View Single Post
Old 06-27-06, 04:40 PM
  #8  
Nigeyy
Senior Member
 
Nigeyy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 818
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I've seen posts stating that the Windsor Tourist is the same as the Fuji touring. Then again, I've also seen posts claiming to burn fat, give you a winning lottery number and increase the size of a certain part of the male anatomy, so take that for what it's worth.

Personally, I'd be inclined to gamble on the Windsor Tourist -if you look at the specs, though not terrific, you could use many of the components if the frame turned out to be terrible (think about the costs of a set of Tiagra shifters, Deore rear derailleur and rear cassette and you pretty much have $150-$200 right there, not even counting the wheelset and the tyres, a cheap handlebar, etc and you get the picture). But honestly, will the frame be that bad anyway? It would seem almost all mass market frames are made in China or Taiwan now (including the big brand names) so -and this is a guess -I wouldn't be surprized if the frame is identical to the Fuji Touring or is made in the same factory to the same quality as some other big name frames that have their frames made overseas.

The only caveat? My guess is it would be good idea to have a knowledgeable friend who knows how to fine tune the derailleurs and give the bike a good once over. I'd say go for it (but then again, it's not my money is it?). Failing that, if you can pick up a cheap mtb on craigslist locally -cutting out shipping costs -and putting trekking bars on and a set of slicks, a rack, etc, that might turn out to be cheaper even still. I've seen some older model Treks advertized for less than $100 that would probably only need another $100-$200 in them to make them decent touring bikes.

If it makes a difference, I did seriously consider a Windsor Tourist for a while until I stumbled onto an Ebay frame deal I couldn't say no to -plus I had alot of the parts I needed already.
Nigeyy is offline