Fuji Folding Bike: Rebirth, Irony, & Maiden Voyage(s)
The bike showed up on Craigslist a few years ago for $10. I recognized it as a fairly odd bird. Grizz was nice enough to pick it up for me. I looked online to figure out how to fold it and learned a whole lot of cool stuff about it.
Can a folding bike look epic? (From the 3rd ride)
I also figured out that it had led a very hard life. In order to fold it, you had to remove the seatpost. And someone had installed an oversized seatpost very forcefully. After a few days of working to remove the seat post, I figured out that the frame had no intention of folding, the gears had no intention of shifting, and the brakes refused to brake. At the time I had two other folding frames that were much more agreeable, so I drenched the folding points in penetrating oil and the Fuji went into storage.
While the Fuji sat motionless, I got the first of the folders together and on the road. A friend borrowed it and liked it so much that he decided to keep the bike rather than the friendship. (Serious bummer - I have missed the friendship more than the bike.) I got the second folder together, enjoyed it for a bit, and then shipped it to the daughter-person in the Metroplex when the shelter-at-home order had her crawling the walls.
So, I pulled the Fuji out of storage and started working to get it on the road before I returned to work in the office. It's now mid-September, I've been back at work a few months, and the bike is (finally) on the road again. And it folds! (But not easily.)
The Ironic Part - a bit of history
Yep, that's a Marlboro sticker on the headset
So, that's the ironic part - smoking 8,800 cigarettes and spending $110 would get you a new Fuji Folder in 1996.
Now a little more about the mechanical rebirth.
It turns out the oversized seatpost was a 26.8mm post. So I grabbed a (very standard) 25.4mm post and slipped it in there. It dropped right in and kept going. So I fished it out, hopped on the internet and learned that you can buy seatposts in 26.0 and 26.4. I made a lucky guess and ordered the 26.0. (It was just right!)
The first big challenge was getting it to fold again. Over a period of three weeks I used up a can of penetrating oil and went after the frame with a 2x4 and a rubber mallet. I've never intentionally been that rough with a bike before, but it eventually croaked, groaned, and shrieked it's way back to folding.
Next up - all the easy stuff: a new (used) rear wheel, tires, tubes, brake levers, rear derailleur, seat, taller handlebars, grips,and a new rear brake cable.
Ride 1: To coffee 0.5 miles
out-of-focus pic from an out-of-focus blogger on the Fuji's first ride
There and back with only two snags - no rear brake and a loose stem bolt. Not bad!
Ride 2: Coffee again 0.5 miles (I may have a coffee problem.)
A slightly better pic from the second ride
No (bike-related) problem!
Ride 3: A full circle of McAllister Park with two slow laps on the BMX track 5.2 miles
The verdict - Woohoo! The Fuji lives
In case you wondered...
I'm pretty darned happy. It rides well and the 15-speed drivetrain is nicely spaced for road and trail. (The original shifters are rough but charming.) I need to add a quick-release front axle and get rid of the quick-release axle on the rear. It folds easily enough and fits in small places with no need for a bike rack. On those days when I have to drive (yuck) to work I can at least drag the Fuji along for a lunchtime getaway.
May your oddball schemes come to fruition too.
Be well, my friends, and get off the gas already!
UPDATE 9/21/20
Last night, I through the folder in the back of the car for a lunchtime ride today.
When I reached the park, I unloaded the bike and noticed something was not right:
Something was missing.
The moral of this story is that you should put the seat & post back in the bike after you fold it up. I did four rough miles around McAllister Park with no seat. Sure, I felt like one of those cool trials riders, but my calves moaned all the while and I developed a lesser appreciation for the folding pedals. Yes, any day on a bike is a good one, but days with a seat are even better!
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