Bikedued

I just bought this at my local flea market for $50. How bad did I do? It's a Club Fuji, which I guess is a club racer type bike? The gear cluster in back doesn't go much larger than a 23-24. Tubing is valite quad butted, components have been changed here and there, but I imagine the ARX Suntour FD may be original. Has Cinelli stem and bars which is a big plus. The bars are actually very wide, which is perfect for my shoulder width. Where did this bike rank, and what was the intended purpose for the model?,,,,BD

roccobike

Bikedued, I'm guessing that's about a 85-87 vintage Fuji, purely a guess. I'll share what I know based on a couple of bikes I have. My 84 Fuji Espree still used the Valite logo and had a quad butted frame, downtube braze-on shifters with 27" alloy rims. My 86 Team, also claims to have a quad butted frame, but it simply claims to have a Chro-moly frame, no Valite badge.
Based on that and if those aero brakes are original, I'm guessing you have a 1985 Fuji. Where was the club in those early line-ups, I'm not sure.
BTW, I had a 93 Fuji Club, really nice ride. Too bad the frame was too big.

Bikedued

This one has Ukai 700c rims with Sunshine hubs. The patina looks original, but they could have been changed. It's usually the first thing done anyway. It also has the thickest forged rear drops I've come across. The bike is not super light, about average to a little heavier than it would seem. All speculation of course, I still have no scale.,,,,BD

roccobike

As I recall the Espree wieghed in at around 24lbs, maybe a little more. The 1986 Team is a light bike for that era. Mine weighs in at around 20.5 to 21 lbs. with clipless pedals.
BTW your valite decal on the seat tube looks like the chro-moly decal on my 86, not at all like the quad butted valite decal on my 84. The top tube decal looks the same as the one on my 84.

roccobike

I Found The Picture Of The 84 Seat Tube!

roccobike

Bikedued, for comparison here are a couple of pictures of two 84 Esprees and one of the 86 Team. Hope this helps.

Bikedued

The top tube of mine says Fuji VALITE Tubing, the seat tube decal looks sort of like a cadillac symbol, and says Fuji valite quad butted steel tubing, 1769. Thanks for the pictures! It just helped me figure out that the seat tube decal was in fact a wrap sticker bordered in rainbow stripes. The background where the fuji lettering is, is a wrap made in the exact same shade as the paint. The calipers are Dia Compe 400's, and numbering on the back is "1283" So my guess would be that it's an 84?

Bikedued

A little more research revealed a Shimano 600 (MF-6208) freewheel. I haven't looked closely enough to find out which yet . That was changed too I imagine. It's a 6 speed close ratio. IE; not a standard 14-28. It looks pretty cool. I believe the teeth are UG, pretty deep and square tipped yet twisted gears.,,,,BD

(EDIT) Internet research says it's a 6 speed 13/23. That's about all you need in this area anyway. The only hills are freeway overpasses, hehe.

roccobike

I think you did real well for $50. I would have paid that, no problem.

Grand Bois

My wife's '82 Espree:



The sticker says it's triple butted Valite. I paid $16.50 for the frame and fork.

Bikedued

That is a slick enough bike that even I want to ride it. Excellent and tasteful build!,,,,BD

USAZorro

Check the crankset for date codes (ref www.vintage-trek.com)

Bikedued

The code is cast in...4 GO... After reading this note, I think dating the crank is hopeless. There are no other stampings other than Sugino, and 170.,,,,BD

Code 3 - A third set of codes (or no date code at all) was used on at least some GT and VX cranks. There is a round mold mark with three numbers in it. There also may be a cast-in code of a number and perhaps two letters. We don't have enough data on these codes to understand what they mean.

T-Mar

Most likely, the ARx front derailleur is original. Anything 1987 or later would have been AccuShift and had no need to switch to SIS. Also, I know it's not a 1986. That would leave 1982-1985 as possible dates.

The Club was intended as a club racer. However, the geomtery was a comprise between race and sports/touring. It was what would come to be called triathlon geometry. I suspect the OP switched out the original freewheel for one of the same size, as 24T would have been very close to the original.

roccobike

Bikedued, I'm curious, what is the date code on the front derailer?

JRrestore

Bikedued, how about some pictures of the decals, thanks JR (JRrestore)

Bikedued

I apologize for not answering sooner. I didn't get the email notifications!! It seems to happen quite a bit with this site(to me anyway?) I will take some decal pics tomorrow if I can get around to it. Again, sorry for the horrible delay.,,,,BD