Impressed by the Fuji.

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bikeman66

Senior Member
Location
Isle of Wight
A few days ago I posted on here asking for advice and opinions on two potential new bikes for my son. One was a Cannondale CAAD 8, the other a Fuji Roubaix 1.3. Both were available from Evans for around £850.00. A varied scope of opinions were put forward, but one thing seemed to be a pivotal issue! Two or three people suggested that they would never buy another bike with a BB30 bottom bracket, which the Cannondale had. The Fuji has a BB86 which seems to be more highly regarded.

Both bikes were fairly similar in spec, with predominantly 105 mechs and shifters etc, combined with the usual "in-house" finishing kit. Written reviews of each bike also seemed to suggest both were well thought out machines, indeed, the Fuji was chosen as a winner in a recent Cycling Plus group test of £1,000 bikes.

I very much appreciated the opinions of all those who contributed answers to my original post, and read with interest, especially those regarding the BB30, and based on these.........and my own angle on the matter, ordered the Fuji.

Order was placed with Evans on Sunday afternoon, we had an email on Monday morning to say the bike was being built, another email yesterday (Tuesday) saying it had been dispatched, and it was delivered to us here on the Isle of Wight at around 3.45pm today. I consider that to be great service from Evans.

Took it out of the box, straightened the stem, adjusted the handlebar, adjusted the saddle height, put my son's pedals on, lubed the chain etc, and off he went for a first ride with a beaming smile on his face.

He knew we were looking at the possibility of buying him a new bike, as a recent growth spurt meant his old 54cm Carrera TDF was now way too small, but he hadn't twigged that we'd ordered the Fuji until he saw it in the back garden this evening. He's about 6ft-2" and the 58cm Fuji looks like it will have enough "growing room".

Felt so pleased for him, as he picked the bike up and marvelled at how light it was compared to his last one, the fact it was 11 speed instead of the 8 he'd been used to, the (in his words) awesome look of it, how light the gear shifting was, how quickly it accelerates etc,etc, etc.

He used to enjoy cycling on the Carrera, but I think the Fuji will take him to a whole new level, and he'll probably leave me for dust when we hit the road for a 25 miler tomorrow evening!

Just like to say thanks to all those who offered opinions when I asked for advice at the weekend, and a big thank you to Evans, who provided us with fantastic service and a great bike at a great price!
 
Now that's a nice story. Good to see things worked out really well for you and the man cub :okay:

Let the miles roll on.......
 

Tomtrumps

Active Member
As one of the dissenting voices, I found my BB30 needs a bit of attention and often is the cause of very annoying noises. I love the Cannondale, but am fed up with the BB so looking at the solutons. A collegue had exactly the same problem with his bike and bought the Praxis Works BB30 converter and Ultergra crank and is much happier.

Great to hear your son is happy with the bike!
 
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User19783

Guest
Great write up,
Glad your lad is enjoying the bike,
BTW do you cycle with him, and what bike do you use?
 
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bikeman66

bikeman66

Senior Member
Location
Isle of Wight
Great write up,
Glad your lad is enjoying the bike,
BTW do you cycle with him, and what bike do you use?
I cycle with my son fairly regularly User19783, but most of his rides are with a friend to be honest. We live on the Isle of Wight, so I know he can't stray too far afield and to be fair, it's great to hear of the routes he makes up. At 15, I'm happy that he is sensible enough on the roads, and I'd much rather he was out on his bike than sat playing a games console every evening. He liked his cycling anyway, but is already appreciating how much a really good quality bike will enhance his enjoyment.

Personally, I ride a Felt F95, a bike I purchased last year, and one which rekindled my love of road cycling after years on MTB's. I was lucky enough to ride the F95 to the top of Mont Ventoux in April, and thoroughly enjoy my time on it.

Had a short, but great, ride to a village about 8 miles from our house, with both of the kids this evening to enjoy a quick drink in a pub garden before my daughter heads off to university in Oxford this weekend. Currently trying to formulate a cycle friendly route from Southampton to Oxford so that I can pay her a surprise visit sometime.
 
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User33236

Guest
Curious as to why you lubed the chain on a new bike. My Fuji Sportif 1.1 SE when from new to a few hubdred km before I deemed it worthy of such. Nipe choice of bike BTW and cudos for avoiding BB30 too.
 
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User19783

Guest
I've did that route many years ago, Oxford to isle of Wright back to Oxford , as I remember, a nice three day tour,
What ever your route is , please don't go on the A34, it's horrible.
 
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bikeman66

bikeman66

Senior Member
Location
Isle of Wight
Curious as to why you lubed the chain on a new bike. My Fuji Sportif 1.1 SE when from new to a few hubdred km before I deemed it worthy of such. Nipe choice of bike BTW and cudos for avoiding BB30 too.
The question is........why wouldn't you lube the chain on a new bike? Even though it is new, I have no idea if it was lubed satisfactorily, or even perhaps at all! It takes seconds to lube the chain, so it's just peace of mind for me knowing it is done.
 

Mo1959

Legendary Member
The question is........why wouldn't you lube the chain on a new bike? Even though it is new, I have no idea if it was lubed satisfactorily, or even perhaps at all! It takes seconds to lube the chain, so it's just peace of mind for me knowing it is done.
I think they are usually covered in quite a thick factory lube that should last as well, if not better than a normal lube for the first few rides at least.
 
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User33236

Guest
From the Sheldon Brown website:-

"Factory Lube
New chains come pre-lubricated with a grease-type lubricant which has been installed at the factory. This is an excellentlubricant, and has been made to permeate all of the internal interstices in the chain.
This factory lube is superior to any lube that you can apply after the fact.

Some people make the bad mistake of deliberately removing this superior lubricant. Don't do this!

The factory lubricant all by itself is usually good for several hundred miles of service if the bike is not ridden in wet or dusty conditions. It is best not to apply any sort of lube to a new chain until it is clearly needed, because any wet lube you can apply will dilute the factory lube."
 
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