On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 11:33 AM, Tone <tone@...> wrote:
> do not drive and the only bike I have is a built up Big Dummy, which I
> dislike riding in winter conditions on salted roads. I guess I am
> paranoid about rust developing on my pricey Big Dummy, so I wanted a
> secondary aluminum bike as a lighter “beater” alternative.

I do the same thing. My beater was a former rental bike on Block
Island, and had lots of dings and dents, but it had a solid Schwinn
steel frame. I touched up all the missing paint, and at this point
I've changed most of the components and put a few thousand miles on
it. I love that the frame looks crap but the wheels are solid
Mavic/Shimano, and the entire drivetrain has been upgraded. The beater
bike has fenders and snow studs and an airzound horn for my winter
commuter fun.

> pounds. I am quite sure the higher weight feel on the Fuji is most likely
> a result of cheap components though. As I said, I plan on swapping out a
> lot of stuff from the start and upgrade as other components wear down, so
> hopefully that should bring the weight down.
> With all of this in mind, does anyone have any opinions about Fuji bikes,
> or at least their frames? I have read some reviews and it sounds like the

The big LBS here sells primarily Fujis, so I've seen many around town
in various states of use / abuse. They seem to hold up well, and I
consider them on the same level as a quality bike like a Trek or
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