Mayonnaise

It was announced at a team meeting earlier in the week that our team has secured a sponsorship deal with Fuji bicycles.

As it happens, I need a new frame due to a crash earlier in the season. The deal we get with Fuji is very good and very tempting.

As a long time cyclist I've developed weird brand loyalties and prejudices that are hard to shake. I don't think I'm alone with this mindset. I got hooked on the "buy Italian" thing in the late 70s and have more or less stayed with the same idea since. It's as if the product has to have some magic or mystique for it to qualify, and once it does I stay with it forever. I'm sure I am a marketer's dream...once they have me I stay brand loyal forever.

Slowly, steadily, and certainly without my permission, I have, in the last few years, gotten older. I know the bicycle world has changed. "Buy Italian" is now dated nostalgia and "Made In Taiwan" isn't a swearword. You've got to grow and change and develop; and you don't want to be some market guy's stooge, drooling over flashy bike porn, searching for truth and god and a place to spend $3K. Really, does it matter what name is printed on the frame? When you're talking high end frames you're really splitting hairs to find differences. Those tiny differences and brand names are where marketing thrives. You close your eyes you can't tell much difference.

You know, you don't really see your bike when you're riding it anyway. You can see the guy's bike next to you, but only bits and pieces of your own. What's the goal here? To tap into the mystic, come up with a super cool combination of frame, gruppo, and magic so that some guy you'll probably never see again will catch up to you and say "nice bike"? Those comments, which don't come that often, can prove expensive.

But still, Fuji? You meet some guy in a bar and it turns out he's into bikes too and he asks what kind of bike you have and you say "Fuji SST", don't tell me your stomach doesn't sink. Come on, you buy those things at Performance don't you?

I've been told by knowledgeable bike gurus that Fuji is making great bikes. I'm sure they are all sober, hard working, and devoted people and are producing excellent frames that they are proud of. I know it would be silly to pass up a sweet deal in order to hold fast to some silly loyalty that probably didn't make much sense to begin with...

But still, Fuji?

Kerian

I wouldn't pass up a good deal on a Fuji. Though I'm biased because I've always sort of liked Fuji.

Capps330xi

I love my Fuji Team :-) if you have that good of a deal and are ready to switch to a great bike. Do it!

Homebrew01

Some people think very highly of Fujis

https://cgi.ebay.com/10-POUND-Custom-...item335683d564

I'm pretty neutral on most brands since I'm a marketers bad dream and don't buy into much hype.

Little Darwin

I like well built vintage Japanese bikes...

I think since Fuji ends in a vowel you should just convince yourself that Fuji is Italian.

Grasschopper

Yea what is wrong with Fuji? They were ridden in all three grand tours this year and heck Bikes Direct even uses their older designs for their fine bikes.

Red Rider

My husband loves his Fuji Team Pro. Our LBS owner/race team mgr. rides Fuji almost exclusively.

Back in the early to mid 80's I had a Fuji mixte on which I mounted a kid's seat so I could take my toddler daughter for leisurely rides. I wish I still had that bike.

Ride a couple of Fujis and see what you think.

rog

Yeah, bottom line, I think that the ride quality is way more important than what the guy at the coffee shop thinks. I agree with Red Rider, ride a couple, see what you think.

AngryScientist 

you very eloquently admitted to what most of us feel, at least i do. when i fall in love with something, i stick by it, facts be damned.

you already know the right answer, good cycling is about passion, buy what sings to you.

DrPete 

Bikes really are like wine. Once you get to a certain price point it's all decent-quality stuff and the buying decision comes down to what you like in terms of the subtle flavors of a specific grape/region/winery, the subjective qualities (sentimental value of a particular region, etc.), aging potential, etc.

Regardless of where they're made, there still is something about a bike from a custom builer--even if the geometry is basically within a couple mm of stock, which it usually is--or a brand like Colnago, Pinarello, etc. My Pinarello F4:13 was that bike for me--not hugely different from other bikes, but there was just something extra-sublime about the way it rode.

My team sponsor was Specialized, and we had an annual order that allowed us to get a Tarmac Pro for stupid cheap. I mean ridiculous. I ended up buying the Pinarello anyway. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Scummer

I was sitting in the meeting with somewhat of the same thought...
Hmm.. Nice deals offered, but do I reaaaaally need another bike? n+1 is very hard on the wallet.

The pricing was definitely better than my new '07 Madone 5.2 I got for 2k.

*sigh*

RatedZeroHero

you know...

you can be married to that hot Italian...

and have a hot Oriental mistress too...

besides it is a race bike right? corporate sponsorship has its dues too...

pedalhead110

I felt the same way before I bought my Fuji Team RC this year. My previous bike was a Cannondale, but the shop I work at carries Fuji, which put me in the same boat as you as far as the price... my fuji was stupid cheap! also, that 2010 sst is supposed to be quite a bit stiffer than the 09, and personally i think it looks cooler too with the arched top tube. next years bike for me will be the Fuji sl-1 with red. I don't have any complaints about my bike, even if the Pinarello guys looks down on me for riding a Fuji.

kissTheApex

Well at $999+tax, my Fuji Team was at "bikesdirect" territory of pricing and I'm liking it so far (though I have nothing to compare it to in all honesty). So I wouldn't mind an SST frame.

snowman40

They sell them at sports chalet if you don't want to buy from performance.....

I don't typicaly shop sports chalet, but they are now my local dealer of super feet and I saw something aero/TT on what I think was a roof rack. They are also cheaper than performance....

Yonni22

I recently bought a Fuji SL-1 frameset off ebay. Waiting its arrival so I can transfer my parts over to see how it rides.