2006 Fuji Team

Quoted message said:

I am looking at a 2006 Fuji Team and wondering if anyone has any
information or opinions? It is a new bike from a LBS. The current
price is $1299 and it seems like a pretty good deal for a full carbon
frame with Ultegra on the rear and 105 components on the rest of the
bike. I was unable to find and reviews on this model and would
appreciate any information or a link to a review site with this bikes
reveiws.

Are you sure you want something without a triple? Around here, only the
very strongest riders would ever contemplate not getting a triple.

Quoted message said:

I am looking at a 2006 Fuji Team and wondering if anyone has any
information or opinions? It is a new bike from a LBS. The current
price is $1299 and it seems like a pretty good deal for a full carbon
frame with Ultegra on the rear and 105 components on the rest of the
bike. I was unable to find and reviews on this model and would
appreciate any information or a link to a review site with this bikes
reveiws.

Thanks.

I don't know about that model, but from my experience with my 2005 Fuji
Ace, I would recommend the brand.

Ken

In article <[email hidden]>,

SMS said:

Quoted message said:

I am looking at a 2006 Fuji Team and wondering if anyone has any
information or opinions? It is a new bike from a LBS. The current
price is $1299 and it seems like a pretty good deal for a full carbon
frame with Ultegra on the rear and 105 components on the rest of the
bike. I was unable to find and reviews on this model and would
appreciate any information or a link to a review site with this bikes
reveiws.

Are you sure you want something without a triple? Around here, only the
very strongest riders would ever contemplate not getting a triple.

Am I walking into the punchline of a joke?

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

SMS said:

Quoted message said:

I am looking at a 2006 Fuji Team and wondering if anyone has any
information or opinions? It is a new bike from a LBS. The current
price is $1299 and it seems like a pretty good deal for a full carbon
frame with Ultegra on the rear and 105 components on the rest of the
bike. I was unable to find and reviews on this model and would
appreciate any information or a link to a review site with this bikes
reveiws.

Quoted message said:

Are you sure you want something without a triple? Around here, only the
very strongest riders would ever contemplate not getting a triple.

Am I walking into the punchline of a joke?

I dunno, cause I'm also confused about only the very strongest riders
being the ones who don't want triples. I don't want a triple and I'm
hardly among the very strongest riders.

I've got a triple on my new (used) race bike and I'm planning on
upgrading to a double soon as I'm feeling secure with my cash
situation.

The triple on my road bike is there because the bike is mountain
optimized with a 53/11 high and a 30/28 low. I have yet to encounter
a paved situation where that bike cannot be ridden.

-M

Quoted message said:

I dunno, cause I'm also confused about only the very strongest riders
being the ones who don't want triples. I don't want a triple and I'm
hardly among the very strongest riders.

Not sure of the terrain where you are, but in my area there are many
good road rides that a lot of riders, including you (and me), could
probably not do without the low gearing enabled by the small chain ring.
I'd be doing a lot of walking the bike.

10-14% or so doesn't sound so steep, but it is.

"http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/gradeslocal.html"

This is just for southern San Mateo county. One of my favorite rides is
to go into Point Reyes the back way, up Balboa Avenue/Drakes Summit. Not
sure of the steepness, but it's got a good stretch of 14% according to
page 94 of Grant Peterson's _Roads to Ride_. It's about an 800 foot gain
in 1.5 miles, so the average incline is 10%.

"http://tinyurl.com/28pcuf"

I like this road because there is very little traffic because vehicles
cannot go into Point Reyes this way. Despite what the Google Map (and
MapQuest and Yahoo Maps and Map Blast) show, Drakes Summit/Balboa Road
does not connect to Limantour road, it ends just before Limantour road,
but there's a opening in the fence for pedestrians and bicyclists to
enter Point Reyes. Grant (of Rivendell fame) writes: "A narrow, wooded,
and very steep residential road that connects Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
with Limantour Rd. Very little traffic, no sharp curves."

I remember back in the 1980's, when it was a big to-do to convert to a
triple because so few road bikes had them. New spindle, new crankset,
new front dérailleur, and often a new rear dérailleur that could take up
enough slack when you were in the granny gear. It easily cost $150. Yet
the differential cost to the manufacturer to include a triple in the
first place is only a few dollars.

I'd not buy the Fuji Team if I lived in an area where many of the best
road rides go up into surrounding mountains, unless I was a very strong
rider.

Steve
http://bicyclecoffeesystems.com
http://bicyclelighting.com

I think he wont need the triple. The pro riders use doubles and ride
the Alps!!!!! Comfort and fit are the crucial things. If the poster
loves the bike and realizes he needs a triple its not impossible to do
with a few parts. I rarely use the small ring on my lemond and the
double on my cross bike (12-25 rear) gets me up everything on and off
road

SMS said:

Quoted message said:

I am looking at a 2006 Fuji Team and wondering if anyone has any
information or opinions? It is a new bike from a LBS. The current
price is $1299 and it seems like a pretty good deal for a full carbon
frame with Ultegra on the rear and 105 components on the rest of the
bike. I was unable to find and reviews on this model and would
appreciate any information or a link to a review site with this bikes
reveiws.

Are you sure you want something without a triple? Around here, only the
very strongest riders would ever contemplate not getting a triple.

Quoted message said:

I think he wont need the triple. The pro riders use doubles and ride
the Alps!!!!! >

Well I won't argue if the triple is needed or not as I don't know the
rider.

But it is nonsense to base your conclusion on what the pros ride. They
also produce over 1000 watts for a while and the good climbers can
climb steadily at 400 watts or so. Given their lean physiques that
means that for a "typical" pro rider they can sustain between 5 and
6 watts/kg for a while. As the more typical strong recreational rider
would be putting out something more like 2.5 to 3.5 watts per kg he
may want to take advantage of some lower gearing. Or like me you can
just go slower ;-)

In article <[email hidden]>,

SMS said:

Quoted message said:

I dunno, cause I'm also confused about only the very strongest riders
being the ones who don't want triples. I don't want a triple and I'm
hardly among the very strongest riders.

Not sure of the terrain where you are, but in my area there are many
good road rides that a lot of riders, including you (and me), could
probably not do without the low gearing enabled by the small chain ring.
I'd be doing a lot of walking the bike.

10-14% or so doesn't sound so steep, but it is.

"http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/gradeslocal.html"

Hm. 10% is the average grade on the 1 km climb I ride to work. With a
pannier on. In the middle ring on my commuter bike.

I'm good, but I'm not that good. I have ridden up actual mountains for
40+ minutes at a time in a 39/25. Okay, I really wanted a 26, but still.

Quoted message said:

I'd not buy the Fuji Team if I lived in an area where many of the best
road rides go up into surrounding mountains, unless I was a very strong
rider.

Lots and lots of people ride around mountainous terrain with perfectly
ordinary double gearing, not even compact.

Triples have their uses, and for lots of people, they're a great option.
My father (who is old enough to be my father, naturally enough) is glad
for a triple when riding a hill similar to mine on his commute, but I
don't think undertrained 60-somethings (sorry, Dad) on their way to work
are very close to the median rider, and certainly not in this group.

There's also compact doubles, which in many ways are the best of both
worlds.

I think your suspicion of doubles is curious. For one thing, I would
guess that most of the riders healthy enough to want to ride into the
mountains would be healthy enough to do it on a double, or maybe a
compact double at most. The Fuji Team isn't even a light touring bike:
it's a very light racing machine.

I don't want to discourage people from buying a triple if that's what
they need or want. But if someone is seriously shopping for a high-end,
very light road bike, I think there's a good chance they can get by with
a 26 or 28 out back, even in your 'hood.

Did the climb up the Burnaby Mountain trails with a 36/25 no prob,

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

SMS said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I dunno, cause I'm also confused about only the very strongest riders
being the ones who don't want triples. I don't want a triple and I'm
hardly among the very strongest riders.

Quoted message said:

Not sure of the terrain where you are, but in my area there are many
good road rides that a lot of riders, including you (and me), could
probably not do without the low gearing enabled by the small chain ring.
I'd be doing a lot of walking the bike.

I've got a triple on my mountain bike and I have a triple (by choice)
on my primary road bike.
The race bike (secondhand) came with a triple and that's the first
thing I plan to change when I have the time/money/inclination.

I can think of a total of _three_ paved places in the province where I
must use the small ring. There are still a handful of paved roads
that I haven't been on but even the places that were King of the
Mountains classifications during the Tour de don't require the small
ring. I can choose to go at a more relaxed pace because I have the
triple but it's hardly required.

In fact, since I have a mountain bike 11-28 cassette on the back I
suspect that the gear ratios I use when I've got the 30 tooth small
ring matched to third (or fourth) on the back are more or less the
same as what I had when I only had a double and matched 40 to 28. I
should check a gear calculator.

Let's see (thank you Sheldon)

raw data
-----53 / 39 / 30
11/ 126.6 / 93.2 / 71.7
12/ 116.1 / 85.4 / 65.7
14/ 99.5 / 73.2 / 56.3
16/ 87.1 / 64.1 / 49.3
18/ 77.4 / 56.9 / 43.8
21/ 66.3 / 48.8 / 37.5
24/ 58.0 / 42.7 / 32.9
28/ 49.7 / 36.6 / 28.2

----- 50 / 40
11/ 119.5 / 95.6
12/ 109.5 / 87.6
14/ 93.9 / 75.1
16/ 82.1 / 65.7
18/ 73.0 / 58.4
21/ 62.6 / 50.1
24/ 54.8 / 43.8
28/ 46.9 / 37.5

What do you know, perfect match 37.5 gear inches when I am in the the
preferred 30/21 combo on the current set up as when I was in 40/28 on
the old set up. And the 43.8 gear inches that I might use in the
30/18 combo before switching up to a middle 39/21 and 48.8 inches or
down to the aforementioned 37.5 is also exactly the same as the 40/24
I used to have.

Since I'm not indexed on the front I now have to pay more attention
when shifting but, in return, I got two extra bail-out gears of 32.9
and 28.2. I've actually used them. But not much and only on insanely
steep mountains. The kind that I have problems walking up. I also
get a higher high and although I'm not very likely to go into the
53/12 (let alone the 53/11) the 53/14 at 99.5 gear inches is nicely
sandwiched between the old 50/12 (109.5) and the old 50/14 (93.9) and
my most likely middle ring combos are nicely placed in the middle of
the cassette.

All in all I'm quite pleased with my triple but it's a mountain
optimized luggage carrying bike that I'm thinking will eventually get
v-brakes and wide tires so it can also do cyclocross.

I haven't had my race bike long enough yet to have the slightest clue
what's gear combos I have but I haven't used the granny even once and
I don't plan to. As far as I'm concerned it not only makes my
shifting more complicated (even though it is indexed) and is
uneccessary weight that I've got no real reason to carry around.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

10-14% or so doesn't sound so steep, but it is.

Quoted message said:

"http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/gradeslocal.html"

Hm. 10% is the average grade on the 1 km climb I ride to work. With a
pannier on. In the middle ring on my commuter bike.

I'm good, but I'm not that good. I have ridden up actual mountains for
40+ minutes at a time in a 39/25. Okay, I really wanted a 26, but still.

I'm not even going to make wild guesses at what was on last year's
road bike or what the road bike had before I started ambitiously
changing everything on it but I've also ridden up actual mountains for
fractions of time approaching an hour in far worse shape than I am now
with an even higher gear ratio than that. I didn't like it much but
the punishment and pain were all worth it when the downhill came and I
never needed to walk. (Well hardly ever.)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'd not buy the Fuji Team if I lived in an area where many of the best
road rides go up into surrounding mountains, unless I was a very strong
rider.

Lots and lots of people ride around mountainous terrain with perfectly
ordinary double gearing, not even compact.

Including relatively new cyclists like yours truly was when I came up
with the brilliant plan to ride to Vietnam (mountainous terrain,
double gearing, and luggage). AND I DIDN'T WALK.

Quoted message said:

Triples have their uses, and for lots of people, they're a great option.
My father (who is old enough to be my father, naturally enough) is glad
for a triple when riding a hill similar to mine on his commute, but I
don't think undertrained 60-somethings (sorry, Dad) on their way to work
are very close to the median rider, and certainly not in this group.

I'm very fond of the triple on my road bike. Because of it I can go
laden without dismounting the most ridiculous slopes and ride down the
same mountains at speeds that really aren't that clever considering
the state of emergency medical care in this country. One of these
days the road bike with the triple will have wide slicks and v-brakes
and a front rack and that triple is going to help me ride my bike to
Lhasa. But I don't see triples as having much use in the median world
of the median rider.

-M