Picked up a second hand Fuji Feather late November and have been riding it a fair bit. To be honest I wasn’t even aware that it was a fixed gear till I went to go check it out on the day and the seller explained it to me. But I managed to ride it and the price was pretty good so I got it anyways.
Only things I’ve done so far is learn how to fix a flat, wrapped the bars and swapped out the stock seat for a San Marco Regal so I feel less sodomised after a long ride.
So where can I go from here? What else should I be looking at to upgrade? I’ve been reading up on handlebars because the stock feather ones seem to be a bit to aggressive for what I need which makes sense as I was told it is designed as a track bike.
Also are most parts something a relative noob can swap out without too much hassle? I’m pretty handy with tools but haven’t ever done much with bikes.
A lot of good advice can be found in the Tips and Tricks and the Noob thread.
Where do go from here probably depends how much money you have and what you want to do with your bike. Is the gearing too aggressive? Do you want a different style of bars? Clipless pedals?
Most items can be swapped out with Allen keys or spanners. The only thing’s that really require “special” tools are the lockring / cog and BB / Cranks.
That aerospoke looks sweet! But it might trick people into thinking I’m half decent on a bicycle which would be a lie.
I more than happy to drop good money for good parts. I’ve been looking around on what wheelsets people have been putting on their bikes but it gets pretty confusing. What’s the price range on new/ used sets? There’s a set, up now in the trading section for $200 - how can I tell if they will fit on my bike? Only figures I know of are for the tyres which are 700x23.
The gearing is 44:16 - which I haven’t had a problem with.And I’m also finally getting the hang of flipping the pedals and getting my feet into the strap/cages. Don’t think I would want to go clipless as I don’t want to get shoes just for cycling in.
As far as bars go I quite like the looks of the drops and I do occasionally use the drops but mainly find my hands in an odd middle ground between the hoods and flats. (terminology?) I’ve been taking a look at the nitto 115 and noodle.
The brake also seems a little underpowered, sort of spongy. Is this because of cheap brakes or something I can fix? Previous owner took the back one off and I never did get around to putting it back on. Haven’t front flipped over the handlebars yet which everyone keeps warning me about, so might not bother.
I’m gonna suggest to not worry about the wheels and cranks at this stage. You could go and spend a bunch of money and feel no functional difference. If you want to do it for appearances sake then do whatever you want.
Oh and the brakes: just get some decent pads, will make a world of difference.
As for the rest, do a search. There’s a goldmine of information on here.
Will get a pic up tomorrow arvo, I might even get all fancy and break out the DSLR.
Been clocking up more and more km’s every week and actually quite suprised how much I enjoy cycling. Originally bought it because I couldn’t afford a car to get to work and uni and was sick of the train and bus.