the_ill_postino

Hi all,

I admit I've just had a chance to skim the thread thus far, so sorry if this duplicates any info or fails to include any requested data, but I thought I'd share a few pics and some info about my Fuji America.

(Thanks to Scott R. for the Bicycling Magazine article below [Scott is a Bike Forum Classic and Vintage reader that can't post from his work -- he has an impressive Fuji collection so hopefully he'll get that worked out and can chime in].)


The serial number on my America is FJ014***, so looks like a 1980 which matches up with catalog info.







Article and info:

the_ill_postino

ps - I also have what seems to be a 1983 Fuji Del Rey, though I've turned that one into a fixed gear so there are mostly non-original parts on there (the America, on the other hand, I'm trying to get closer to catalog specs). Serial is FF300***

reverborama

Woo Hoo! Found a complete 1976 Fuji catalog on-line!
The scans are all in the 2 meg range with great detail.

https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog...-76/Page01.JPG
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog.../Page02-03.JPG
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog.../Page04-05.JPG
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog.../Page06-07.JPG
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog.../Page08-09.JPG
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog.../Page10-11.JPG
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog.../Page12-13.JPG
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog.../Page14-15.JPG
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog...-76/Page16.JPG

T-Mar

Thxs! I've added the info to the summary in post#1. Once I figure out how to post a matrix, I have one logging about 100 combinations of known models and years. It covers 1972-1990 inclusive.

Pompiere

I just purchased a CLUB FUJI for $20 at a yard sale. According to the Shimano info at Vintage Trek, it is from 1988. However, the serial F3126514 doesn't follow your previous format. It has all Shimano components, Sport LX seven speed SIS for the drive train and Exage Sport brakes. Wobler wheels with 700x23 Continental tires that look original. Seat post and stem are SR. The bike looks like it wasn't ridden very much before being stored in a damp location. My wife has the camera, so I can't post a picture yet.
edit: I forgot to mention that it has Ishiwata Triple Butted Si35 tubing.

T-Mar

Actually, this does not match the serial number format. The format for 1980-1986 consists of two letters followed by 5 numbers. You are missing the 2nd letter (month indicator) and have 2 extra numbers. Yours is the 1st post 1986 serial number that has been submitted, so there is the remote possibibility that the format may have changed again. Could you please doublecheck the serial number? Thxs.

The fact that the tubing label states Ishiwata does place it very late 1980s, but I do have the 1988 specs and while they state Si325 tubing, the components are SunTour Ole, derailleurs, Sugino crankset and Dia-Compe- BRS200. If the components are 1988, the bicycle itself may be a 1989 model.

Pompiere

I cleaned off the bottom bracket and rechecked the number under a strong light. It is definitely F3126514. All the Shimano components have an M with a number. The SR stem has 88 date code as well. It also has Wobler GTA 2 Gentleman rims. The front half of the frame is red, the rear is white, the fork is white. Thanks for your all your help and for compiling all this data.

singingbone

I picked up a large (65cm) Fuji Touring Series IV frame on ebay, and I'm having it built up by Harris Cyclery in Newton MA.

What year(s) was that bike made?
Where does it fit in the Fuji line-up?

I'm hoping to pick the bike up this weekend and get some riding in before it snows!!

Thanks -

roccobike

Following Pompiere's posting, I think this would be a good time for me to post a Fuji from my recent past. This is a 1993 Fuji Club that I picked up at a yard sale for cheap. The guy sold it for pocket change because the derailer cables were broken (rusted out) and one spoke in the rear wheel became loose. After repairs, this became the first road bike that I took for some serious road riding. Alas it was one or two sizes too large and the pains in my neck and back dictated that I find something smaller. While selling (flipping) a mountain bike, one of the prospective buyers said he was really a roadie and wanted a road bike for his visits to relatives in North Carolina, but couldn't find a nice one at a reasonable price. His current road bike was a newer aluminum bike with a carbon fork. I let him ride the old steel Fuji once and he begged me to sell it to him. You had to see this guys face, I mean he WANTED this bike. (So much for old steel not being able to match a newer aluminum bike!). I really liked that bike and wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it, so I sold it to him. But I miss that bike.
Here are the details, it had Suntour SR components, 16 speed (freewheel), Yeah I know, 16 speed Suntour, I must have been crazy to sell it. The rims were really nice Araya RS-430 in great shape after I reset the loose spoke and trued the rim. The brakes were Suntour or DiaCompe with aero levers. The crank was a Sugino. The frame was double butted, Tange steel tubing (seamed).
As good fortune would have it, I wrote the serial number and filed it. It is F3043572. I saw the resemblence to Pompiere's serial number and had to post this even though the bike is not vintage and I don't own it anymore.
T-Mar, you might recall you helped me identify which model this bike is here on BF because the original owner removed the decal.
I don't miss any of the bikes I sold, except for this one, it was just a plain old honest bike that road smoother than it's mid-level price inidicated it would.

T-Mar

Thxs for posting. A 1993 would make more sense based on the serial number, even though it is a different format. Maybe Fuji change the format everey decade, or it's a subcontractor. The latter would definitely make sense for the 1990s. Not very many fames were still being produced on Japan at that time.

Still, we have the component issue. Pompiere's do appear to be late 1980s, even though we have only one date code. Of course, they may have been replacced. And then too, his uses Ishiwata while yours has Tange. Hopefully, the pics well allow Pompiere to establish a visual match for the frame.

Pompiere

Did they ever sell the Club Fuji as a bare frame? Maybe it is a 1993 frame with older compnents? Or possibly a replacement frame? The paint scheme is the same as the Roubaix in catalog #20, except in Bright Red and White. The striped decals look the same, too. The pedals are the same as roccobike's. The condition of the paint around the component mounting points doesn't look like it has had the components changed.

edit: I finally got the seatpost out tonight, the date is 88. The stem and bars are also 88.

beaverstuff

Hi,
My Fuji Sagres are depicted via my signature, below. There is a link to the technical detail. In both cases, the wheels are not original.
The black Fuji was acquired as a frameset, S/N KA404725, and has Ishiwata tubing (VALite).
The slate Fuji (gray) was acquired whole, S/N KD513075, and has Ishiwata tubing. The wheels, crank and shifter for this bike are not original. The rest is original.
My thanks to the originator of this thread for breaking down the code and making it available to others.
Q: Does anyone have info on when Ishiwata went out of business? I found a date, 1992, but when trying to veryify the source, could not relocate the webpage - dam (beaver speak).

Marylandnewbie

T-Mar -- I finally had a chance to ID all the parts on my Fuji.

It is Fuji Touring Series IV from 1983 in a dark charcoal grey color with gold accents.
Here is the pic from when I first bought the bike from the original owner. At that point it still had the original 27" wheels and the foam padded Nitto handlebars. I feel pretty certain from talking with the guy that it was still original in all its parts except tires.

And listed out piece by piece:
-- Frame: "Fuji Chrome Molybednum Quad butted Steel Tubing 9651" according to the seat tube sticker. The chainstay has a VALite decal.
-- Nitto Olympiad bars
-- Tange Falcon headset
-- Fuji fork with chromed crown
-- Suntour Mountech Front Derailleur marked "ZD" so probably manufactured April 1983
-- Suntour Mountech Rear Derailleur marked "ZH" probably manufactured August 1983
-- Suntour 6-spd freewheel
-- Sugino AT cranks marked C-11 1725 probably from November 1983
-- DiaCompe centerpulls marked "10 83" on the back of the caliper
-- Sugino chain rings setup as 1/2 step plus granny configuration
-- Sugino SP-H seatpost

Serial number is: FL306###

Even though I have replaced various parts with more up-to-date items or things better suited to the way I ride, I have kept all of these museum pieces. The bike was in remarkably good shape and after a thorough cleaning looks very good. I hope all this helps with your database.

BlankCrows

Re the Fuji Royale I mentioned in post #15 (Ser. No. FD014069), it has a Fuji pantographed Sugino crank with a J-4 code on it. Per vintage-trek.com it looks like Code 5 for Sugino. So approximately the bike is from about 1980. It also has a Suntour Fuji-Vx RD on it, but I couldn't locate the date code as it was very dirty and I was standing on a pile of busted up bikes to gain access to it. There are still brakes on it but I couldn't reach them.

ZipMsp

Fuji Gran Tourer (NOT SE), serial 78B13407, date unknown. Ideas?

dtipton

Fuji Finest
Serial Number K7F00386
I'm the second owner.
The original owner said her father purchased it for her in 1973 when she was a freshman in college.

Many of the orginal parts had been replaced when I got it (ie. Schwinn approved Brake levers).
She did not know what was orginal and what was not.

It had a Crane GS long cage RD, Sugino 52-44 double, and Dura Ace brake calipers when I found it.

T-Mar

THe frame was built in June 1972, so it should be a 1972 model. It's possible that the bicycle hung around in the LBS for 6 months.

The original rear derailleur would have been a SunTour V. The brakes would have been Dia-Compe center-pull. Neither should be too hard to find or very expensive, should you decide to restore it. However, the freewheel also appears to have been replace to obtain much lower gears and should you decide to keep them, a V will not work, though a log cage VGT would and will be closer to original. The wheels and pedals also appear to be repalcements. Thxs for posting.

T-Mar

This is a new serial number foramat that has popped up in a few data sets. I don't have much component date code data to correlate, but my guess based the components and serial number would be 1978. Would you mind checking out the comopnent date codes using the info on https://www.vintage-trek.com/component_dates.htm ? It would be a big help. Thxs.

dtipton

Thanks for the info.

The original pedals were in very bad shape (end caps and toe clips gone).

The rims that were on it were a mismatched pair and did not have a lip so I had trouble getting more than 70-75 psi in the tires without them popping off.

dtipton

Can you tell me where the Finest fell in the Fuji lineup in 1972?

T-Mar

I don't have any Fuji literature for 1972, but in 1973 the Finest was 2nd in line to the Newest. I suspect it was the same in 1972. Mind you there were only 3 models in the line at that time, four if you count the S10-S being available in a ladies' version. FYI, in 1973 the Finest sold for $165 US, so it was probably slightly less in 1972.

tradtimbo

I got a 1982 Team Fuji. ser: KB204132. It was rusted a bit when I got it, and the components didn't work. I stripped it, painted it, and made it a fixie commuter. It has a Cro-MO frame. I threw out most of the componets, so I cant give you much info on those....sorry!! I love my Fuji!!

Eric Hanus

i need to go downstairs and get the serial number off my Del Rey. I found this thread because im looking for information of what size my bottom bracket is. looks like the post on this page with the other Del Rey is running the same crank set i want to put on.

sdogg

[QUOTE=T-Mar;5251930]
To this end, it would be appreciated if Fuji owners would submit posts with pics and specs of their Fuji. A full, drive side view is the preferred pic. Requested info is model, year (if known), frame material and make, model and date codes of major components. For component date code format, location and decypher, refer to https://www.vintage-trek.com/component_dates.htm .

I was in search of information on my wife's bike we hope to sell and found your thread. I've looked up all the information I could useing the links you have provided. Here is the data:

Make: Fuji
Model: 450SE
Serial: FC708529 (March 1987 frame #8,529)
Frame: 18" VALite, blue
Wheels: 24"/27"
Major Components:
Dia-Compe brakes - calipers seem to have two different date codes. The front has the clock type with "87" in the middle no tick mark and the back has a circle with the letter "M" and the number "0187" below it (1987). The lever arms have the code "0884" (1984) and the lever bodies have "0786" (1986).
Sugino crank - The date markings for these are of the indicernable type. There are many marking and numbers but there is also the circle with "724" inside. Vintage-trek.com will love it when I send them pictures.
SunTour derailers - Both Front and Back reads "DB" (1987, Feb)

I hope this information helps you. Hopefully Goodgracious can get back to you with her date codes.

Also, roughly how much do you think I could get for this bike and where would be a good place to sell it?

Thanks!

DynamicD74

T-Mar! I'm sorry I didn't see this thread until this morning! I will work on getting a pic of my Fuji Dynamic 10 next week and get it to you!