I recently picked up a Fuji Berkeley for $20.
It needs a lot of cleaning, new tires/tubes, cables but otherwise ok condition with all origianal components.
Dia Compre 500 brakes, Sugino crank set, Sun Tour derailleur set and 27 X 1 1/4 steel rims.

I will be taking it appart, cleaning and re-lubing everything.
My qustion is when I have the bottom bracket apart I would like to replace the bearings, what size are they? Same for the Fork.

Also thinking of replacing the steel wheels with Alloy wheels, any recomendation on a good inexpensive set of wheels, is it worth it... to do this in a first place.
If I replaced the wheels how much weight will it save? (potentially)

This is a project for me and my son to work on. Hoping to get all the items together before taking it a part.
I never realy worked on a bicycle before extensively... just the basic tires and brake adjustments. However I have done a lot with motorcycles and cars, guess you can say that I am no stranger to tools.
Looking forward to getting this project done.

What would be a good place to order bike parts?

Thanks all for your inputs in advence.

Igor

Often, the most affordable way to get aluminum wheels is to buy a donor bike that has the correct size wheels for your bike.

Inexpensive wheels = donor bike. Find another cheap bike, but one with better wheels. Not only will alloy wheels be lighter in weight, the brakes will work much better.

As far as where to get parts, it depends on whether this is a one time project, or if you plan to do more. One time project = head to the local bike shop. Multiple projects = order on line (Niagara Cycle is a favorite around here, they are cheap, but VERY slow).

Since you already are into cars, you probably already have a dial caliper. If not, pick up a cheap one at Harbor Freight.

I rarely replace headset bearings, I usually clean them and regrease. BB bearings are almost always 1/4 inch, 11 per side, rear wheel usually 1/4 inch, 9 per side, front wheel usually 3/16 inch, ten per side.

Don't get too carried away with upgrades. It all starts with the frame (which is low end on that Berkeley). The Berkeley is basically an entry level bike, from a good company. At some point, it is a lot cheaper to just sell it and buy something better. But it will be worth doing the basic maintenance and finding some better (used) wheels.

The Berkley is not a bad bike. Even the entry level bikes from Fuji in that era were better than anything you could get at a department store.

If I were going to replace the wheels I would seriously consider these:

https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1824

$99 for two brand new wheels that are 27 inches and will allow you to thread on the freewheel you already have. I've bought a couple of sets of wheels from them to turn cheap 27-inch 10-speeds into cheap 700c 10-speeds and they have put up with all the abuse my 225 lbs can give them summer and winter.

You may be able to find inexpensive alloy wheels at your local bike co-op or used bike shop and if you can, that's great and you should be able to get them for half that price.

You might need to pop for a tool to remove the freewheel -- this is where the local bike co-op comes in handy again! If you wander in there with that bike and tell them your plans they will think that is the greatest and be really helpful. But be careful. The place is probably crawling with hippies.

Cool find for $20. An alloy wheelset from another cheap/donor bike would probably be the cheapest route. I'm not sure how long the reach is on the stock brakes, but if you were going to buy a brand new wheelset I might look into a 700c set that you could take with you to another frame eventually. It looks like the Berkeley that year was 5 speed so the rear spacing is probably 120mm. You could squeeze in a 126mm 5 or 6 speed wheelset but the 130mm wheelset linked to above would probably require spreading the frame.

Steel wheels are definitely heavy but they could work fine on the bike depending on what you are planning on using it for. It might be cool as a neighborhood / townie bike / grocery getter if you put some upright townie bars on it with one of the wald front baskets since they're supposed to be really easy to mount with a bolt-on front wheel.

Thanks everyone...
I just spend an hour in the garage, pulled off the wheels and applied some elbo greese to them.. It's amazing how well they cleaned up. (and the casete spinns like butter)
Also, I noticed that I have 700c wheels on my Trek 720 multitrack bike. So, this weekend I will see if the breaks will work with the 700c on the fuji frame.
If not, I spoke with a bike shop not too far from home, they have a set of alloy wheels in 27 x1 1/4 size for $75 new.

Friend of mine has the tools to get the BB off the bike, we will pull them and see what shape the bearings are in, if good, I will relube and put them back.
The bike will be just a basic rider on the trails or arround town, don't want to spend a whole lot of money on it.. just thought it would be fun to have a vintage bike from the era when I grew up.