# Fuji Royale



## Smitty1283 (Sep 8, 2007)

I was looking for a new road bike today in the $600 range and found a Felt that I really enjoyed. I was going to check one more shop when I thought that I ought to look the bike my dad has in his garage. He got the bike new back in 78ish and probably has 100 miles on it tops. It still has the original tires, tubes, and brakes. I cleaned it up, degreased it, and lubed it before I took it out for a ride. The tubes still held air after about 30 years. It shifted perfectly with the down tube shifters. I put the original seat back on and took of his fat boy gel seat he put on 10 years ago. To be honest I loved the way it felt. The only road bikes I hae ever ridden are the 3 that I test rode today and my dad's fuji royale. I think I'm going to save my money and put some new tires, brakes, and seat on his bike and just ride it for a year or so. 

I guess my question is....how will I find out what size the seat post is if I wanted a new one? Are they 700c tires? If I wanted to replace the fork, how would I do that? What brake pads do I buy? Where do I buy stuff for this bike? Any help would be wonderful. Not only do I have no experience with vintage bikes but I'm new to the sport as well. Thanks for any input given.

Jon


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## Doctor Who (Feb 22, 2005)

www.sheldonbrown.com is your friend when it comes to anything vintage. Sheldon's associated with a brick-and-mortar bike shop, Harris Cyclery, that carries tons of parts for older bikes. Additionally, www.nashbar.com usually has a few older parts on its site, such as freewheels, stems, seatposts.

Any bike shop should be able to replace that fork with another – provided that the steerer tube is the right size.What you should really do is invest in Lennard Zinn's "Zinn and The Art of Road Bike Maintenance" for information on working on bikes, new and old. 

The tires on that bike are likely 27". You can still find plenty of decent 27" tires, but if you want, you can switch to 700C wheels, so long as you adjust/replace the brakes so that they hit the braking surfaces.


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## bwana (Feb 4, 2005)

The tires should have markings indicating their size. If they are 27" and you decide to switch to 700c, then make sure that the brake shoes are at or near the top of their adjustment slot, otherwise you will likely need new brakes. 700c rims are 622mm diameter, and 27" rims are 630, so the difference in radius is 4mm (about 5/32"). Not much, just make sure that you have that much downward adjustment available. The other problem with switching from 27 to 700c is that finding good used wheels with 120mm rear hubs (5 speed freewheel) is difficult. You won't find new ones. 126mm (6 speed freewheel) is less difficult, but you still won't find new ones. I would recommend staying with 27" if that is what you have.

If you opt not to switch wheels, for new brake pads, take one of the brake pads off and go to a shop, they should be able to sell you ones that will work. I replaced my DiaCompe Gran Compe brake pads with Jagwires, and while they don't look as nice, they have much more surface area, and of course are new rubber, so they brake better.

If the seatpost is alloy and adjustable, I wouldn't bother replacing it, but if you want to, you can either measure it with a caliper, or take it out and take it into a shop.


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## Smitty1283 (Sep 8, 2007)

Ok...The tires at 27x1-1/8... I read that for a bigger guy such as myself, I should use 1-1/4. WIll these fit?

I'm going to replace the tubes and tires, seat/seat post and brake pads and some new pedals. Everything else seems to be working fine.

Would a cheaper nashbar carbon fork do me any good? What are your thoughts?

Jon

I'll try to post some pictures later today or tomorrow.


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## Smitty1283 (Sep 8, 2007)

Does anyone know what size pedals these are going to be. I see that you can buy 9/16 and 1/2 inch. Does anyone care to make a guess.
Jon


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## ckilner (Oct 4, 2004)

*my thoughts and answers*

Jon:

27x1-1/8 tires will be lighter and faster; 1-1/4 will be more comfortable; 1-1/4 will fit if the rims aren't super narrow (which they won't be on the Royale); both will handle anyone under 300lbs. If the rims aren't "hooked" (have the lip at the top), then you won't be able to run pressure over ~70PSI.

Pedals will be 9/16 on that bike.

There aren't many 1" threaded carbon forks out there, and when you find them, they are designed for 700c wheels and short reach brakes (neither of which you have on the Fuji) - they probably won't have clearance for your 1 x 1/4 tires - so you'd need to look at cyclocross forks ($$$ and usually threadless) and buy some cantilever brakes ($) and possibly new stem, headset, bars, etc.... all to save some weight on a still-heavy bike. While carbon forks are great upgrades, I'd recommend against it in your case - the older 70's bikes had slacker head tubes and more fork rake than you'll find on off-the-shelf carbon forks and are already as compliant as carbon (just not as light).

If you really want to moderize the bike, have the rear forks coldset by a shop, get new 700c wheels, the Nashbar fork, a short reach front brake, long reach rear brake, 7-8sp cassette (and spacer, if needed), Sora derailleur, and Sora STI shifters - but now you are up to ~$500 and could go buy a new bike.

A more reasonable upgrade - 700c wheels (new or used 126mm or new 130mm), new long reach calipers only if needed, 7sp freewheel or 7-8sp cassette, cheap indexing derailleur, and indexing DT levers for under $300:
Wheels from Harris Cyclery - WE941 - $130
Derailleur - $20-30 from Harris or Nashbar
Chain - $20 from Harris or Nashbar
7sp freewheel - $20 at Harris or Nashbar
7sp shift levers - $8 at Nashbar
and if needed - long reach brake calipers - $80 (note, if the original pads don't quite reach the rim, avoid the need for new calipers by filing the brake pad slot to be longer).

Of course, if the original stuff works, just ride it! 
27" wheels and friction shifting are fine until you feel you are ready for a new bike - any $$ might be better spent on new cables, a new chain, bar tape, patch kit, etc.


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## winglazier (Sep 30, 2007)

About that time I bought a fuji S-12S It was a 27" wheel setup also.
I built a set of Superchampion gentlemans up with stainless steal
Spokes and Omas hubs. It rolled like it was on glass compared to stock
after that. My build Tools were home made and really ugly. Plywood dishing gauge
with a plastic ruler and a cut up garden fence post and more plywood for the truing stand.
The wheels turned out great. I read a book about how to get the spoke sizes right and
lace them up. Those were the good ol' days when I put 8000mi on the bike and 4000mi on the car. The Royale is the model below the S-12S. Get the bare necessities taken care of and have fun. Spend hard earned cash after you have some long rides under you and know what feels good and works well for you. Frame stiffness is important. Especially the rear stays. Any flex while pedaling costs you energy you can't get back and even a little adds up.


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