cbresciani

The Fuji because it's was called a "Road Racer" what 12 year old wouldn't want to be a road racer!

jjames1452 

Peugeot UO 8 - if I can spell the darned thing........

ciocc_cat

I was a Freshman at the University of Arkansas in the Fall of 1973. IIRC, that was the Christmas that I upgraded from a basement-grade Chiorda to a Gitane Tour de France thanks to my generous, loving Grandmother. Given the scenario you've presented, I'd probably have ended up with the Peugeot UO8 because that would have been what was available through my local shop other than the Gitane TdF (although the UO8 was an inferior bike in terms of frame/components). Fujis weren't available and lower-end Japanese stuff had a less-than-good reputation in our neck-of-the-woods (Shimano was called "Shi*ano" by my local shop's head mechanic). A very dear friend of mine must have put at least 10,000 miles on his beloved UO8, so they certainly weren't bad bikes at all.

jimmuller 

What part of OU, I mean UO, is so difficult?

Gravity Aided

Gangnam Style!

BlueDevil63 

Peugeot. The Peugeot brand had more racing credibility at that time, including Merckx brief time with Peugeot. I idolized Merckx at the time.

habes78023 

I voted Fuji,

I was just looking at your catalog pics and saw a yellow bike. That pretty much sealed the deal.

sykerocker 

Of the four choices given, I'd go with the Grand Prix. To my eyes, it was the classiest of the three (Erie, PA didn't have a Peugeot dealer, and I knew virtually nothing about the brand). Plus, I worked for the Schwinn/Raleigh dealer, and employee's discount does have its significance.

Actually . . . . . . I'd have come up with the extra $25.00 or so (more like $20.00 with employee's discount) and bought a Super Course. Even classier. And just add a set of sew-up wheels, and you're racing.

sykerocker 

Interesting point of view. In 1973, a buddy's newly founded bike shop introduced Fuji to Erie. I took a leave of absence from the Schwinn/Raleigh shop where I worked (with the owner's blessing) to help John get started. The quality of Fuji bikes just blew everyone away (Nishiki never came to Erie). Shimano wasn't all that well known, but if the components said Sun Tour you bought. Immediately. At that point Shimano was considered a Sun Tour copycat.

LDB

That's Jim Carrey?

noglider 

I like the ride of the UO-8 best, and I'll bet it's the lightest of the four. The Raleigh's ride and weight are close, though. The Schwinn is easily the heaviest.

The Fuji is in between, really. I know, I know, it's reliable, not not as reliable as the Schwinn. And it's in the middle of the weight spectrum, too.

vjp

Cali Masi

robtown

Raleigh Grand Prix for the simple reason that I had left a Raleigh Rodeo muscle bike back in West Germany when we moved back to the USA. I was 16 and had wanted a 10 speed for a couple years. I worked a couple months mowing lawns then my parents helped me buy my 10 speed. It was dark green with white cables, and steel wheels. I think the name contained "Tourist" It was grossly overpriced - $160 at the department store in Philadelphia a few blocks from my grandmother's house. I knew nothing about bikes at the time and it might have edged out the Continental.

Ciufalon

In 1973 I was thirteen (in the 7th and 8th grade), mom and dad were springing for a new bike and I transitioned from a Schwinn Collegiate to a Gitane. I recall many of the bikes in my neck of the woods at the time were Peugeot, Astra, Motobecane, Schwinns. A few Bianchi and Azuki bikes were around as well. The Gitane was purchased from my neighbor and custom bike builder Ron Stout at Transition Cyclery, a store he owned in the neighborhood. In college I had a UO8 and loved the ride and handling, so I voted for that.

unworthy1

what I actually bought in '73 was...nothing.
I had the bike bug like all my friends but didn't have money for anything new.
A year or so later I bought my friend's (the one with the Raleigh GP) older brother's left-behind used Belgian "10-speed", I was so thick about everything at that age I don't even remember what brand it was, but might have been a cheap Libertas. It was pretty akin to a UO-8 with dimpled Rigida (or similar) rims but Huret gear. I crashed it, let the handlebar tape unwrap and make "streamers". left it unlocked as I ran into the library one day and...lost it to a thief.
When I had enough saved up to buy a new bike, that was a Nishiki Semi Pro in greenish bronze (couldn't afford the Pro and was unsure about sew-ups)...we had plenty of Japanese products but no Fuji dealers among my LBS.

cooper34

"The oil shortage did not cause the bike boom. The Arab-Israel war began in October, 1973, and the lines at the gas stations didn't happen until the end of the year. The bike boom was two thirds over and bike sales were winding down for the winter. The best that can be said about the connection between the bike boom and the energy crunch was that public concern over the oil crisis kept the bike boom going for an extra year. " - Frank Berto, Sunset for Suntour https://pages.citebite.com/o2n1u6u4w3qui

Flying Merkel

At last, a logical & honest answer. I was 12 in '73. Rode a used rental Varsity with a mildly bent frame and an inability to shift or stop very well.

mparker326

Schwinn Continental. When I ride one now, it is a time machine transporting me back to the 70's.

oddjob2

I knew there are historians on this forum. Thank you for the correction!

T-Mar

I am well aware of and fully appreciate the explosion in lighweight sales. I also realize that "dying" is a relative term. Still, I think it is an injustice with respect to hi-riser sales, leading many to disregard what was still a significant portion of the domestic market. Until 1972 they were the dominant bicycle style in the market with sales of 4.1 million units. Even as late as 1975 they were still selling 2.2 million units. While I don't have data for the intervening years, it's probably not unreasonable to assume that they were at least 2.2 million and probably somewaht higher for the peak years of 1972-1974 inclusive. This would mean that during the peak years of the boom, hi-risers were still accounting for about 1/4 to 1/3 of all domestic bicycle production and that hi-risers sales drastically outsold any foreign nation importing to the USA. They may not have had lightweight sales but they were still a major factor.

ScottRyder 

Love my '73 Special Road Racer.



Scott

Phil_gretz

I have SO enjoyed reading everyone's story, and the supporting market information and bike trade perspective. Fascinating...

I was 13 turning 14 in 1973, and my mind was on my Philadelphia Flyers, who were on the cusp of winning the first of two Stanley Cups. In suburban NJ, we all rode stingray-type bikes in the late 1960s and 10-speeds in the 1970s. In 1973, I was riding a C.Itoh and enjoying it. My friends began to buy French and English bikes (we had a UO-8, a LeTour, and a Grand Prix in our group, along with a Jeunet, a cheaper Merckx, and a Gitane). I saved part and my folks consented to help me buy a Mercier ('75 head tube lug marking, IIRC) and I sold the Itoh through the classified ads to repay them the remainder.

We rode everywhere, but riding wasn't the activity, it was just the means to a destination, whether a baseball field, a fishing spot, or even the Shore. I rode that Mercier through HS and college, and replaced it with a Motobecane in the mid 80s, once I had finished growing in college.

I voted Fuji based on what I know now (plus, I've refurbished a few S-10S s). Now, reading through the posts and thinking back on it, the Fuji would've been a just a bit too expensive. I probably would've gone with the UO-8. My friend's was a deep blue if I remember...

The fellow with the Grand Prix was a trip. He rode wheelies much of the time, and beat that bike more than any of us did to ours. Left it outside in the rain until the leather saddle sagged. He kept the saddle tilted WAY BACK (nose up) at the strangest angle.

The fastest of us was the fellow in the Gitane (it was orange, but otherwise outfitted just like the others). He was all legs and no torso, and rode a bigger frame. He was stretched "aero" all of the time.

It's a good bet that I'm the only one of the bunch that is still riding regularly.

Thanks, Auchen, for helping me remember all of this. Phil

DiabloScott

I think it was 1973 when I bought my first 10-speed... a Schwinn LeTour... might've been '74. It was right after my StingRay was stolen.

jimmuller 

Back in '71 I'd just finished college, just missed being drafted to serve in Vietnam, and found a job in October teaching school. By the following summer I had some money saved up, bought a car and decided to buy a lightweight bicycle with real gearing. I'd ridden a lot up through high school and some even through college. My dad told me a bike shop employee had told him that those 10-speeds were just a fad, that no one needed them. But having just obtained a BS in physics I knew what gearing was all about w.r.t. hill-climbing.

No one I knew owned a derailleur bike. I saw them everywhere but books were all the resources I had. So I walked into Agee's Bicycle Shop in Richmond, looked over the selections and prices, thought about it over a few more visits, and picked out what seemed the best choice I could afford, a white UO8. It wasn't the cheapest 10-speed in the shop, nor the lightest. I couldn't justify the expense of a PX10, and in retrospect it would have been a mistake at the time. In retrospect a mid-level Raleigh might have been a good choice but I couldn't justify the price at the time.

I rode that UO8 a lot. I still ride it, upgraded and carrying generator-powered lights. Four or five years ago I thought about selling the frame locally on CL. Just couldn't do it. It stands ready to roll even now, waiting for the snow to go away.

RubberLegs

1973....BACK then, I would probably have picked the Schwinn just because I was already riding a trusty Red Typhoon. There was NO bike shop in town, just a guy with a garage full of parts, tools and rebuilt bikes. The Scwhinn dealership was 45 miles away....hadn't even HEARD of those other "Funny" brands then. A couple years later, I bought a brand new Coast-to-Coast 10-speed, steel frame, chrome wheels, with Suntour gear on it...beat it to death on Wisconsin winter rides delivering the LaCrosse Tribune. Today....I would probably pick the Fuji....just because! ;-)