blipzandstripz

I commute on either a Cannondale sprung MTB or a Kuwahara fixie conversion. As an afterthought at a garage sale I bought a 12-speed Fuji Royale for a possible future fixie conversion, it was covered in dust and mud and was priced at $25.00. The saddle was ripped up and I was under the impression the seller was unaware of how easy it is to replace saddles, so I took it off his hands. I actually took it straight to a car wash it was so dirty, but after washing it was looking almost dead mint (except for the saddle), like a NOS bike almost. Rode it to work and THIS $25.00 BIKE IS THE BEST RIDING BIKE I HAVE! Straight and stable and smooth, goes forever effortlessly. It fits like a bike that has been custom-fitted.

Can anybody give me a clue or take a guess or point to a resource to see if this was a good bike in it's day, or am I just feeling the difference between riding a touring/commuting-type bike rather than racier bikes that are just plain ridiculous commuters? Even road bikes I have had didn't ride this stable and easy.

It's dark blue, 12-speed Suntour friction shifting on the downtube, DiaCompe centerpulls, Chrome Moly 441 sticker on seat tube, Nitto Olympiade bar, Fuji Royale on the downtube in white script and the old-style Fuji logo on seattube, "Fuji" machined into the cranks, no water bottle braze-ons (?) but rackmount braze-ons.

I think it is the same frame as this: https://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2005/june/BillQuinn.htm

This bike was the best find I've ever made yet, it's now my commuter, and even though it's not pretty it works like a dream. Can anybody tell me anything about this? I know it's not a classic, but it sure does go down the road sweet!

Old Yeller

Thats the first decent bike I owned after graduating from my 40 pound Schwinn Continental. I was in 8th or 9th grade at the time. That would be around 1980-81. I paid around $350.00 worth of lawn mowing money for it brand new. It was a great bike to me but it was a low mid-range model just below the S-12-S. It had straight guage cromoly tubing. It was finally replaced by a Raleigh Competition frame purchased from PedalPushers (anyone remember them?) that I built up with Suntour Cyclone MKII derailleurs, Sugino Aero Mity crank, Superbe pedals, SR handlebars/stem, Gran Compe brakes, Ambrosio Montreal / Campy wheels, Concor Supperleggra saddle. Sorry about that. Brought back great memories. That Raleigh was a huge upgrade over the Fuji but I still wish I had the Fuji back for one more ride.
Post some pics if you could.
Current project is a '89 Pinarello Montello with full campy nuovo and super record.

USAZorro

PedalPushers in Harrisburg, PA?

SteveE

pretty much the same deal here. I upgraded from a heavy AMF 10-speed to a Fuji Royale before moving to a Reynolds 531 steel Trek.

ItchyZipper

I got one just like that at a garage sale last week...for $1! Dusty, flat tires, but in great shape overall. I'm converting it to SS. My first good bike, after a varsity, was a Fuji Finest, much better than this bike, but the same dark blue and the same enamaled headbadge. Can't wait to get it on the road. Memories...

halfbiked

Nice finds! I bought mine last year. It was a refurbished unit I picked up for $125. Mine has bar-end shifters, which I assume were retrofitted (i.e. not factory). Its been a great bike for me, but I don't know anything else about the model.