I recently picked up a 1983 Fuji Royale II. It's stock and in pretty good condition, including the gold rims. A scan from the catalog is available here if anyone's interested.

My question regards those rims. The bike has clearly seen very little road time, yet I can already see a bit of shiny, non-gold aluminum coming through, mostly on the braking surface. They're a little tacky so close to the chromed fork, though I often embrace the tacky. I'm considering reconfiguring this as a 3-speed and relacing the rims, and I wonder 2 things:

(a) Is it a particularly good/bad idea to eliminate the gold and take these down to the bare aluminum?
(b) If I do remove the gold coating, how would I go about doing so and protecting the aluminum afterwards? I'm guessing this is anodization, but maybe the fact that it's wearing off after so little use suggests I may be wrong?

I'm really on the fence here. Feel free to harangue me for failing to preserve the original character of the bike. Or to tell me the rims are crap and I'd be better off going with brand new rims instead of investing any effort in stripping these.

Thanks much.

a. neutral. it doesnt matter either way
b. oven cleaner. polish with mothers mag wheel polish and wax with car wax to protect

see if you can swap the wheelset or rims for what you want. Or just sell them outright. They might be worth more than you think. Just a guess.

"GOLD FIXIE RIMS"

+1 Silver alloy colored rims are available cheap. I would just sell them and pick up a replacement set. If you want new, you can get 27 inch wheels, alloy rims, stainless spokes, quick release, for a little over $25 each from Niagara.

Want to part with those UKAI rims?

-Kurt

P.S.: I've got a pair of silver 27" Arayas too, if you want to swap.

Same here if Kurt doesn't get them. If you want to swap, I have a set of Araya alloy that are period correct, were on a lot of old fujis, 27".

Or I'll buy outright.

But don't strip them, plenty of silver rims out there.

BTW, is this the Fuji Royale II that just sold on Ebay? Really pretty bike w/the green, leave the gold rims on, it is part of the charm of the bike. I've got an 84 del rey, very similar coloration, no way I'd get rid of the gold rims.

I love the look of the gold Ukai (700c) rims on my Battaglin.

Even with a silver band where the brakes have rubbed off the gold I think they look really nice and that little bit different. Why be the same as everyone else, stand out from the crowd!!

The gold rims on my 1984 Fuji Del Rey are not gold on the sides. Originally, I thought this was due to wear, but on closer inspection of the bike and the catalog pics, it looks like they were only gold across the the top (spoke hole surface) of the rim, whereas the 1983 Fujis with gold rims, like the OP's Royale or my 1983 Opus, were gold all the way around.

BTW, here is a pic of my gold-rimmed Del Rey when I was overhauling it, I don't think the gold is tacky at all on this bike:

I think the preservationist in me is going to win out on these, as the gold really plays nicely off the green. They are indeed gold on the sides, there's just a tiny band of bare aluminum where the brakes have worn through; sounds like they smartened up for '84. But since I'm thinking of relacing these, I might go with drum brakes, which would prevent any further wear. Though now I'm wondering whether I'll hate myself for swapping out the rear hub for internal gears. It is a gold cluster after all...

And yes, this is the one that just sold on eBay. I'm close enough to Indianapolis to do local pickup, so I managed to dodge the $100 shipping and come in lower than I expected. Needless to say, I'm really happy -- the bike is in really good shape.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll get in touch with kudak or robatsu if I decide to part out the rims.

P.S. That Del Rey is fantastic. (I almost bought one that just sold on eBay a couple of hours ago, but figured I should take a breather.) I really think it looks better without the chromed fork of my Royale. Odd since I love chrome forks, but I think I'll just have to embrace the contrast.

That gold and green is a great combo! Beautiful!

I was watching that one too. Congrats! It got too high for my pocketbook. I've swooped on alot of Fujis that are sold through CL here, many are beat up and only suitable for FG conversion. That seller though seems to find alot of nice Fujis.

I recently acquired an all black 89 Fuji Ace, and have been building up a 78 S10-S with parts from fellow BF C&Vers

geek

I think the gold rims look OK and they are ment to match the gold trim on the luggs and decals. but as others offered I would swapp with you if those are 700c wheels.

would that negatively effect braking?

BTW, are we ever going to see some pics of this Royale?

+1

Another oak green Fuji del Rey (mine )with gold decals and gold rims:

What kind of tires are those? That sidewall looks really good on that bike.

As I recall, Continental Ultra Gatorskins.