaced, it looked OK to me. A bit rusty but OK.

Repairs

First thing I did was hooked up "Pedro's Chain Machine" chain cleaning device, added some bio-degreaser and quickly run thru the chain cleaning process.

Then I applied a lot of chain lube to both chain and rear cogs.

I disconnected inner wire from rear dérailleur, applied some of the chain lube (hey oil is oil) to it, and moved it back and forth inside plastic tubes in hopes to remove some rust and increase friction. I think I'm going to replace shifter cables pretty soon anyway. I also tried adjusting front dérailleur but that thing is in pretty bad shape :( I don't know if it's bent, or just need more adjustment so I pretty much made sure it shifts more or less and left it alone.

On the next day, I read some more about wheel truing on Park Tool site. Funny, the process was just as I imagined it! It's all pretty much common sense. Rotate the wheel, find place where it gets closest to the brake, and adjust spoke tention. If wheel is bent to the left, tighten spoke that pulls it to the right or relax one that pulls it to the left, and so on. I fixed the wheel very quickly, but it was a sloppy job :( Wheel almost doesn't rub now, but it's it wobbles in many places... I just didn't have patience for a jewelry job, and was turning spokes too much or too soon. It's ok, tho as long as it works :) I tightened the brake cables and bike was pretty much ready for the first ride...

The Ride and conclusion

I was a bit nervous riding this bike for the first time, mostly because I live on top of a steep hill... I didn't want to go fast, but had no choice :) It was an interesting feel. Bike's steering bars feels very small, even smaller than on my Trek's bike. It's also much lower. Because of the weight I can really feel the momentum of the bike as it accelerates. It's not easy to stop quickly. Brakes felt kind of soft, but I was not trying to press them very hard. Riding down the hill was simple, but climbing wasn't so easy. I tried switching to lower gear in the rear, and it somewhat worked. It didn't move all the way when I applied tension to the cable, and didn't move back right away when tension was removed... Front derauller was scraping chain constantly, but I could almost stop this from happeing by slightly adjusting lever. This was interesting, and it's something that you can't do with modern shifters, becuase they click to specific position. With older shifter levers like on this bike you have much more flexibility... I tried another climb, and this time I tried shifting front derauller while going up the hill. Not a good idea. Chain fell between two big gears and jammed, so I couldn't pedal. Took me a while to free it up and shift back with my hands. After I was done with the test ride, I noticed couple of things. One (obvious) is that I can use at most 2-3 speeds, and only with rear dérailleur. Sit needed to be adjusted (it was too low), and handlebar as well (not sure if it's possible tho). I unscrewed nut holding the sit post, but I couldn't move it much as it was stuck due to rust or some other reason...
Next morning before work, I took rubber hammer and was able to remove sit post and then adjust it to the correct height. Then I added some pressure to the tires (100psi), took few quick pictures (seen above) and rode to the train. No problems. Bike got me there in one piece. So whats next? I think I will try to replace shifter cables, take apart both wheels and lower bracket and inspect/clean/lubricate all bearings. I'll also try to re-adjust dérailleurs, and see if I can raise steering bar. I was thinking about changing tires, as they look very old and cracked, but I think I'll leave it for now... And I'm seriously considering if I should paint it over :)

Edit 05/15/2011:
To all who wants to buy it, I NO LONGER HAVE THIS BIKE, sorry.