Fuji Royale Into Solid Commuter?
 

Hi,

I just bought a used, seemingly older Fuji Royale (late 70's, early 80's?). It's got a rack on the back, drop bars, currently has 27 inch tires, and shifters mounted on the tube. I'm a novice when it comes to DIY bike repairs, but am willing to experiment a bit on this bike.. and/or work with my LBS for some modest improvements.

I'm looking to turn this bike into something that can: 1) provide for a comfortable/durable commute to work, about 5 miles roundtrip on the streets of San Francisco; 2) take on an occasional gravelly trail for recreation; 3) maintain some semblance of being relatively lightweight. 4) maybe in the future use on a camping tour, a few hundred miles, but limited gear.

So, my questions are 1) can bikes like this accomodate thicker, sturider tires. 2) can all racks accomodate panniers? (not sure what kind of rack is attached on the royale); 3) would an older fuji royale accomodate fenders; 4) what else am I not thinking about.

Any help is greatly appreciated - again, I'm very new to doing any repairs/upgrades to bikes. I've commuted on a Trek 7.3 fx for years (which I sold to purchase a Scott S50 for triathlons this summer), and have ridden the Scott road bike in triathlons and training. So, I've got riding experience, but clearly on a budget. Thanks.

I don't see any reason why a bike like that wouldn't work for your commute. A very common sized 27 inch tire is 1.25 which works out to about a 32 mm. If the gravel is fairly well packed, I'd think a 32 would be OK.

As far fenders go, just buy a set with the understanding that you can return them if they don't fit. I'm guessing they will.

If the rack has a "dog leg" (a third post on each side), it can take just about any pannier. If not, it'll still work but you'll be better off getting panniers with a rigid side so that they don't swing into your spokes.

One problem with the 27 wheel size is that there aren't as many tires to choose from. I don't know what's available in sizes larger than 1.25 inch. It is possible to convert to 700c wheels on a lot of those bikes. The only concern is the brakes. If there's enough adjustment in the pad placement so that they can be slid down 4mm or more, you should be good.

Thanks. That seems simple enough.

One thing I left out in my original post. I'm not convinced I need flat handlebars for my urban commute, but was wondering if anyone had thoughts on changing out the drops for flat? And if so, how complicated is it to DIY.. and how expensive of a project if I went to my LBS?

If you're going to leave the shifters on the downtube it's pretty easy. You'll need a different stem along with the handlebars and brake levers. You can move the shifters up too, it's just an added expense and you'll need to put cable stops on where your shifters are now. If you're going to bring it to an LBS for them to do the work, I'd start to question the economics. At that point you may be better off selling it and getting something that already has flat bars.

Thanks. I guess I would move the shifters up for the convenience. I assume that moving shifters up makes the commute easier and safer? Though, I probably won't be shifting all that much on the commute part.. maybe the eventual mini-touring part/recreational trail part.

Like a lot of things, using downtube shifters isn't bad once you're used to them, especially if you ride in the drops a lot. They'll never be as convenient as shifters right on the bars though.

A lot of touring bikes have drop bars anyway, so you might want to consider leaving the drops on the bike and just getting bar end shifters if more convenient shifting is your main goal. That would probably be a lot cheaper that a flat bar conversion.

Yeah.. that's a good point. I'm not really convinced that I need flat bars. But I do hear the consistent strain of thought that says flat bar is just better for urban biking. Thanks.

Yeah, I've heard that too, but never really bought the argument. Flat bars are associated with a more upright riding position which some people prefer for urban settings but there's no reason you can't set drops as high as flats. The other argument is that the wider bars give you better leverage. If your urban commute takes you over logs and through rock gardens, maybe that makes some sense but you can get pretty wide drop bars that flare out even farther at the ends if that's a concern.

I would make sure of a few things, like the state of the wheels and brakes. If the wheels are original they are going to be made of steel and be bad in the rain. Finding 27 inch wheels in aluminum is getting harder and harder. I had to resort to ebay, but got a very good set that have been amazing. Also, older brake levers are terrible at providing power, so I recommend upgrading to "linear pull" levers to improve things a bit. As for drops/shifters and the like, my brake lever/handle bars have a sort of bullhorn aspect to them so I never ride on the drops.

It all depends on how far you are going and how often you will be using the bike to commute. If you need it to work everyday sort of thing I recommend the above upgrades, but the bike can definitely be used as a short-range commuter bike that will last forever with general maintenance. I hope I haven't made things sound daunting, good luck.

Ohhh I googled for San Fran bike co-op and found http://www.bikekitchen.org/ Co-OPs are good places to fix and learn how to fix your bike. They will have all the tools and gear at hand, plus people working there that can offer advice.

Giventofly, Here's a photo of my 1982 Fuji Supreme... very similar model to your own. I've been commuting with this one for the last two years. I don't use it in winter as I can't fit studded tires, but other than that, it's a fine commuter.

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1280371572

I haven't tried any off-road or touring. It's not really set up well for touring, but you could get by I think.... at least for short tours. I have tried longer rides, but the road bike double chainring crank seems a bit of a showstopper in the hills.

It'd also very upgradeable. You should be able to move to a cartridge bottom bracket at some point and I have tried 700c wheels and they worked fine with the long reach brake calipers.

To the last two replies from bjornb and gerv.. thanks for that input. I'll definitely be checking the co-op out, I was hoping to find one in SF. And I'm still figuring out which neighborhood I'll be living in, but it'll be about 3 miles, at most. Probably start/stop traffic if I choose the one location. And luckily I should be able to avoid most of the SF hills. My other option to get around SF is my Trek XO 1 cyclocross, which I'll be using for the harder rides.

Once I get out there in a few weeks, I plan on starting a thread about the progress I'm making with the Fuji.

I love those old Fujis.
Looks like those bars need to be rotated about 15 degrees downwards. :)

Dammit, man. You've got me thinking about this now... Maybe that would work. Hmmm...

I'm building an 85 Fuji Espree framset for my "new" commuter. Using a bunch of 105 7 speed stuff I had laying around and a set of 700c wheels I have with a 7 speed cassette. Big bummer is the frame will not take recessed brakes. Luckily I had an old set of Dia-Compe brakes that I held onto for some reason. The backs were fine but had to adjust the front pads down. Anyone do some modifying and drill out the frames so they will accept recessed brakes?