Cool find in the trash 84 Fuji Junior
Walking home from dinner and drinks half in the bag with my GF when I see a frame in the trash. We are in the process of getting her a bike since she recently suffered a meniscus tear and can't run and do her usual workout routines. I notice the frame is quite small and the paint on it looked fantastic. I pick it up and lug it with us (her thinking I'm crazy) I start looking over it and thinking that it may just be her size though it does look quite small. Then I notice the stamping on the crank and I see 150. 150mm crank? really? who the hell is this thing for? is it a kids bike? sure enough, as I get home and look closely at the sticker that someone put on the downtube I can see the bike model name is "JUNIOR" the sticker on the bike is from a bikeshop in Northampton, MA which is kinda cool because I'm a UMass Alum and know the area well. At any rate, basic initial info I read says that these bikes don't have much value, however, I live in NYC. There are people looking for all sorts of crazy stuff. The paint is awesome on this bike, zero signs of rust. It has the Suntour AR rear deraileur on it but is missing the Front. The stem shifters are still there adn the cables and everything are clean. Looks like this bike has been sitting indoors for a lot of years. Perhaps the whole bike was thrown in the trash and someone just stripped the bars of it, it's kinda strange.
So now onto the questions; This bike takes 24" wheels. What is my best source to find some? It needs some other things like bars, brakes, stem, etc but the wheels are going to be the biggest challenge to find. spacing is 126mm. How should I look to gear it? do 24" wheels come in typical oldschool freewheel hubs or are they available with more modern hubs. I feel like 24" is the size on folding bikes, but I'm really not sure and I don't know if they use any proprietary parts.
I think it's worth spending a bit of money on. Living in a big city, there is a market for all types of stuff. This frame bike is 17"/43cm so it could be ideal for a kid or just a really short woman or something, you never know who is looking for what here in NYC