walter221

Hi everyone, i am riding a schwinn le tour bike right now, but i wanna change to a lighter bike and i found a Fuji Roubaix PRO frame for $250, so wondering if this would fit me (220lb) and would this be good deal?
thanks!

Tom Stormcrowe

With the right wheels and assuming the frame is the correct size, it'll work fine. Are we talking a bare frame only, or frame/fork or a complete bike?

A Year would be nice as well for us to answer.

Tom Stormcrowe

For wheels, I'd look at the Velocity Deep V, by the way. It's kind of the "House Wheel", in that it's strong! I use the 36 spoke 3X setup and 14 gage spokes, but you could use a 32 or 36 spoke setup, if you wanted.

walter221

oh sorry for not mentioning that, it's a 2006 model and has gone for 600 miles

walter221

i am 5'11 and it's 54cm with stock fork, handlebar and stem, stock crankset and seatpost only. by the way, i don't have a large budget, so i am trying to minimize the cost as much as i can

Tom Stormcrowe

OK, then a good set of Velocity Deep V's, hand built with Tiagra Hubs, will set you back another $350 or so, then you need to get dérailleurs, shifters or brifters, saddle, but you could transfer SOME of that from your Schwinn.

If you build from scratch with new parts from this frame, you'll be up around the $800.00 mark for a 2006 model.

Take a look at Craigs List for your area, you can likely find a better deal.

EDIT: Take note: I found a 06 Fuji Roubaix Pro that sold on Ebay for $1025.00, FWIW.

walter221

thanks tom!
actually i found the frame from craigs list but i am just wondering if this would be a good deal, 800 sounds a lot to me...is there any cheaper alternative for the wheels?

Tom Stormcrowe

Well, I look at it as true economy. If you go with a budget set of machine built wheels, they might or might not hold up. If you spec your wheels for your weight and spend the money where appropriate, you'll have no trouble out of the wheels, and with a Clyde, the wheels are the weakest link in the bike. Skimping on wheels is false economy if the wheels you put on are constantly failing, as is skimping on saddle or cycling shorts.

For the wheels, get the best hand builds you can possibly afford. Air can chime in here....he's known around these parts as the "Destroyer of Wheels". I'll send him a PM to drop in.

Tom Stormcrowe

Here's Velocity's USA Site
https://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=537

curbtender

What year Le Tour?

walter221

hey, tom really appreciated...have you ever heard of this site,
https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/velocity.asp
coz i wanna save some money, so i may build everything on myself to save the laboring cost...

walter221

i am not sure but it's really old, so i would say it prolly came from the early 80's...

Tom Stormcrowe

Heck yeah! Peter White hubs are among the best on the planet

If you can build wheels, then your costs will drop significantly.

walter221

i haven't built any, but everything has it's first time...

Tom Stormcrowe

OK, find some junk wheels and do a relace for the learning experience then There are a lot of resources online to help you out as well.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

https://www.bikewebsite.com/build.htm

walter221

i will prolly relace my schwinn first...so you would say the fuji frame is worth investing?

Tom Stormcrowe

Judging by the resale on the example I found, yeah.It could be a reasonable investment. If you build it up, it'll be YOUR bike completely as well.

Caincando1

Judging from how the bike speced out it look like a good bike. But you are still going to need a lot of parts to get it ridable. Fit is going to be the mail part. You're probably going to want to get on a complete bike and make sure a 54 is right. You may need a 56, but every manufacturer is a little different so it's hard to say about Fuji.


Roubaix PRO


WHEELSET: New Alex (A-Class) ALX-220

FRAMESET: Fuji Altair 2 custom butted aluminum with Power Diamond downtube

FORK: FC-770 Fuji Bonded Carbon, integrated 1 1/8" alloy steerer

DRIVETRAIN: New TruVativ Elita GXP Compact 36/50 w/ integrated spindle, New Shimano 105 & Ultegra mix

HANDELBAR, STEM, SEATPOST: Fuji UltraLite, Comp and PRO series alloy

SIZES: 49cm, 52cm, 54cm, 56cm, 58cm, 61cm

COLOR: Fuji Red / Gloss Black

WEIGHT: 18.8 lbs / 8.53 kg

MSRP (USD) $1,540.00

walter221

thanks everyone,
yea size is my concern, i checked fuji's website it suggests a 56 or 58 would be better, that's why i am not sure...

MMPC

Hi walter221. I just purchased a 2007 Fuji Roubaix RC in 56cm size. I'm 5'10", 260lbs. and so far it's working great for me. I did replace the San Marco Ponza saddle with a Specialized Avatar Gel body geometry saddle. I also changed out the 24-spoke Alex wheels with 32-spoke Shimano Ultegra/Mavic Open Pros - much more durable. Good luck!

walter221

thanks for the info, MMPC. what do you think about the size? coz i am 5'11 and the frame i am looking at is 54mm.

BikEthan

A 54 is going to be way small for you more likely than not. I would think a 56-60 depending on your proportions and more importantly what felt good to you on a test ride. If you're not experienced with this stuff you really should test ride as many bikes as you reasonably can to figure out what frame size feels the most comfortable for the type of riding you'll be doing. Good luck!

MMPC

I'd agree with BikEthan - a 54cm seems like it would be small for you - but it ultimately all comes down to the particular bike, its geometry and how you fit on it that's most important. Whatever you choose, make sure to have a professional bike fitting to make certain everything gets setup correctly!

walter221

thanks for the advice!!
i think i'd better got some test rides then...coz i don't really have the chance to bike in Hong Kong, yea i am chinese and living in boston right now...
btw, do you know where can i get some test rides in boston area?

walter221

and i think i will try to upgrade my schwinn at this moment and familiarize myself with repairing and building a bike.