Fuji Touring Series IV, Rivish Makeover, Phase 1

[Montclair BobbyB]

Found this all-original 1983 Fuji Touring Series on eBay last year, and have just finally gotten around to giving it a minor Rivish makeover.  I wanted to leave it as original as possible, but I simply had to give it a Brooks saddle, swap the narrow touring bars and down tube shifters for wider bars (Noodle 48s with Dirt Drop stem) and bar-end shifters (vintage Shimano, spring-loaded).  And although I would like to run fatter tires, width choices for 27 inch rims are very limited.  The wheels are beautiful, though (40-spoke rear, 36-spoke front) and I went with the widest 27x 1 1/4 tire I could find - Panaracer Paselas... It rides beautifully, so I will stick with the current setup for now (before considering changing to 700c wheels)..

I will add racks, bags and fenders next.  This ride quality of this bike is exceptional.  BB 

 

[Ron Mc]

nice ride - the honey leather goes very nicely with the gray paint and bronze panels.  

[WETH]

That looks terrific. Well done.

[Lee Chae]

Nice! I missed one on Craigslist for $200 (!) by an hour or so. I'm always on the look out for one of these. Enjoy.

Lee

SF, CA

On Sun, May 11, 2014 at 5:42 AM, WETH <erlho...@gmail.com> wrote:

That looks terrific.  Well done.

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[Reid]

Nice! I still have a Nishiki "Grand Tour 15" that I bought new in 1982 during the small craze for touring bikes. I don't know if the Japanese bikes had "real" touring geometry or not, but my Nishiki is still the most comfortable bike I have. Still mostly stock, except for a 6 cog freewheel on the back instead of 5 cog. Now it's a "Grand Tour 18", I guess. :-)

 

Back then, the triple chainrings were incomprehensible by the racer wannabees. I actually did some multi week touring on mine and man, I appreciated the triple.

 

Reid

 

[Anton Tutter]

What a gorgeous Touring Series IV!!  I'm not a huge fan of the 'concealed' bar-end cable routing, but a really nice specimen overall.  

[Joe Bunik]

Anton, why not? For friction it makes little difference in function
and greatly reduces bag interference issues.

Bobby, how you like those shifters? Do they compete well with the
ratchet and Retrofriction designs?

=- Joe Bunik
Walnut Creek, CA

>> <https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-DTMTWUPHIvc/U27QAOqd2SI/AAAAAAAAEng/iZn6_R8ewMM/s1600/14152477781_848afab047_b.jpg>

[RoadieRyan]

Bobby, 

Sweet find, I restored a 1979 Fuji Royale and really enjoyed it.  You may find that there are more 27" tires options that you think, I did a blog post on this topic a while back (http://ryansrebuilds.blogspot.com/2013/02/myth-busted-there-are-very-few-options.html) I think the Paselas are a great choice and your 27 1 /4" tires are the equivalent of a 700x32c, you can also go up to 27 1 3/8 to get a slightly plusher 700x37c equivalent.  Either way you go enjoy that beautiful Fuji.

Ryan

[Jack]

When I first started riding back in the mid-80s, there were a lot of these (along with the Fuji Series III, II and I) around. Touring bikes were still mainstream then - gradually they fell out of favor with many riders as mountain bikes took over. Today there are more choices in touring bikes than there were 15 years ago, but the older ones like yours have more charm and appeal for me.

I love what you've done with this bike! Thanks for sharing it with us.

On Saturday, May 10, 2014 9:28:03 PM UTC-4, Montclair BobbyB wrote:

[Michael]

Congrats, Bobby! That is a really cool looking bike!

 

 

 

[Allingham II, Thomas J]

Wow, Bobby – that is really classy.

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[Montclair BobbyB]

Reid:

I have a Nishiki Prestige (that I NEED to get back on the road... lost the front wheel last year)... Agree the ride is amazingly comfortable.

Joe B, these are the shifters you bartered to me; they are awesome! THANK YOU!!!  I haven't owned Suntour Barcons so I can't do a fair comparison). But just comparing these to the new generation of Dura-Ace shifters, the spring-loaded shifters (in my opinion) are heads above in terms of shifting ease... I love em.

I have since added a few more coats of shellac... the bars and saddle are a pretty close match.  I started with orange Neubaums cloth tape, and natural amber shellac flakes from VO.

I'll post more pics once I get my handlebar bag and racks mounted.  BB

[Montclair BobbyB]

Thanks, Tom... Actually I think you bartered this saddle to me... knew it would find the right bike :)

On Monday, May 12, 2014 10:07:37 AM UTC-4, Pudge wrote:

Wow, Bobby – that is really classy.

 

From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Montclair BobbyB
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2014 9:28 PM
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [RBW] Fuji Touring Series IV, Rivish Makeover, Phase 1

 

Found this all-original 1983 Fuji Touring Series on eBay last year, and have just finally gotten around to giving it a minor Rivish makeover.  I wanted to leave it as original as possible, but I simply had to give it a Brooks saddle, swap the narrow touring bars and down tube shifters for wider bars (Noodle 48s with Dirt Drop stem) and bar-end shifters (vintage Shimano, spring-loaded).  And although I would like to run fatter tires, width choices for 27 inch rims are very limited.  The wheels are beautiful, though (40-spoke rear, 36-spoke front) and I went with the widest 27x 1 1/4 tire I could find - Panaracer Paselas... It rides beautifully, so I will stick with the current setup for now (before considering changing to 700c wheels)..

 

I will add racks, bags and fenders next.  This ride quality of this bike is exceptional.  BB 

 

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[Jim Bronson]

Interesting point about front bag interference, thanks for that comment.  I'm thinking of buying a large front back for randonneuring.

Back on topic - awesome Fuji, love the build!

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Keep the metal side up and the rubber side down!

[Allingham II, Thomas J]

Excellent – glad it found such a good spot for itself!

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[Anton Tutter]

Oh, functionally I see no issues with the routing and agree it might reduce bag interference.  It's purely an aesthetic issue for me, although I've never really had interference issues with the conventional routing and my handlebar bags.

Anton

[RonaTD]

> Found this all-original 1983 Fuji Touring Series on eBay 

What a beautiful find!  Love the chromed fork crown. I worked in a Fuji shop in the late 70's/early 80's, and my first bikes were Fuji's. One of these days I'm going to restore my old Fuji America that's gathering dust in my father's garage.

Nothing is more annoying than people who point out flawed assembly things, but I can't help myself. Your adjustable cable stop on the right shift lever boss, for the rear derailer cable, is upside down. That one belongs on the left side. 

Ride that bike lots!!

td