Customizing my Fuji Nevada 1.7 bicycle

Man, I love my Fuji Nevada 1.7 bicycle. I have owned it for 3 years and ridden it a tad over 2,900 miles. During that time I have customized it into the perfect city bike for my needs. I have added a rear rack, panniers, handgrips, GPS, lights, phone mount, tire pump, flat pedals, and a bike lock. It now is the perfect bike for my everyday needs. I have other bikes I ride – my Giant TCX gravel/road bike, my Trek Remedy mountain bike, and an old BMX bike – but my Fuji Nevada has become my daily transportation and most ridden bicycle.

How I use my Fuji Nevada

I ride my Fuji each morning to the YMCA for my workouts, to the local farmer’s market for groceries, to downtown Edmond for work, and on the weekends my wife and I like to ride our Fuji’s around various Oklahoma towns and explore the back roads and neighborhoods. I even do occasional gravel rides on the bike with my wife, although I have a dedicated gravel bike for my faster, longer rides.

My Fuji is my daily transportation, especially during the summer. I live 5 miles from downtown Edmond and often ride it to my wife’s RE/MAX real estate office to work there. My local YMCA is 3 miles away. Our local grocery store is nearby. Much of my daily transportation needs are well-served by my Fuji. I need easily removable panniers so I can carry a variety of items – my laptop to work, my gym gear to the YMCA, groceries, and other items I might pick up while I am out.

My wife and I also enjoy exploring small towns around Oklahoma on our bicycles. We will load them in my Chevy Silverado and unload and explore the local neighborhoods. We especially enjoy exploring the side streets of the Oklahoma City metro area, which is much larger than Edmond. Our Nevada’s make perfect exploration vehicles – across between a light weight city bike and a rugged hard-tail mountain bike.

My wife and I have ridden bicycles for many years but took a hiatus for riding around 10 years ago. Five years ago we decided to get back into cycling. I sold our older bikes on eBay and bought two brand-new Fuji Nevada 1.7 bicycles from our local dealer.

Since that time I have customized my Fuji quite a bit. My wife’s bike is pretty well stock like it came from the dealer with the exception of pedals, lights, an underseat tail bag, tank bag, water bottle cage and a device to hold her phone. My bike on the other hand has been greatly customized to fit how I like to ride.

My Riding Style

A bit about me. I LOVE to ride anything with two wheels. I have ridden motorcycles for 40 years and bicycles for about 20 years. I am currently an active runner, cyclist and swimmer. In 2018 I rode my bicycle over 4,000 miles, ran over 1,000 miles and swam 26 miles. However, on October 15, 2018 I had quadruple bypass open heart surgery, which took me some time to recover. Now 9 months later I am back to running marathons and doing triathlons. I just completed my second half-ironman triathlon last week, and my first since heart surgery.

So I ride bicycles. A lot. I would prefer to ride a bike or a motorcycle rather than a truck. I like the exercise and I just like being on two wheels. I am not a dedicated hard-core bicyclist who is always focused on getting faster. I do ride with a power meter on my Giant TCX gravel/road bike, but more because I am a data nerd vs a hard-core cyclist training to get stronger and faster. I don’t often ride in large groups, although I will occasionally go for a group ride. Mostly I ride by myself for transportation and fun, or with my wife, who likes to ride at a more casual pace. In fact I prefer riding with my wife over anyone. We take it easy and enjoy ourselves on bicycles or motorcycles.

Customizing my Fuji Nevada

After riding my bike for a few months I began making modifications to better fit my needs. My Fuji is my daily rider. I ride it to the YMCA each morning to work out. I ride it to work in good weather. I ride it around town with my wife. I ride it to the farmer’s market or to breakfast or lunch or wherever we might go during the day or one the weekends. I ride it at night and early in the mornings before daylight. I have a road bike and full-suspension mountain bike that I also ride on a regular basis, but my Fuji is my primary “transportation” bicycle. So I wanted it to be a jack of all trades. Durable, flexible, able to carry a load, safe at night, strong enough to take a beating, and not so darn expensive that if it got stolen I would hav a major dent in my pocketbook.

Bontrager Disk Rack

My first order of the day was installing a rack. I have never had a bicycle with a rack. I tried a rack that bolted to the seat tube but never liked it much. I wanted a proper rack. I finally installed a Bontrager Disk rack. It is a black aluminum rack. Makes the bike look ugly but I like how it mounts and I really like the functionality of the rack.

Bontrager Rear Trunk

To go with the rack I purchased a Bontrager Interchange Rear Trunk Deluxe bag. I chose the Bontrager Interchange it because it clipped in and out of my rack with a single button. No velcro straps required. It had fold-down panniers that I could use if needed. Most times I just kept the fold-down panniers stowed away but if we stopped at a grocery store or farmer’s market, I could drop the panniers out of the side of the trunk and toss in some milk or other supplies. This worked great for a couple of years, but then I wanted to start carrying my laptop with me on my bicycle so I could work at the local Starbucks or at my wife’s office in downtown Edmond. These fold-down panniers didn’t offer the protection to my laptop that I wanted. I carried my laptop in a backpack instead, but on hot summer days this was uncomfortable since I would end up sweating through the back of my shirt where the backpack rode.

Axiom Monsoon Rear Panniers

After a couple of years of either leaving my laptop at home or carrying it on my sweaty back, I finally purchased a pair of Axiom Monsoon rear panniers. I did a lot of research before making this purchase and was glad I did. They were not cheap but man I sure do love them.

I especially like how the Axiom panniers attach to my Bontrager rack. They clip on and off easily. This allows me to unclip the bags and take them inside without having to remove the contents or unstrap the bags from the bike. I carry my laptop in one bag and the other bag is typically for swim gear and gym clothes when I ride to the YMCA each morning, or for things we might pick up shopping.

GPS and Lighting

I am a GPS junky. I have used GPS for many years and long before they were widely available to most people. I had very early GPS units in my airplanes way back in the early 1990’s. I mount them on my motorcycles, in my cars, and carry them in my backpack. Of course now my iPhone comes with a built-in GPS receiver, but I still prefer using a dedicated GPS for most travel. For my bicycles I use a Garmin Edge 1000 that I purchased on closeout for a great price. It mounts on my handlebar using a Garmin mount. I use a Garmin light that clips underneath the GPS and is controlled from the Edge 1000. I really like this integration. The Garmin light brightens and dims depending on the time of day, ambient light, and speed of my ride. It will flash during the day, shine constant at night, and I can control it from my Edge 1000 if I so choose.

I still like having my phone available while I ride, so I used an old RAM mount from my motorcycles to hold my phone. I would not recommend this type of mount for a mountain bike where there is a lot of vibration. It is not a secure mount for the hard jolts encountered while riding a mountain bike. And I have to pay attention to hard hits on my Fuji, but for the most part I am fairly happy with this mount. It is easy off and on. A bit heavier mounting system than I prefer but it works just fine. Some day I may swap that out with a better bicycle mount for my phone when I come across a better option.

Hand Grips

My hands used to go numb after an hour or so of riding my Fuji. I swapped the standard grips for these Ergon GP2 grips. I really like how the extra padding for my palm allows my palm to rest on the bar without so much pressure to the center of my hand. I have been very pleased with these grips and added a set to my mountain bike. I will have these on all my straight-bar bikes in the future.

Bike Lock

I make use of my bike lock every time I park my bike when I am not at home. I live in a very safe city but have learned that thieves are opportunists. Leave a bike unlocked and a passing thief might just grab it and take off, then dump the bike when they are done. Sure, a determined thief can cut the lock, but it takes a bit longer and is much more conspicuous and easier to stop. My bike lock just slows them down and keeps the casual thief at bay. In addition, the Fuji is not an overly expensive bicycle so if it is stolen I could replace it fairly easy.

Flat pedals

For many years I wore clipless shoes and pedals on my bicycles. I prefer the Shimano SPD cleats since I started with mountain bikes. But when I started riding my Fuji back and forth to the gym I would have to bring along a pair of tennis shoes for running and working out. Finally, I decided to get a good set of sturdy aluminum pedals for my bike. What a great addition! I can now wear normal shoes when I ride yet still have a nice secure platform for pedaling. I don’t have the trouble of trying to get my shoe unclipped when I come to a stoplight or have to stop suddenly and unexpectedly. I still used SPD on my gravel bike but have shifted to flat pedals for my city and mountain bikes.

Shortened Handlebar Stem

After three years of riding I noticed that I was often riding perched on the front of my seat. I have been working to get my Giant TCX gravel bike fitted for long rides and had swapped stems a few times. I had a 70 mm stem left over from my experiments with my Giant. My Fuji had a very long stem installed – probably round 150 mm. I just recently swapped my Fuji to the 70 mm stem and so far have been very happy with that change. My riding position is about the same but now I tend to sit correctly on the saddle rather than riding on the front of the saddle.

Summary

After all these mostly minor changes, I really love my Fuji Nevada 1.7. It is a bit heavy because of the aluminum frame, low-cost drivetrain and all the pieces and parts I have added, but it makes for a great everyday city bike. My Giant TCX gravel/road bike is much lighter and faster, but is four times the cost. I am a bit nervous about leaving it attached to a bike rack while I am inside the YMCA or a local store. The Fuji is not as flashy, is way less expensive, and is extremely durable and a fun bike to ride. I like the 29″ tires and the frame geometry, as well as the front suspension. I have 3,000 miles on it after 3 years of riding and plan to put a lot more on it in the future.

There are thousands of accessories you can get for your bicycle to help dial it in for your needs and comfort level. Check with a local bike shop and search on-line for options. Good luck and have fun on your next ride!