I've come up empty-handed searching the web for data from the late 70s - early 80s Fuji catalogs.
I'm curious about the hierarchy of Fuji models then (particularly touring bikes) and what tubing was used in them. I have my eye on a Del Rey and heard that it was in the middle to upper range of Fuji touring bikes 25 years ago. I'm grateful for any insight into these questions. Thanks.

Mid-70s, in descending order of quality/price of some of the top Fuji's is as follows, to my recollection:
Top of the line: Fuji Professional Double Butted ChromeMolly Steel (have a '75 model for sale); Fuji Ace (first-ever Dura Ace gruppo); Fuji Newest; Fuji Finest; Fuji America (with triple chainrings for touring); STS (male version) & S10SL (Ladies mixte model).
The Del Rey, is to my recollection a later and lower line model.

Mid-70s, in descending order of quality/price of some of the top Fuji's is as follows, to my recollection:
Top of the line: Fuji Professional Double Butted ChromeMolly Steel (have a '75 model for sale); Fuji Ace (first-ever Dura Ace gruppo); Fuji Newest; Fuji Finest; Fuji America (with triple chainrings for touring); STS (male version) & S10SL (Ladies mixte model).
The Del Rey, is to my recollection a later and lower line model.

I'm not sure where the Del Rey fits in, but I've recently seen catalogs that the proprietor of my LBS has kept. The order is as you've stated, but at some point in the 80's some of the top models became quad butted framesets.

Actually - it is the Fuji Team that I recall being quad butted. That model sneaks in near the top of the lineup in the early '80's.

I concur with ZONATANDEM. The Del Ray was a 1980s model. I have specs for 1984-1986 and it cost $300-350 US. It's a bit arbitrary on where to draw the line between different levels, but I'd call this upper, entry level. At best, it's lower mid-range. All these version used Fuji's own Valite, quad-butted tubing and various SunTour/Sugino/Dia-Compe component mixes. The 1986 version did have a triple chainring, which would explain your touring description.

The Del Ray was in Fuji line-up in 1990, but by then was a hybrid. I guess that is consistent with it's traditional place in the line-up. It seems that the old entry level recreational bicycles became the hybrids.

I have a 1983 Del Rey, and I'm pretty sure it was the first year that model was made. It got a good write up in "Bicycling" that spring, so I bought one. Price was $300. It came with Sun Tour Vx derailleurs, Sugino 52/42 crankset, Dia Comp brakes and levers, Ukui (sp) rims and I can't remember the name of the hubs. Nitto bars and stem. The weight was advertised as 24lbs. although I never weighed it. The frame is quad butted Valite steel tubing as T-Mar mentioned. And yes, the Del Rey model became a hybrid around 1986 ~.


I've put over 50k miles on it over the years. I still ride it occasionally; although I've graduated to lighter and faster bikes, I never forget the sweet ride.

Ukai rims. Sansin? hubs. Good quality stuff and an excellent value.

Funny, Fuji is 'resurecting' many of the old model names from 70s and 80s in the latest line-up.
Ukai rims and Sansin hubs were nice. The Fuji Professional came with foam filled Ukai sewup rims and drilled out derailleurs and chainrings and was quite nicely lugged.
Weighed in at 21 lbs in 1975.
Yup, things have changed!

Funny, Fuji is 'resurecting' many of the old model names from 70s and 80s in the latest line-up.
Ukai rims and Sansin hubs were nice. The Fuji Professional came with foam filled Ukai sewup rims and drilled out derailleurs and chainrings and was quite nicely lugged.
Weighed in at 21 lbs in 1975.
Yup, things have changed!

Yeah - Raleigh's gone back to a lot of those old model names as well. Dang near cried when I saw what passes for a Super Course now.

I should have a report on how those old plastic-filled Ukai tubular rims with Sansin hubs ride in another week or two. They aren't the lightest, but I've heard they are as sturdy as rims came.

I upgraded the wheels to 700c MA40/Shimano 600 after a few years. I've still got the old wheels around here somewhere, probably out in the barn...all spider webby. :(

Yeah, when Fuji started using the Del Rey name for a hybrid it really bummed me out, too.

To try to answer the question of the original poster; I beleive the Del Rey was Fuji's top of the line sport touring bike when it was first introduced.

Thanks for everyone's response.
I found a 1987 del rey on oldroads.com. It has Fuji branded fork crown, cranks, front and rear derailleurs. Nitto stem. UKAI alloy rims. This one is made of double-butted Valite 212.
From the photos it appears similar to the one I'm looking at.

I have a 1983 Del Rey, and I'm pretty sure it was the first year that model was made. It got a good write up in "Bicycling" that spring, so I bought one. Price was $300. It came with Sun Tour Vx derailleurs, Sugino 52/42 crankset, Dia Comp brakes and levers, Ukui (sp) rims and I can't remember the name of the hubs. Nitto bars and stem. The weight was advertised as 24lbs. although I never weighed it. The frame is quad butted Valite steel tubing as T-Mar mentioned. And yes, the Del Rey model became a hybrid around 1986 ~.


I've put over 50k miles on it over the years. I still ride it occasionally; although I've graduated to lighter and faster bikes, I never forget the sweet ride.[/QUOTE]

I've been swept away by an old Fujis "sweet" ride. I needed a ride while My commuter was waiting on a new wheel so I stopped at the Salvation Army. I was moving an ugly rattle-can painted 12 speed to get to a newer aluminum hybrid when I realized how light the 12 speed was.

I asked the clerk how much and she said 10 bucks.

Talk about sweet -- I haven't wanted to ride anything else since.

No decals. No stampings other than Fuji on the forks and Suntour on the droppouts.

Nitto stem and Nitto Olympiade bars, Suntour Ar deraileur. Sugino 2 ring crank. Dia Compe 500 brakes. Ukai rims with Miche hubs.

With it having been stripped of factory paint I doubt I'll ever figure out what model it is.

I still can't believe that this nearly free old "junker" can ride and perform so well compared to the bike I paid good money for.

I have a '74-ish Fuji Dynamic 10, with a mixte frame, that is somewhere near the bottom of that line up, I think. I say 74-ish, because I am dating based on Suntour components, and my components were manufactured in '74, but who knows when they actually made it on the bike? It was the bike boom of the 70's, so I feel confident that it is a '74 or '75 model. Anyway, it's a great bike!

Mid-70s, in descending order of quality/price of some of the top Fuji's is as follows, to my recollection:
Top of the line: Fuji Professional Double Butted ChromeMolly Steel (have a '75 model for sale); Fuji Ace (first-ever Dura Ace gruppo); Fuji Newest; Fuji Finest; Fuji America (with triple chainrings for touring); STS (male version) & S10SL (Ladies mixte model).
The Del Rey, is to my recollection a later and lower line model.

SHouldn't the Supreme be in that listing somewhere?

I had a Fuji men's S-10-S. It was a great ride. I began upgrading components to DuraAce at the time, but I had it locked to a sign-post . . . I guess you can finish the story from there. I don't see many of the S10S models around, such as Ebay or Craigslist.

Actually - it is the Fuji Team that I recall being quad butted. That model sneaks in near the top of the lineup in the early '80's.

From my 1982 Fuji Team:

https://home.comcast.net/~dbltap/Brown_Fuji_1.jpg

I'm pretty sure that they went to quad butted a couple years later. I saw one on e-bay several months ago that definitely was quad butted - but I think it was an '86 or '87.

The team Fuji was quad butted as far back as 1983. While the name implied a high end model, but most years it was really a mid range model. The tubing was decent, but the a lot of the components were just good, entry level stuff.

I guess the one I saw on e-bay must have been one of the better years - it had Superbe Pro componentry. Didn't realize it was an "ordinary" model for much of it's life. Once again, I had to learn something here. ;)

I guess the one I saw on e-bay must have been one of the better years - it had Superbe Pro componentry. Didn't realize it was an "ordinary" model for much of it's life. Once again, I had to learn something here. ;)

You're one up on me. I don't believe that I've ever seen one with Superbe Pro, though I know they did use Sprint for a year or so in the late 1980s, and there was one year where only the rear derailleur was Superbe.

The mid range models from circa 1983/1984 really stick in my mind because our LBS had several samples with really atrocious brazing. There were huge gaps between the lugs and tubes. I can always accept the odd "lemon", but this was too many. The equipment on them were SunTour ARx derailleurs, Dia-Compe 500 brakesets and Sugino Aero cranksets. The rear triangles were lesser VaLite tubing. I believe the price was under $400 US. Until that time, I had very high respect for Fuji and remember wondering how they sell such a poorly manufactured and relatively inexpensively equipped bicycle as a "Team" model. I guess the marketing guys were going after the entry level racers and burgeoning triathlon market.

You're one up on me. I don't believe that I've ever seen one with Superbe Pro, though I know they did use Sprint for a year or so in the late 1980s, and there was one year where only the rear derailleur was Superbe.

The mid range models from circa 1983/1984 really stick in my mind because our LBS had several samples with really atrocious brazing. There were huge gaps between the lugs and tubes. I can always accept the odd "lemon", but this was too many. The equipment on them were SunTour ARx derailleurs, Dia-Compe 500 brakesets and Sugino Aero cranksets. The rear triangles were lesser VaLite tubing. I believe the price was under $400 US. Until that time, I had very high respect for Fuji and remember wondering how they sell such a poorly manufactured and relatively inexpensively equipped bicycle as a "Team" model. I guess the marketing guys were going after the entry level racers and burgeoning triathlon market.

Might have been replacements parts.

Flatlander:
To my knowledge in the mid-70s there was no such Fuji model as the Supreme.
Fuji did do a great job on those upper level bikes; nicely lugged frames, drilled out components and with the Ace model, the first fully equipped Dura Ace bike (came in orange only).
Rode a Fuji Finest for several years; fully chromed frame with a very thin dark blue paintjob (other color choice was white) makng it look almost translucent and the lugs were full chrome. Nice stuff!

Flatlander:
To my knowledge in the mid-70s there was no such Fuji model as the Supreme.
Fuji did do a great job on those upper level bikes; nicely lugged frames, drilled out components and with the Ace model, the first fully equipped Dura Ace bike (came in orange only).
Rode a Fuji Finest for several years; fully chromed frame with a very thin dark blue paintjob (other color choice was white) makng it look almost translucent and the lugs were full chrome. Nice stuff!

Well, according to my wife's memory she bought the bike new in '75. It has Valite tubing (double butted I think if I read the decal correctly) and is a 12 speed (also a 12 Speed decal on the chain stay).

I don't recall a Supreme in the mid-1970s either, but I do recall them from the early 1980s. I believe VALite came out in 1978 or 1979. The brazed-on cable tunnels and side pull brakes are also more indicative of a later time frame. However, a quick check of the component date codes would settle things, provided the components are original.

I asked my wife again about her Fuji Supreme and it's beginning to look more like early '80's. Actually, although hers is a bit beat up, it is all original except for the seat, R/D and handlebar tape.

. . .Rode a Fuji Finest for several years; fully chromed frame with a very thin dark blue paintjob (other color choice was white) makng it look almost translucent and the lugs were full chrome. Nice stuff!

Nice stuff, indeed! I'm still riding my '72 Fuji Finest (white: the "other" color)--double-butted chrome-moly.
Recently, I found a vintage Fuji Roubaix on eBay, and I don't know where it fits in the Fuji hierarchy. It has:
lugged, quad-butted Ishiwata SI-45 "Feather" tubing,
mostly 105 components (FD, RD, down-tube indexed shifters, crankset, pedals, headset, side-pulls with SLR aero levers, 1050 hubs, 6-cog 13-24 indexed cassette),
Nitto stem and bars
Sakae seat post
Selle San Marco Lazer saddle
Ukai 700Cx25 rims with bladed spokes
internally-routed rear brake housing
rounded, one-piece "Italian style" fork crown, not the older lugged crown.

I suspect it's from the late '80s: it's not listed in the 1986 Fuji catalog; it says "Made in Japan" under the seat-tube Ishiwata label, and about that time Fuji production was shifting to Taiwan. I don't know the time-line of the 105 group or Shimano 6-cog indexing, and since Fuji has changed hands several times, the serial number trail is cold. Can anyone help date this? I've read that "triple-" and "quad-butted" in that era were mostly marketing hype, but the Ishiwata tubing is the real steel deal: very sweet ride!

I'm riding a Fuji Team right now. It's my "tester" bike (I bought it instead of dropping a bunch of cash on something I might decide I didn't want). I love it, and now I don't feel the need to by something newer. I'm trying to determine it's vintage, but my best guess (from this Suntour timeline (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~hadland/page35.htm)) is that it came out around 86. Features Sprint components with the exception of the Superbe Pro derailleurs.

I've posted a picture here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jknecht/741213099/#comment72157600694506956)

I had a Fuji men's S-10-S. It was a great ride. I began upgrading components to DuraAce at the time, but I had it locked to a sign-post . . . I guess you can finish the story from there. I don't see many of the S10S models around, such as Ebay or Craigslist.

Check this one out:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y87/boysrus/183_8368.jpg
I scored this one from my neighbor. "You want it? Take it!" is what he said. I've got a seat on it, and a working front brake, and it just soars like a falcon! I love it. S/N dates it to Jan. 1977, and it's supposed to be a 12-speed. I'll take care of that soon enough.

Check this one out:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y87/boysrus/183_8368.jpg
I scored this one from my neighbor. "You want it? Take it!" is what he said. I've got a seat on it, and a working front brake, and it just soars like a falcon! I love it. S/N dates it to Jan. 1977, and it's supposed to be a 12-speed. I'll take care of that soon enough.

Is this a Fuji? I thought they didn't have 12spd until the early 80's...

I hope this helps answer questions about the Team. I have a 1986 Team. It was purchased from the original owner who said it was purchased it in 1986. The Sprint derailers were manufactured in Sept, 1985, so the dates line up. It has Quad butted tubing, according to the decal on the down tube, but it does not say Valite. The Accushift index shifters were added after I purchased it. The originals were Suntour Sprint. It's a nice bike, but I doubt top of the line. Fuji made no claim that the tubing was special other than quad butted. They did not claim it was seamless or made by Tange. Still, the bike is relatively light for the time period weighing in at 21 lbs and it has a nice ride.
BTW, I also have a 1985 Espree that has quad butted, Valite tubing. Just thought I would add that.

Is this a Fuji? I thought they didn't have 12spd until the early 80's...
OMG I can't believe my POS laptop just ate my post! I was going to say that Bill from Kansas sent me a spec sheet, based on the s/n, which shows a Suntour "Mighty 6" 14-30 cog as OEM spec. Plus there's a decal above the shifters of a chain link with a "12" in it. So, that's what I'm going on.

The 1977 S10-S i just picked up also has the little "12" decal above the shifters. I did not know what that referred to since it is a 10 speed, and i really doubt that anyone has changed it.

This page (http://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/fuji/fujipage.htm) has a Fuji catalog. Not sure what year it is, but probably mid to late 1980's.

This page (http://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/fuji/fujipage.htm) has a Fuji catalog. Not sure what year it is, but probably mid to late 1980's.

I think it's from 1989, but I could be wrong.

I have a mid 80s Espree and was wondering where it sits in the lineup...

I have 3 Fuji's and have never seen a catalog on-line other than that late 80's one. Even my two Supremes, both dated to 1982 by their components, are different. I would love to find some old literature about them but apparently it's unobtainable.

The team Fuji was quad butted as far back as 1983. While the name implied a high end model, but most years it was really a mid range model. The tubing was decent, but the a lot of the components were just good, entry level stuff.

As far as I remember, the "Team" was always at or near the top of the Fuji line of race bikes.

Is this a Fuji? I thought they didn't have 12spd until the early 80's...

I bought my Fuji Sports 12, my first "real" bike, in the summer of 1980. It had low end Suntour stuff on it, but it was certainly a 12 speed. It replaced the "Sports 10," but I am not sure if 1980 was the first year the low-end model went to 12 speeds. It's likely they had a few higher-end models with 12 speeds in the late 1970s.

I'm not sure where the Del Rey fits in, but I've recently seen catalogs that the proprietor of my LBS has kept. The order is as you've stated, but at some point in the 80's some of the top models became quad butted framesets.

The quad-butted Valite tubing was a seamed tubeset made for Fuji by Ishiwata. Ishiwata marketed it as EXO-V. It was a manganese-moly steel alloy (similar to R531, if I remember right), and many consider it to be the first "decent" tubeset to come out of Japan at a price sustainable by the mass market.

Here is a link to an old Ishiwata catalog shot showing the tube specs:

http://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/ishiwata/page-02.jpg

Because the tubing was seamed, Ishiwata could (more or less) contour the wall thickness any way they wanted to. They could put it lots of different butts, with nice tapered transitions between the different wall thickness sections to minimize stress risers. Once they tooled up, they could just roll out the steel in sheets with the right thickness profiles, bend the sheet over a mandrel, and weld them together at the seam.

'Course, seamed tubing has its drawbacks relative to seamless tubing, but I've never seen a tube come apart at a seam, even after catastrophic crashes that buckled the top and down tubes. Seamed tubing is a bit heavier, but (I hear) it's a bit stiffer as well.

My Two Cents,

Here is one of the few Fuji pages I've found from searching in the past.
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Japan/Fuji.htm
The above page has pic's and a spec sheet from mid 70's

Another has a short history of Fuji from Sheldon Brown
http://sheldonbrown.com/japan.html#fuji

I bought a Fuji Finest in 1976. It was used then and didn't know what year it was or forgot. It had 12 speeds(now 14). It was my only road bike for about 30 years until I picked up a Litespeed Classic last fall.

Nice stuff, indeed! I'm still riding my '72 Fuji Finest (white: the "other" color)--double-butted chrome-moly.
Recently, I found a vintage Fuji Roubaix on eBay, and I don't know where it fits in the Fuji hierarchy. It has:
lugged, quad-butted Ishiwata SI-45 "Feather" tubing,
mostly 105 components (FD, RD, down-tube indexed shifters, crankset, pedals, headset, side-pulls with SLR aero levers, 1050 hubs, 6-cog 13-24 indexed cassette),
Nitto stem and bars
Sakae seat post
Selle San Marco Lazer saddle
Ukai 700Cx25 rims with bladed spokes
internally-routed rear brake housing
rounded, one-piece "Italian style" fork crown, not the older lugged crown.

I suspect it's from the late '80s: it's not listed in the 1986 Fuji catalog; it says "Made in Japan" under the seat-tube Ishiwata label, and about that time Fuji production was shifting to Taiwan. I don't know the time-line of the 105 group or Shimano 6-cog indexing, and since Fuji has changed hands several times, the serial number trail is cold. Can anyone help date this? I've read that "triple-" and "quad-butted" in that era were mostly marketing hype, but the Ishiwata tubing is the real steel deal: very sweet ride!

Sounds like my second-hand 59c Roubaix which has Shimano 105 components dating from june to december 1987, making the bike a likely 1988 model. This is a great bike. Took it out today for a bumpy 38 miles along country streams. My project bike this past winter when I stripped it to the frame then built up with a seven speed Sora STI brifter setup.

The fork crown is internally lugged, which gives the fork a very smooth look. My bike is black with a clear coat, (and a chromed chainstay under the chain). Back in the day this model was one step below their top of the line bike.

The only thing I don't like is that top tube internal cable routing. The brake cable comes out on the side where it hits my leg. Got it held down with a tie-wrap.

You're one up on me. I don't believe that I've ever seen one with Superbe Pro, though I know they did use Sprint for a year or so in the late 1980s, and there was one year where only the rear derailleur was Superbe.

I just flipped a Fuji S-12 today. It had a 14-30 freewheel, Suntour Superbe Pro RD, and Vx FD. I replaced the derailleurs with Suntour AR. The superbe will go on a Schwinn Prelude that has a Cyclone RD and Accushift downtube levers.

I have this old Fuji, but I don't know what it is. When I got it it had F-Racing Decals all over it. The spec seems older than the mid-seventies/eighties stuff. Any thoughts?
This is it in its fixed mode, but you can still see what's going on.
http://velospace.org/files/DSC01058.JPG

Funny, Fuji is 'resurecting' many of the old model names from 70s and 80s in the latest line-up.
Ukai rims and Sansin hubs were nice. The Fuji Professional came with foam filled Ukai sewup rims and drilled out derailleurs and chainrings and was quite nicely lugged.
Weighed in at 21 lbs in 1975.
Yup, things have changed!
They are also bringing back the BMX names, I have had some reminising oldtimers checking outht enew Quadrange, and PK ripper in my shop window (and catalog)

Nice stuff, indeed! I'm still riding my '72 Fuji Finest (white: the "other" color)--double-butted chrome-moly.
Recently, I found a vintage Fuji Roubaix on eBay, and I don't know where it fits in the Fuji hierarchy. It has:
lugged, quad-butted Ishiwata SI-45 "Feather" tubing,
mostly 105 components (FD, RD, down-tube indexed shifters, crankset, pedals, headset, side-pulls with SLR aero levers, 1050 hubs, 6-cog 13-24 indexed cassette),
Nitto stem and bars
Sakae seat post
Selle San Marco Lazer saddle
Ukai 700Cx25 rims with bladed spokes
internally-routed rear brake housing
rounded, one-piece "Italian style" fork crown, not the older lugged crown.

I suspect it's from the late '80s: it's not listed in the 1986 Fuji catalog; it says "Made in Japan" under the seat-tube Ishiwata label, and about that time Fuji production was shifting to Taiwan. I don't know the time-line of the 105 group or Shimano 6-cog indexing, and since Fuji has changed hands several times, the serial number trail is cold. Can anyone help date this? I've read that "triple-" and "quad-butted" in that era were mostly marketing hype, but the Ishiwata tubing is the real steel deal: very sweet ride!

Hi, I just came across this post and I was wondering if you found out anything else about your Fuji. I just bought the same model off a local party who had it listed on Ebay. Seems like a nice bike, but I wonder how hard it will be to find parts for it.

Hi, I just came across this post and I was wondering if you found out anything else about your Fuji. I just bought the same model off a local party who had it listed on Ebay. Seems like a nice bike, but I wonder how hard it will be to find parts for it.

I have a Fuji Roubaix from the late 80's. Very nice bike with shimano 105 components. I modernized my Centurion but I will keep my Fuji stock. I use the Fuji for my daily rides.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f40/dahoss2002/DCFC0001.jpg

I have two Club Fuji's! Identical tubing, paint color, and components. They are a few centimeters different in size, but both in my range. Both are VALite quad butted "1769". Which one should I build? Decisions, decisions......:D,,,,BD


http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/Kustombyker/ClubFuji.jpg

Your Fuji looks like mine except for color, mine is mostly white with a little purple. The bike is in good shape expect for the Ukai front rim. It has a couple of deep cuts in the rim where the brake pads touch. I can't figure out how the cuts were made. Am I going to be able to replace the rim with a new one, or they no longer made?

I have a mid 80s Espree and was wondering where it sits in the lineup...

Can't really answer your question, but having one of them, I can say it is a very nice bike. The components on mine were pretty good. But the frame was excellent. One of the few bikes I regret selling.

jim

I have this old Fuji, but I don't know what it is. When I got it it had F-Racing Decals all over it. The spec seems older than the mid-seventies/eighties stuff. Any thoughts?
This is it in its fixed mode, but you can still see what's going on.
http://velospace.org/files/DSC01058.JPG

Looks liks an early 70's finest to me.