# Help me understand the details on my new Fuji.



## mm9

4/13/15: Just purchased my first road bike in 28 years. Trying to understand the details of the bike and I have several questions if you don't mind. Please comment on the details if you know about Fuji's or these components. Thanks! 









The goal was to find a decent re-entry to the sport bike, for an inexpensive price. It's new 2013 Roubaix 1.0 from my local Performance Bicycles shop - was on sale. The price was marked down to $899. I assume because it's a 2013 model.

First - this bike is a "Performance Exclusive" - what does that typically mean in terms of tradeoffs? Better components for the money or less?

Frame: A2-SL - How does this compare to the A6 - SL?

Fork: FC 440 Carbon - I thought this was a cheap fork when I bought it, but I notice it's the same fork that is on several Carbon Fuji's that are a good bit more expensive than my bike.

Front Derailleur - Shimano 105

Rear Derailleur - Shimano 105

Cassette - Shimano 105 10 speed - 11 - 28

Crankset - Compact 34/50. Says Oval Concepts 730 on the Crank arms. and Opraxis Works, Cold Forged, Levatime on the big Chainring. Not sure what the model is of the crankset. Do you know?

Brake/Shifting Levers - Shimano 105

BOTTOM BRACKETress-Fit BB86 - don't know how to verify this. This is what some specs I found say - but several of those specs are wrong for my specific bike.

BRAKES:Tektro R-320 dual pivot - Can't verify- this is what a spec sheet says

Seat - Oval Concepts 500 - this appears to be a better seat than is listed on the specs? (300 is listed)

Seatpost - Oval Concepts 300

Wheelset - Oval Concepts 327 - This is one I'm very interested in. When I first bought the bike, I thought these were probably cheap and why the price is low. But, now with some research, I've noticed that several bikes that are more expensive, have this wheelset. - opinions.

Hubs - Front and rear - Oval Concepts 300. Do some 327 wheelsets come stock with better hubs than this? Is this where they lowered costs? 

Tires: Vittoria Zaffiro Slick - 700 x 23c

Headset - FSA (Model #?)

Stem - Oval Concepts 313

Handlebars - Oval 300s

Thanks for your help.


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## Lara9261

Dial in the fit and the the hell out if it. Don't worry to much about the components at this point. If you enjoy the sport, then invest in a better bike a few years down the road. When and if your ridding becomes a genetic feeling of "I need to ride today" then the fever will hit and your savings will take a huge hit. 

I justify it as an investment on my health and sanity..


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## Oxtox

not familiar with Oval Concepts products...

but, looking at their website, most of the parts you listed are their 'entry level' items...

Oval Concepts Road

the 105 stuff is decent enough, the brakes are sorta meh.

for $900, you weren't expecting top-of-the-line components were you...?

I'd just put a bunch of miles on it and wear stuff out so I could justify an upgrade in a couple of years.


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## MMsRepBike

It's a lower end road bike with cheap parts on it.

The brakes are pretty bad, the crank is cheap. Everything that says Oval on it is a "house brand" low cost alternative to an established company's part.

It doesn't make it a bad bike, but I wouldn't be looking too closely at it. You can do yourself a HUGE favor by upgrading the entire groupset to Shimano 5800. You can buy the entire groupset for about or less then $400 and every single part of it will be a big upgrade to what you have.

So you understand what I mean, a groupset is the following:

Shift/brake levers
The cables and housing to go with them
Brakes
Front and rear derailleurs 
Crankset
Cassette
Chain
Bottom bracket

aka everything you need to upgrade all of your drivetrain and brakes.

5800 is the new 11-speed 105 level of components from Shimano

This will get you better braking.
This will get you better shifting.
This will give you the chance to pick your perfect gearing.
This will upgrade you to 11-speed.

Ribble.com (in the upper right choose the USA and US dollars)

Might want to get some nicer wheels, that's up to you. Those are fine if they can handle 11-speed.


Or not. Or you can just accept what you have and ride the hell out of it. There's nothing at all special about anything on your bike but it all works. Fuji is part of a much larger corporation that did indeed cut many corners and costs on your bike but it's still fine to ride. If you want to upgrade, just do the above and go from there.


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## tlg

mm9 said:


> It's new 2013 Roubaix 1.0 from my local Performance Bicycles shop
> 
> First - this bike is a "Performance Exclusive" - what does that typically mean in terms of tradeoffs?


It means the specs on the bike are exclusive to Performance. If you go on the Fuij website and look at the specs for the Roubaix 1.0 they will be different from yours. So if you went to a non-performance dealer and got a 1.0 it'd be spec'd different.

Without looking at and comparing all the components, I couldn't guess what's different or if it's better or not. But my guess would be it's equally spec'd. Perhaps Performance has an agreement with one of the parts suppliers that doesn't allow them to carry other brands. 
Or maybe they get better pricing because of volume so the spec'd parts are slightly better. 
Either way, the difference would be marginal. It's a decent entry bike so ride it and enjoy.


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## Oxtox

MMsRepBike said:


> It's a lower end road bike with cheap parts on it.


doesn't make much sense to spend $400 on a new group, couple of hun more to get everything installed, and then more money on new wheels...that will more than double his original cost.

just ride it to death and/or demote it to rain / backup duty, then upgrade to something better.


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## Lara9261

If you feel the need to change something, then #1 priority for me would be the brakes. Change them to 105 and it will be significant enough to increase confidence. put 2500 miles on it then decide to change or not to chance. My 2 cents..


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## tlg

MMsRepBike said:


> You can do yourself a HUGE favor by upgrading the entire groupset to Shimano 5800. You can buy the entire groupset for about or less then $400 and every single part of it will be a big upgrade to what you have.


That would be silly on a brand new bike. 105 shifts fine. Spending $600 to upgrade a brand new bike would produce marginally better performance. 
He'd be better to return the bike to Performance and add the $600-$700 to purchase a better bike.



> So you understand what I mean, a groupset is the following:
> 
> Shift/brake levers
> The cables and housing to go with them
> Brakes
> Front and rear derailleurs
> Crankset
> Cassette
> Chain
> Bottom bracket
> 
> aka everything you need to upgrade all of your drivetrain and brakes.
> 
> 5800 is the new 11-speed 105 level of components from Shimano


What's he going to do with his 10sp wheels? You need to include that in the price. You've exceeded the entire cost of his bike for an "upgrade".


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## ibericb

mm9 said:


> *The goal was to find a decent re-entry to the sport bike, for an inexpensive price*. It's new 2013 Roubaix 1.0 from my local Performance Bicycles shop - was on sale. The price was marked down to $899.


It seems to me like you fulfilled your goal. Well done. 

With that price as a new bike it obviously will be assembled with lower end components. But they should work just fine for entry level. Just ride and enjoy it, until you feel you want/need/deserve something better.


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## mm9

ibericb said:


> It seems to me like you fulfilled your goal. Well done.
> 
> With that price as a new bike it obviously will be assembled with lower end components. But they should work just fine for entry level. Just ride and enjoy it, until you feel you want/need/deserve something better.


Part of my curiosity stems from this: When I bought the bike, I knew the 105 stuff was decent for kind of new rider. I figured the other stuff must be cheap because of the price point (Wheelset for example - Oval 327). But, I'm finding many of the same parts on more expensive Fuji's, like the wheels. Example: $2000 full carbon bike with same wheels, fork and seat: Fuji Bikes | ROAD | COMPETITON SERIES | SST 2.3

I'm just curious about that. Are these parts truly the same or is there something I'm not understanding?

I'm not wringing my hands about this - just curious and learning. Loving the learning process. Thanks


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## Oxtox

mm9 said:


> But, I'm finding many of the same parts on more expensive Fuji's, like the wheels.


found this: Oval Concepts is the “house brand” of wheels and parts for bikes from ASI – Advance Sports International, which owns Fuji, Kestrel, SE Bikes, Breezer, and Terry. 

they don't even list the 327 on their site...and the 527s are MSRP $399...which means the 3-series are prolly much cheaper (i.e., lower quality).

just because they're found on a more expensive bike doesn't mean they're a great wheelset. it's how profit is generated...


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## mm9

Oxtox said:


> found this: Oval Concepts is the “house brand” of wheels and parts for bikes from ASI – Advance Sports International, which owns Fuji, Kestrel, SE Bikes, Breezer, and Terry.


Interesting - after reading what you wrote about ASI, I found this bike by Kestrel - Very similar components as my bike (with the key exception that the Kestrel is a full carbon frame): Kestrel Bicycles | Road | RT Series - RT-1000 - Shimano 105


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## Lara9261

I replaced all of the Oval factory components and my bike has morphed. Much more stiff, agile, lighter and responsive. The most significant notice was the stem and cranks, wow what a difference.


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## jfaas

mm9 said:


> Interesting - after reading what you wrote about ASI, I found this bike by Kestrel - Very similar components as my bike (with the key exception that the Kestrel is a full carbon frame): Kestrel Bicycles | Road | RT Series - RT-1000 - Shimano 105


It's fun to continue to research what you could have purchased instead of what you got. If you think you are going to wear out this bike in a year and have a good reason to buy and uprade, you will be disappointed. This bike will easily last you many thousands of miles. My prediction is you get bored and want to upgrade before the bike is truly spent. Even the "junk" Tektro brakes will continue service for as long as the rest of the parts. You have a solid, durable bike. Ride, ride, ride your bike until you are bored of it. Change the chain and cassette at recommended intervals, change the tires when they wear out. 

I suggest you avoid any urges to upgrade this bike. Take the money and stuff it in a jar. Looking at new wheels? Drop $500 in your jar. Groupset? $1200 in the jar. The idea should be clear.


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## GOTA

Sounds like a nice deal. Replace parts as they wear out. Outside of fit items like a saddle there is no reason to get rid of the Oval gear just because it's a house brand. That's very common. You'll see the same thing on Specialized, Cannondale, Trek, Giant etc... Sometimes they use their own name, like Giant, and sometimes they use another, like Trek with Bontrager. 

I just bought a BMC Granfondo and the stem, bars and seatpost are all branded BMC. That's fine by me.


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## Mr645

Solid bike with decent parts. The 105 drivetrain should deliver many years of reliable use. I have mostly 105 components on my 2012 Altamira and had ridden them about 8000 miles. Most of the Oval parts are also good. My Oval crank is simply a repainted FSA Gossamer crank. Not high end, but stiff, solid and reliable. The wheels are probably heavy but my Oval 330 wheels took a real beating and never needed truing until the front hub went bad around 4000 miles due to plenty of rain riding. The Oval 500 brakes continue to work well. The FC440 fork is an all carbon fork, nice piece. The FC 770 is a hybrid aluminum/carbon and the FC 330 is a light weight full carbon fork used on their top end road bikes.


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## bikerjulio

I have had a similar Fuji Roubaix SL frame and 440 fork for about 6 years now as my winter/rain bike.

IMO it's a very nice frameset, comfortable and reasonably light. Underrated even. Has stood up well to all the years of abuse. I think you got a pretty good deal there.


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## mm9

jfaas said:


> It's fun to continue to research what you could have purchased instead of what you got. If you think you are going to wear out this bike in a year and have a good reason to buy and uprade, you will be disappointed. This bike will easily last you many thousands of miles. My prediction is you get bored and want to upgrade before the bike is truly spent. Even the "junk" Tektro brakes will continue service for as long as the rest of the parts. You have a solid, durable bike. Ride, ride, ride your bike until you are bored of it. Change the chain and cassette at recommended intervals, change the tires when they wear out.
> 
> I suggest you avoid any urges to upgrade this bike. Take the money and stuff it in a jar. Looking at new wheels? Drop $500 in your jar. Groupset? $1200 in the jar. The idea should be clear.


It is fun learning about bikes through the recent purchase. Also, sounds like good wisdom.



Mr645 said:


> Solid bike with decent parts. The 105 drivetrain should deliver many years of reliable use. I have mostly 105 components on my 2012 Altamira and had ridden them about 8000 miles. Most of the Oval parts are also good. My Oval crank is simply a repainted FSA Gossamer crank. Not high end, but stiff, solid and reliable. The wheels are probably heavy but my Oval 330 wheels took a real beating and never needed truing until the front hub went bad around 4000 miles due to plenty of rain riding. The Oval 500 brakes continue to work well. The FC440 fork is an all carbon fork, nice piece. The FC 770 is a hybrid aluminum/carbon and the FC 330 is a light weight full carbon fork used on their top end road bikes.


Thanks - helpful post with specific details.



bikerjulio said:


> I have had a similar Fuji Roubaix SL frame and 440 fork for about 6 years now as my winter/rain bike.
> 
> IMO it's a very nice frameset, comfortable and reasonably light. Underrated even. Has stood up well to all the years of abuse. I think you got a pretty good deal there.


Specific experience with some of these components is interesting - thanks.


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## Rob

I agree with those who have already stated that you've got a pretty good bike with very usable components and you should resist the urge to upgrade anything soon. However, I might make an exception for the saddle (seat). There is no one best saddle and often it can take some trial and error to find one you like. Some bike shops have saddles that you can try for a while to see how they feel. Give the stock saddle a chance but don't be afraid to experiment with other ones. A saddle that is comfortable is one of the best changes you can make.


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## FujiSteve

Fuji's decision to put Press Fit bottom brackets on every bike they make must be fairly recent. I've got a Newest 2.0 from about 2011 with a threaded BB. That was a pretty low-end entry-level bike at the time.

I was going to start a new thread about the FC series carbon-alloy forks after reading that long thread about carbon fatigue and breakages. But I don't think I'm hijacking to put it in here. 

The Newest 2.0 came fitted with the FC-770. This has carbon blades joined to an alloy steerer. Does anyone know of any long term issues with this fork? Any reports of breakages? I'm a fairly lightweight rider (55kg or 120 pounds) so I don't think I put a lot of stress on any of the components. I've done about 20,000 klm (12,000 miles) in 4 years which includes a lot of gravel and bumpy bike paths. I'd have to say that it absorbs bumps very well and I haven't had a problem with vibration transfer to the contact points often associated with 6061 alloy frames. I think the carbon fork and the design of the rear stays helps a lot with that.

I am planning on a new all-steel bike soon and I was thinking of giving the current bike to my daughter or her boyfriend. So that's why I'm worried about the long term reliability of these forks.


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## lyrictenor1

FujiSteve said:


> Fuji's decision to put Press Fit bottom brackets on every bike they make must be fairly recent. I've got a Newest 2.0 from about 2011 with a threaded BB. That was a pretty low-end entry-level bike at the time.


Fuji doesn't put PF BBs on all their bikes these days. For example, I bought a 2013 Roubaix 1.0 LE (like the OP), which indeed does have a PF BB86 bottom bracket. That same year, I bought a Fuji Sportif 1.7 as my B-bike, and it has a threaded BB. Just depends on how the frame designed.


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