So, this might have happened... NBD - 2016 Fuji Touring workhorse

[wafter]

It's a slim possability but, have you tried using the gears with a shimano branded shifter?
The reason I ask is because prior to fitting dura ace 9spd downtube shifters on mine I had some by a brand called SunRace. They were recommended by a chap on CyclingUK and swore they were great. They never once gave me a clean properly indexed shift/ They were s****. DuraAce = perfect shifts every time. I think any shimano 9spd shifter would have been fine too but they were on offer as they're out dated these days.
It might be worth checking.

I've not - I have seen they're available (I think DA jobs are about £90/pr) but obviously the outlay to find out would be significant for a budget / utility hack.. I do completely appreciate how this could be the result of wear in the shifter or a slight compatability issue between parts (although they're all original fitment and one would hope the "manufacturers" did their homework while speccing the components.

Truth be told I'm still in a bit of a malaise with the gears as the shifting seems a little finnicky on the smaller sprockets even with friction shifting. The next step really needs to be to check the RD hanger alignment just to rule it out, although given my current situation that's a bridge too far at the moment.

Why don’t you just cut the inner cables down with a cable cutter and crimp on a ferrule?

I'd prefer not to have to remove the crimped-on ends if I need to pull the cable back through the outer for any reason and think that tinning the ends is just a tidier solution.


So, a few more inconsequential ramblings. My last jaunt on the bike saw the toe straps removed, however unlike the previous pair of cages I owned, these are pretty floppy so without the constraint of the straps did little to locate the foot fore-aft on the pedal. As such I got as far as the outskirts of the village, turned round and refitted the straps

Not sure what to do about this now - could throw a modest amount of money at some shorter / stiffer cages, but for now will persevere with the straps and see if I can tolerate them.

I've also just taken receipt of a set of Moon lights (Pulsar and Nova), which also had their first outing yesterday. I'm already well familiar with the Pulsar (rear) and very impressed, and for the small extra sum required to get the set I thought I might as well have a "get you seen" front light into the bargain as well. Depending on my level of procrastination I might do a short review of these in isolation at some point..

Finally I was reminded again yesterday of the need for a bell on this bike, so really ought to start looking at somewhat more taty options for the CdF so I can move over the cheapo item that came with it onto the Fuji.

Exciting stuff indeed

 

[wafter]

And so this thread continues on its white-knuckle, vertical-drop, heart-stopping, pressurised-adrenaline-through-a-firehose rampage..

Having been after a Genesis saddle for a while I'd setup an ebay search alert, and after a long dry spell one popped up during the week for a reasonable sum. Despite having bought the Brand X item I reflexedly bought it, and it arrived today.

Predictably it wasn't as described (some marks and a good dusting of mold) however the seller was very aminible and I chose to keep the saddle following a partial refund.

After a good soapy scrub in the shower it was given a rub down with some boiled linseed oil and chucked on the bike. BX and Genesis items for comparison; they appear geometrically identical while the BX saddle has a stickier, more textured finish and maybe slightly harder padding:

I figured the Genesis was more appropriate on the Fuji being used and ever-so slightly tatty, the BX item can go in the bits box for when I inevitably need a saddle for something else

 

[Jameshow]

And so this thread continues on its white-knuckle, vertical-drop, heart-stopping, pressurised-adrenaline-through-a-firehose rampage..

Having been after a Genesis saddle for a while I'd setup an ebay search alert, and after a long dry spell one popped up during the week for a reasonable sum. Despite having bought the Brand X item I reflexedly bought it, and it arrived today.

Predictably it wasn't as described (some marks and a good dusting of mold) however the seller was very aminible and I chose to keep the saddle following a partial refund.

After a good soapy scrub in the shower it was given a good rub with some boiled linseed oil and chucked on the bike. BX and Genesis items for comparison; they appear geometrically identical while the BX saddle has a stickier, more textured finish and maybe slightly harder padding:

View attachment 667527

View attachment 667532

View attachment 667533


I figured the Genesis was more appropriate on the Fuji being used and ever-so slightly tatty, the BX item can go in the bits box for when I inevitably need a saddle for something else

Probably a charge spoon copy?

 

[freiston]

Maybe not a "copy" as such but the Charge Spoon is of a basic saddle type manufactured by "Velo" that is produced with many finishes under many brand/model names - and those two are definitely examples of them - as is my Passport Navigator saddle - see this thread with a picture of the underside of my Navigator.

 

[wafter]

Yesterday a small packet of prospective joy was delivered:

While the King cages I have on the CdF are very nice, these were nearly half the price at £11.75ea with free postage from Fawkes cycles, who I've had decent dealings with in the past.

Initial impressions are good; they're a bit less substantial than the kings and of more of a matt finish. For not much more than ally alternatives I can't complain, however I was a bit disappointed to find a step at the joint in the tubing on both cages. It doesn't appear to catch the bottle when fitted, but it's not ideal..

Anyway, they should get fitted over the weekend in preparation for the next ride.. which with the weather as it is probably won't be until May

 

[Gunk]

I’ve got a couple of Blackburn Ti cages on my Van Nic

 

[wafter]

Got these on earler; facilitated by various fixings and consumables recovered immediately from their known, tidied locations.. which in itself was satisfying.

I'm not overly sold on the cages as they apparently constrict the base of the bottle as it's pushed fully home, meaning they require a bit of a pull to remove and feel nowhere near as positive as the King cages.. which apparently hold the bottles as intended; restrained between the up-swept front edge of the base and top of the cage that sits behind it.

Not nec. a fault of the Blackburn cages as I suspect there's little standardisation across bottles, so these may work well with others.

I'll see how I get on with them anyway.. I suspect in use they'll be no worse than what came off and at least I can now carry two bottles to sustain those long winter rides that'll probably never happen 👍

 

[wafter]

Got out on the fuji for the first time in a long time today; ghost shifting issue seems to be getting worse but I still really enjoyed getting out and this once more served to illustrate how much I've come to value this bike.

In more riveting news I've moved the seat forward by about 5mm from it's extreme-rearmost position as it felt maybe a bit far back. As it happens it now seems to be in the same place relative to the seatpost as the setup on the CdF (which uses the same saddle and post; albeit the latter having different branding).

Hoping to get out on the fuji again soon, weather permitting

 

[wafter]

A mundane update.. despite a wet ride a while ago the relatively-freshly-waxed chain showed zero sign of complaint on yesterday's short ride, which is promising.

In the gritty wet weather there's an audible rubbing at the rear brakes in time with high-loaded pedal strokes (such as when climbing out of the saddle). Evidently the frame's a bit noodly and twisting under load; betrayed by the close-clearance between the micro-vee brakes and the rim. Not ideal but no deal-breaker and not necessarily any worse than any other bikes; just highlighted by the brakes in this case.

Finally I've noticed that the rear cassette really doesn't like the lowest gear, while there's a lot of shifter travel at the opposite end. I initially thought this might be due to cable stretch, however this would surely work in the opposite direction on the cassette. I wonder if it's a result of the bike falling over and maybe hammering the derailleur; just another reason to check the hanger alignment I guess.

 

[wafter]

Today a series of events too boring to recount led me toward inspecting the brakes on the Fuji, pending the procurement of some new pads.

This led to some time learning about cartridge pads as I've otherwise no experience of these. After some googling I'd got the pads out of the holders and was surprised to see how much aluminum contamination there was on their surface. I'm not sure if this is the accumulation of rim material that's been abraded during use, or if the deposits in the pad have actually been pickup up on the rim and pulling chunks off (galling - something to which ally is very prone).
Anyway, rear (LHS) and front pads - yes I know the rears are low; I'll probably swap the fronts to the rear and put a new set on the front, once I've wrung the last gram of life out of these..

Shot with no flash / reflected ambient light; showing the extent of the aluminium contamination:

Five minutes with some 80-grit paper on a flat surface saw the contamination removed.. who's to say how long they'll stay this way, however..

With the pads back on the bike I was once more smug about my nice Avid inline brake adjustors; each of these requiring maybe another turn to get the bite back to where it was, now that some additional pad material had been removed.

I'm impressed by the cartridge system; once the cable tension is removed it's relatively straightforward to remove the retaining pins and pull the pads free from the carriers. This system has a number of benefits - lower cost, less waste and no need (on paper at least) to adjust the pads relative to the brake cantilevers; which can be a pain.

Out on the road the brakes have noticeably more bite; I guess a regular inspection of the pads should be added to the to-do list.

 

[wafter]

The bike as it currently stands.. not much more to do to it other than address the odd remaining niggling issue - sort the still-not-quite-right rear gear setup and do something with the unfinished cables that periodically stick me when I'm not paying attention..

 

[Jameshow]

The bike as it currently stands.. not much more to do to it other than address the odd niggling thing - sort the still-not-quite-right rear gear setup and do something with the unfinished cables that periodically stick me when I'm not paying attention..

View attachment 682180

Ride it!!!

 

[All uphill]

The bike as it currently stands.. not much more to do to it other than address the odd niggling thing - sort the still-not-quite-right rear gear setup and do something with the unfinished cables that periodically stick me when I'm not paying attention..

View attachment 682180

I've enjoyed this thread, @wafter , thanks.

Very much my kind of bike - looks good and can do most things well.

Cheers!

 

[wafter]

Ride it!!!

lol - as you now know I'm doing my best!

Now has about 500 miles on it since it was bought

I've enjoyed this thread, @wafter , thanks.

Very much my kind of bike - looks good and can do most things well.

Cheers!

Thanks - glad to hear you've found it of interest!

I'm really pleased with it so far - it's not cost the earth, has given me something to work on / towards and really opened up another dimension in cycling for me


Further to my previous post about the brakes, I've just whipped off one of the front pads after yesterday's slightly grotty 30-odd mile ride since I cleaned them up to find that they look much the same as they were before the "clean". There's an even coating of ally on the friction surface; however it's perhaps more uniform with no large buildups (which in some places appear to have worked their way into the rubber leaving voids last time).

For what it's worth, from my records prior to yesterday's cleaning the pads were last given a light sanding when I got the bike, so what was shown in the previous post was the result of around 500 miles of mixed riding.

So.. it's probably worth checking / lightly sanding the friction surface of the pads occasionally, however it seems that an amount of aluminium is always going to be present. A stark reminder of how braking eats your rims; although so far these show no descernible wear

 

[wafter]

Given my love of the Fuji's triple crankset coupled with manufacturers' apparently growing distate for this lovely versatile format, I've been considering stocking up on a few bits while I can. Since I almost exclusively use the middle ring I figured this was the most appropriate to keep as a spare and I managed to get one from Tredz at a good price - a shade under a tenner while most other places wanted circa double this.

I also got two pairs of original-spec Tektro brake pads / cartridge inserts; the whole lot after the 10% promo discount coming to a little over the £20 free-postage marker, which was nice

The bits arrived today and will go into the spares box until needed - I suspect the chainring won't be required for many years, while the brakes will get some attention as soon as I'm content I can no longer wring any more use out of the nearly-knackered rears on the bike.