1983 Fuji Monterey 10 Speed

Wow!

That's a solid bike! Just grease it and ride it! If it isn't broke don't fix it! This bike could last you a long time if you keep it maintained.

I'm on the same kind of budget as you and I've managed to build some decent bikes... not the super high quality... but nice enough for me. I agree with the post about the fixie conversion. You should definetly invest in tools instead. Once you've got your owns tools it opens up a hole new world.

Congradulations! You should be proud of your machine... it's real nice! I'm sincerely happy for you!

You got an even better deal on your Monterey than I did. My dad had an old Fuji when I was growing up and inexplicably gave it away to a co-worker. The co-worker's garage later caught fire, which pretty much destroyed any hopes I had of getting my childhood dream bike back.

I picked one up for a few years ago and have had a good time with it ever since.

However, I think it's time to step it up a bit and was wondering how you did with your fixie conversion. Frankly, I can't even figure out what kind of dropout these Montereys have -- it's not quite vertical, not quite horizontal, and I think it's facing the wrong way, i.e., a 45 degree angle towards the front of the bike as opposed to a convenient horizontal dropout which opens out towards the back of the bike. I'm assuming that to make this a fixed gear I'll have to get one of those special widgets that Sheldon Brown has on his site, but I can't figure out which one.

Any thoughts on what needs to get done to convert this puppy?

Real solid old bike you got, and the price can't be beat.

Those early 80's Fujis were great bikes. I'm happy for ya

Nice bike. Looks to be in pretty good shape.

If it was me, on a tight budget, if you already haven't you can get some grease and lube the bearings (you'll need a special tool for the cotterless cranks, but you probably know that, I didn't the first time I took mine off and they were loose when I put them back on. Shimmed them with grease soaked newspaper and rode them another 8 years or so.)

I don't get the whole fixed gear thing, I'm in a pretty flat place, but with winds and gentle slopes I use 3 or 4 of my 10 gears. Everybody started out fixed, but I think it was in the 20's a lady with a 3-speed derailleur bike made a professional on his fixed gear look bad in the Alps. But then I'm an old geezer, what do I know.

If you have steel rims, talk to local bike shops and look for useable alloy rim wheels. Brakes work a lot better on alloy rims than steel, and they are easier to true, and tires stay on better. If yours are 27 inch, and you aren't snobbish about hubs, you should be able to find something very cheap. If your rims are alloy, and if you can bear the stigma of riding a 10-speed when all the cool people are fixed, just true the rims. Then when the wind is at your back, or going downhill, you'll upshift and drop all the guys on fixies.