78 Fuji S10S Ltd - Value and Build info?
 

I picked up this Fuji S10S Ltd for $25 at a local salvage yard. It came without derailleurs, rear brake caliper, brake levers, or shift levers. Tires and chain were shot, but the frameset was in very good condition with the chrome stays and fork tips virtually rust-free, the only rust on them came off with WD-40 and my fingernail. The graphics and decals were in good shape, only a few scratches.

It's a 57cm seat tube, 57cm top tube, double-butted 331 chromoly frame. It has Suntour dropouts, Fuji stem, SR fluted seat-post, no-name bars and front brake caliper, Avocet triple chainring 30/45/49, Avocet hubs with Super Champion Made-in-France branded rims, SS spokes, 12-speed (18 with triple added).

I've looked at a number of these style bikes with the chrome stays and fork-tips, but virtually all of them had unrestorable chrome, so I'm wondering if this frameset has enough value to be worth putting a nice component group on it, and/or what's the frame value worth if I decide to sell it? I've seen prices all over the board for original component bikes. It appears that the S10S Ltd was only made in '78, so is it uniquely valuable or just a we-tried-it-then-gave-up-on-it loser?

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After 1978, the 12 speed drivetrain was introduced so it became an S12S. Looks nice with nice rims, although I haven't seen to many left sided rear cog clusters. The triple crankset is not standard either.

I'd check ebay out for the pricing on the French parts, they are worth some coin.

If it were mostly Japanese OEM components and with a fresh overhaul, the bike could bring $225-$250 in most urban/collegetown markets. YMMV.

Frame and fork with headset, and handlebars/stem probably $50-$75 alone.

Thanks, that was a riot. Maybe after I wake up tomorrow morning I'll swap the chainring to the other side so it'll work (since I'm left-footed)! That's the way I picked it up, hadn't looked at it much..... apparently....

I'm already in the process of swapping out the component group from my 54cm Nishiki, to see if this 57cm size Fuji is a better fit for me. Thanks for the info. Good eye there, oddjob2

Finished up the buildout, using parts from my Nishiki to see how it looks, DiaCompe and Shimano stuff. Not too bad. I might put it on C/L if I don't like how it rides later today. Yeah, framesets almost never sell, here, unless they're fairly high-end stuff. Thanks for the input. As I've built it, what do you think it's worth now?

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$240-$250

Hello jj , very nice job on the build ! Just a small detail I noticed , you may want to move your shifters up closer to the head tube (if you have not cut the inners yet) , should be about 4.5" down from the center of the head tube . Good luck if you decide to sell.

Thanks.

Thanks. Yeah, good suggestion on the shifters. This bike originally had barcons, so it doesn't have the stop for the clamp-on shifters. They probably slipped when I was adjusting the derailleurs. I'm heading off to give it a shake-down ride before I decide whether to keep it or sell it. Not bad for a $75 frameset and some swapped-out parts from a cheap Nishiki I'd built-up a couple weeks ago, huh? Took about 4 hours for the rebuild. I'm loving this building stuff.

The frame on this Fuji never had a braze-on stop on the downtubes, since it was originally equipped with barcons. The rims are steel. I may decide to put another set of wheels on it, since when I got it, it had 700c alloy French Super Champion rims on it with Avocet hubs, which would match with the Avocet chainring component group. After putting the 27's on it, I noticed how close the tires are to the frame, and then research of other S10S Ltd owners showed that some of these models came with 700c wheels in spite of the Fuji catalog advertising which said it was only equipped with 27's. The Dia-Compe brake calipers I put on it are adjustable for either wheelset, so swapping them out is no problem. The stuff you find out....

I put the 700c's back on, they fit much better, must have been original to the bike, Super Champion rims with SS spokes and Avocet sealed-bearing hubs. The hubs will need a little polishing. I did reset the shifters on the down-tube to their rightful position, thanks for catching that. Then, I noticed I hadn't put the Fuji-branded stem on when I swapped the bars off the Nishiki, so there was re-taping of the bars, readjusting the brakes, resetting the hoods on top of the tape, readjusting the derailleurs. Much, much better. Took it for a spin, and there must be something after all to this "fit" thing, because it fit me better than any bike I've had, rode like a dream, the response and road feel was phenomenal. I'll probably keep this one and sell my Nishiki. Thanks for the input, otherwise I'd have put the wheels on the '89 Schwinn Traveler I'm selling which was short of one wheel. Here's the final version, whatever final is.

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The white blur by the rear derailleur is Billy, or "Sir William" as he likes to be called, who was busy trying to wheedle on my tire while I was busy trying to focus on the rear hub. He's blurry because he'd just been yelled at and he doesn't like loud noises. He had to pop up again when I was taking the front-end shot. Does he look guilty to you(?), because my tire got wet when I was looking away.

Welcome to the Fuji-side! It is a nice ride, isn't it? Your bike's stock specs can be found here http://www.classicfuji.com/1978_16_S...ions1_Page.htm But then again, I've changed my bike's components several times over the past 38 years so I'm certainly no purist and don't condemn anyone for equipping the bike the way you want it. The only original parts on mine are the frameset, bars and stem, and saddle. My '75 S-10S that I bought new has been my primary ride for many, many enjoyable miles.

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/u...rcj/Strobe.jpg

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Yeah, cross chaining is a drag.

I'd visited the ClassicFuji site a couple days ago, and about the only components on mine which were original were the SR seatpost and the Fuji-branded stem. Possibly the wheelsets were original, since a number of owners have reported buying S10S Ltd's with 700c wheelsets, instead of the catalog's listing of 27 x 1-1/4's. My frameset came with 700c's on it, Avocet hubs and alloy Super Champion rims which fit the time-frame when the bike was built, plus, the frameset doesn't fit with 27's, too little gap and the rear brake caliper couldn't adjust to seat fully on the rim. The 700c's solved that problem perfectly. I did have on-hand a set of Dia-Compe 500g calipers which were the OEM spec ones, so I added on Dia-Compe drilled levers to match the calipers, instead of going to the expense of barcons and all that. The Avocet hubs go along with the Avocet chainring and cranks. I had a set of Shimano Altus derailleurs and clamp-on levers, so they're a matched set, though I'm not all that fond of their quality, I might replace those, but that's about as far as I want to go with OE replacements.

Mostly, I was surprised at the ride. It's the largest frame I've ridden since I sold my 32 pound Raleigh tourer, but this one fit me like a glove, 57cm square. The ride was like riding in an old Cadillac when they were new. Cushy. A good resilient steel frame, something I'd not found yet. Maybe the fit to my size made the difference, but it was like riding the bike instead of attempting to make the bike go. Hard to describe, just comfortable. I'll do about 15 miles tomorrow on it and see if I feel the same about it, but for now I'll keep this one.

Your bike's a beauty. I've never used barcons, and almost never ride on the drops, so I doubt they'd be of any benefit to me, but how are they compared to down-tube shifters? Is that a Fujita seat? I've heard good reviews on them. I'll give you 50 bucks for your bike right now! :) Beautiful build.

My bike is hardly a beauty - it definitely shows the 45,000+ miles on it! I bought it as a scratched floor model in fall of '76 with a large horizontal scratch on the top tube (can be seen by garage door handle in pic) so nobody wanted it. I had the shop change a few things around (I had worked there as an assembler so they were good to me), and I got it for $200 out the door.

Yes, that is the original Fujita Belt saddle, but it has about had it. Starting to get dry/cracked/weathered/scuffed. Once the saddle and I came to our mutual understanding - it took about a thousand miles - things were great. As for the barcons - I was not a fan of downtube shifters, so putting them where I could keep my hands on the bars is a good thing. I had tried my college roommate's Viscount Aerospace Pro that was so equipped and was sold. At the time, I think the SunTour barcon set was $9.95 from Bike Warehouse (later became Nashbar, and since sold off to Performance)

As for worth, I wouldn't trade or sell this old bike for under a grand. Yeah, that is pure emotion talking. We've been through too much to put a price on. It will be the last of my bikes that I ever get rid of!