Fuji Silhouette:looking for the good, the bad, and the ugly (or pretty!!)

[Eden]

The bike is not full ultegra - rear cassette isn't, the cranks aren't, the brakes aren't, wheels aren't. The pieces they have on it instead of ultegra aren't bad - and seriously, brakes are brakes. Ultegra ones really don't stop any better than the other ones - it's a huge lawsuit if your brakes don't work.

Gotta disagree with you here... I had a Fuji a while ago. As far as value/price it really was terrific. The one thing I really did not like about it was the brakes. Brakes definitely are not brakes - some really do work better than others. My bike did have cheap brakes on it and they did not work as well as good ones. I thought they were stiff and grabby. The DA brakes on my race bike are totally different feeling - very smooth and sure.

105 vs Ultegra - I don't think you'll notice too much of a difference really. The more expensive the lighter, but the technology keeps working its way down. Today's 105 was the DA of 4 or 5 years ago....

The weight? Yeah 19 lbs is bit hefty for a racing bike, but take a good look at where the weight is. If it is due to a cheap-heavy wheelset, then its not such a big deal. Wheels wear out and will eventually need replacing in any case.