Ex Pres 

To me, the lugs make it look like one of the old lugged aluminum frames - think Vitus, Alan. Maybe they're more polished in person than they appear in the pictures.

soderbiker

it's just nice to see that they are appreciated and now the are making a come back .
**** im getting old , i rode these style of bikes in high school --
TIME flies
//T

embankmentlb

I wish i could find that seat with the rivets! Also, i would like to see the cables exposed coming out the top of the levers. I bet there is not a single company that still makes those. Bummer.

bigbossman 

Meh.

You can pick up a very nice vintage Columbus tubed Italian for that kind of dough (and most probably less) - and the Fuji components are nothing special.

Hell - I've only got about $750 into my fully restored Swiss Mondia, and it is 531 steel with Suntour Superbe/Campy components and hand-built wheels. The Palo Alto, about $1000-$1100 to build, and the NOS Cinelli with 9 speed Record DT shifting I bought this year was only about $150 more than the list price of the Fuji.

Nice idea, but don't be surprised if they go the way of the Dodo fairly soon.

USAZorro

I'm with you there. I'd also like to see an all-metal, rear derailleur.

pacificaslim

The straight fork on the Connoisseur looks really odd to me, but overall its nice to see this kind of bike being offered.

ga_mueller

Yup, this bike is about $500 too expensive.

MKahrl

These bikes aren't being marketed to the bottom dwelling denizens of the C&V forum who lurk on eBay, Craigslist, Goodwill, yardsales, snoop around neighbors garages and go dumpster diving. We don't buy new retro-reproductions of midlevel 1970's production bikes because we can find the real thing for much less through exhaustive searching equipped with decades of experience.

These bikes are for people who are busy doing other things and they come to you, the bike expert, and ask "I going to buy a bike, is Schwinn a good brand?" Explaining to them how to determine what bike they need and how to fit it takes up the first hour. Next you tell them the best bikes are 20 year old used ones and with another hour of training you'll teach them how to spot a good one and if they haven't already fallen asleep they are running for either the door or nearest open window. Just write "Fuji Connoisseur" on a slip of paper and tell them to go check it out.

Hopefully these bikes will do well just because they are head and shoulders better looking than the plastic blobs that fill bike stores today.

None the less I'm going to nitpik anyway. The Connoisseur too closely replicates what would have been the 1970's entry level racer in a bike companies lineup. Close brake clearances, no dropout eyelets and that 52-42 chainwheel are indicators. But the 1970's entry level racer was no better suited back then for entry level racing than his sport-touring model stablemate with the eyelets. Today there is no demand for a steel retro racer. Everyone who goes into a bike shop to get something for "riding around, bike paths, maybe some touring, maybe some racing" is going to be shown a full-zoot carbon fiber skinny tire racing bike because the clerk can't imagine racing on anything else.

So the Connoisseur comes very very close to being a bike that could be useful for a lot of things but leaving off the eyelets makes attaching fenders and racks a hassle. And it needs more tire clearance. And that crank looks like an inexpensive swagged Sugino Maxy that was pretty cool on $125 bike boom bikes (I ride one even today) but today they could have picked a better crank to recreate.

ScottRyder 

I'm hoping someone else can confirm this (or hopefully not) that the lugs are painted silver/grey, not polished.

My info is coming from a pretty good source, a Fuji rep. This would sure change my view on this Fuji ... I'd stick with my '72 Finest.

Scott

bigbossman 

Agreed.

For what it is and what it is up against, it is overpriced and and under-delivers. For $700 the average joe can get an entry level (aluminum frame, CF fork) Trek 1.2 - that's roughly half of what the Fuji lists for. Aside from the aesthetic differences, the Trek is a better bike. Neither it or the Fuji allows for racks/fenders so that's a wash, and neither will accept tires much bigger than 25cm. Plus, the Trek has a better gear range - unless you're on flat ground, then just go buy a Schwinn Madison or something similar. Both are 8 speed, but the Trek has a 50/39/30 front and a 12/26 rear vs the Fuji's 52/42 and 12/25 cassette. Even if you don't need the triple, 50/39 is a better crank choice (IMO) for the casual rider.

Incidentally - look at the DT shifter position on the Fuji - little close to the head tube, no? I would imagine that would make one-handed double shifts a bit harder to do than on a true vintage machine.

I just can't see a compelling reason, other than looks, for peeling 14 Benjamin's off the roll. And I don't think it looks that good.

Fuji-Sarah

wow this is great! Thanks for the feedback guys. I wasn't expecting there to be posts this soon. I will definitely be taking notes for 2010.
If you are coming to Interbike stop by the booth and check out our whole Fuji Classic line for 2009.

cb400bill

Sarah,

For us folks who cannot get to Interbike, can you post up some other pics of the Fuji Classic line? Spec sheet, too?

bigbossman 

Hmmm..... mabe you should follow Brooks' lead and send a few out for field testing? There's no-one better qualified than us to ring 'em out and shake 'em down, and we won't even charge you our usual fee.

ga_mueller

Here's some feedback. How about some useful gears??? Like

- 52/38 (130BCD crank)
- 11/28 cassette

Other than that, cut the price by at least $500, and you'll sell some!

rallymerkur

The second bike looks alot the the Sun Cyckel - www.sunbicycles.com . Those are nice looking bikes.

mike

What is retro about it? The paint?

Hey, man, if it doesn't have 27" wheels, it ain't retro to me.

embankmentlb

I am into my true vintage bikes at the moment but if i wanted to buy a new bike that Fuji would definitely be on my short list. I cant wait to see more retro stuff from Fuji & hopefully others.

rocoach

Fuji's customer service didn't respond to some questions I had when I was refurbing my 1984 Club. As a result I will never buy a new Fuji - I just don't like the company.

YoKev

First reaction is that the Cambridge is lovely

Second reaction is that I can't see paying that much green for either...

mconlonx

This bike is going to sell to people who wanted a bike like this back in the 70s/80s, but couldn't afford a new, spiffy racer at the time. They will get an idea that they want a bike, walk into a store and that will be the closest thing they remember as being a "bike." Forget oversized aluminum tubes or carbon fiber--if they've been out of bikes for a while, that thing is going to be the closest to what they remember and probably what they had in their minds eye when thinking that them might nip down to the LBS to see what's what with bikes nowadays. Maybe a bike they had or lusted after in college, back in the 70s, but life got in the way and they forgot about bikes for a while, after selling the now classic bike for a song to some incoming student. Now all of a sudden, they remember getting around on a bike in older times, when they were skinnier and didn't have money for gas or a car... and could lose a few lbs now, with gas prices driving them to consider a bike again.

The Beetle, Mini, PT Crusier, are great examples of successful retro marketing, in the motorcycle world it's the new Triumph Bonneville (especially the cafe and scrambler models), most Harleys, the Japanese Harley clones, the Kawasaki W650 from a few years ago, the new Honda CB1100(?) coming this way, and others in non-US markets.

They all play on things people wanted when they didn't have the money, but now are in a better position to afford things like this Fuji.

RobbieTunes

+1
'89 Pinarello Montello, mint OEM $801.
'85 Cinelli Equipe (Centurion import) exc cond OEM $356
and I still have money left over for beer, LP's, maybe even food or the electric bill.

Pretty Fuji, and I think they'll sell a few.

I'd like to build one like that and see how close I could come and what the price would be.

Netdewt

I'm happy to see a new bike with a quill stem, at least.

spiker

Even if I wanted it it isn't big enough. I'd spend $1300 on other stuff. & to build on mconlonx what said, the crowd this is aimed at wants the old look & the convienience of dropping it off at the LBS to get its flat fixed.
You forgot to list my Royal Enfield Bullet in the motorcyle list. oh yeah those won't be retro until the new engine goes on sale.

cyclotoine

the bike is going to sell poorly and be short lived. very few people willing to shell out that much on a new bike are going to want to pay that. You don't even get brifters! what the heck! I can buy a new Caad 9 Cdale all alluminum frame with full tiagra (yes that is an all metal RD) for the same freakin' price and it has way more useful gearing. This is going to sell to a few uneducated folk who don't have a clue and want something retro. Look how close the shifters are to the headtube, WTF? If I were a dealer I sure as hell wouldn't be bringing any of these in. This is going a bit to far. The Kona is different, it;s a steal frame with STI, that has Merit. This is just stupid.

Kommisar89

I don't really understand the pricing on this bike. A steel fixie goes for $500-$600 US. This is essentially the same thing with an extra chainring, a really cheap derailleur and some friction shifters. $750 tops. That's really what I see as the problem. It still looks better than the Bianchi which is really sad. I'm still holding out hope for the Paramount.