"Professional (Unicorn, if you will. I've seen 2 or 3 online, never in person)"

Old thread, new member. I've used this forum as a guest for some time now, it's about time I joined up!

So for the record (no, not Campy) I'm a vintage Fuji fan. My workhorse ride was a '76 America. Great bike. Gran Compe centerpulls, bar end shifters, excellent touring frame. I miss it dearly and someday would love to replace it.

My current workhorse ride is a 2013 Spot Ajax with NuVinci hub/Gates belt drive, Schmidt SON 28/Luxos U, Sykes wood fenders, Avid BB7, Nitto drop bars, and other bling. Yes it's heavy but it's a fabulous city bike.

My special occasion ride is I guess one of your unicorns, a 1977 Fuji Professional fitted with the original Superbe group, Crystem, Criep Rider fluted/painted seat post. I bought it this same month 37 years ago. All original down to the paint. Anyone know how rare this bike is and how much it's worth? I'll post a few photos soon.

Don't get me wrong, I've also joyfully ridden my share of beater bikes. Those are the ones you don't have to worry about in the city. Beater bikes give you a lot of freedom, don't they?

Anyway, greetings!

yep, photos are required in the Fuji lovers world! Welcome to the group.

Scott

I love my Fuji... and I also like the quality of most the Japanize made bicycles.

But your wife is correct. You are not... and can not be.. the curator of the worlds old bicycles. Seeing the overlooked value in these old bicycles can be a powerful attraction for a bicycle aficionado. It can even seem... to lead to hoarding.

I found it is best to determine how many bicycles and how much paraphernalia is appropriate for me (and my WIFE) to have in our lives... then limit my collect to that.

Do you remember how much you spent on it originally when it was new? (Mine is a couple years older, but I presume it would be in the same ballpark.)

My son came home with a 1977 Fuji Gran Tourer that was going in to the dumpster at the bike shop where he works. I put a few bucks and a few hours into it. I know it's a low end model. but it does ride nice.

I have the original receipt in a box somewhere, I'll fish it out after work. It was around $750 in 1977 money. The No. 7 Fuji catalog accurately lists the components it was fitted with except for the seat post. The quality of the lugs and the original Superbe group (everything, even the dropouts) just can't be expressed in words. I went to the bike shop for a replacement tire and came out with a clincher tire and a Fuji Pro. No regrets. I kept it rolling on tubulars until I had one too many city flats, then switched to clinchers. Now I'm wanting to get back to where I once belonged and so I just located (on ebay) a pair of NOS Ukai tubular rims! Now that's exciting. I'm at work so no photos yet but they'll be coming soon. Thanks for the warm welcome. Y'all doing Bike To Work day tomorrow? I just may ride the Pro in tomorrow...

So being a newbie, where's the best place/thread on this forum to post photos of a vintage Fuji Pro?

That'd be cool to see!!

Mine is still very much a work in progress, from a C&V standpoint. I will have had it operational for a week as of tomorrow. It was a *very* lucky Craigslist find, a former fixie that I bought as a frameset. I pretty put it together with various bits that I had on hand, and cannibalized a fair bit off of my 1982 Team Fuji (which was significantly modified when I got it), just so that I could get it on the road. There was no way that I could sit staring at one of my grail bikes as a naked frame for months on end, waiting for the appropriate bits to come my way.

Since I've already got a head start in that direction, it's going to end up as a mostly Nuovo Record bike.



I will be biking to work tomorrow, but just as part of my normal routine. All of the official Bike to Work Day stuff around my area happened last week (the 8th), for whatever reason.

This thread seems to be the meta thread on all things Fuji.

I always welcome submissions of photographs for my Fuji blog .. especially if they're good quality shots .. hi res, good composition, etc. And I love the history to post as well.

Vintage Fuji Archive

Let me know and I'll pm you my email address.

Scott

Back at work, very busy week. So I'll write a short story, take some photos and post it all here this weekend. Serial number 77050035. So am I correct to say that my bike was built in May 1977 and was #35 for that month? Are there production figures by year and model published anywhere by Fuji?

Scott, I can't PM you until I have 50 posts. I'm 10% there! If there is another route let me know.

I was first introduced to Fuji bicycles at age 22 by my roommate Al after he purchased a S10-S (a real 10 speed) in the Spring of 1976. That bike was light years ahead of my old coaster brake Schwinn. In short order I was in the same bike shop looking at some real bicycles! Raleigh and Fuji were the two top brands on display. But comparing Fuji to Raleigh (at similar price points), Fuji was clearly of superior quality if not superior English translation! So Fuji it would be. I entered the store with the S10-S in mind. It was priced around $240 and I almost bit but then I noticed the America on display. It had bar-end shifters, upgraded components and the frame looked even nicer, for about $70 more money. The store didn’t have anything in my size (at 6’2” the 23 inch bike seemed a tad small). The next size up was to 25”, a big jump and untested. I took a chance and ordered a 25” America. In short order I was a Fuji bike owner.

I owned that big America for 26 years and rode it countless miles. It was easy to maintain, responsive yet forgiving on bumps and off road. When freewheels moved from 5 gears to 6 and 7, and chainwheels moved from 2 to 3, I found the whole thing rather silly. More money, more weight, more work for the rider and for the derailleurs, and lots of overlapping gear ratios going from 10 to 21 speeds. So I remained a purist and kept it a 10 speed throughout its life (42/52 front, 14/24 rear). In 1980 I bought an Amtrak 30 day rail pass and took boxed my America for a trip together. The highlight of the trip was a tour of Central California (Fresno to Morro Bay, then up Hwy 1 to San Francisco (all with no helmet!). The train took me quickly to each touring destination: from California to Portland, then Seattle, Minneapolis, and Washington DC. I believe you can still do this today and I highly recommend it! My America died while in storage in Florida – it rusted badly, too much for restoration. I stripped off the few parts that were salvageable.

In 1977 I went back to that Fuji bike store, needing a tire. There on center display was a 24” Fuji Professional, priced at around $750. The sight of that bicycle just blew me away. The store owner said it was specially built and displayed at bike shows around the country. I don’t know if that was true or not but this machine was drop-dead gorgeous with gleaming Superbe components everywhere, leather covering the handlebars, a wild stem called a Crystem, a black suede saddle, a fluted and tricolor painted seat pillar, and get this – sew-up tires! And the frame – my God, the craftsmanship, the silver mink paint! And It was soooo light (for its day) at 21 pounds in this larger frame size. I bought it on sight.

That same evening, on my very first ride on this new Fuji Pro, I crashed it! My buddy and I were on a familiar road. We had to cross a railroad track. The track was at a 45 degree angle to the road. You know the rest of the story don’t you? The sew-ups were so much narrower than the America’s tires. I didn’t take any special care at the crossing. The front tire slid into the gap between the rail and the road, and in the blink of an eye I was on my back with the Pro suspended above me, my hands still on the drop bars and my feet still strapped into the toe clips! I felt sore but there wasn’t a scratch on the bike and amazingly, the front wheel still spun true! So we continued on our night ride.
About a month later I was waxing the Pro frame and felt a slight bump on the top tube near the head tube. Working my way down I found a similar bump on the down tube, again near the head tube. So my flip-fall had indeed damaged the frame slightly. It felt like taking scissors to a museum painting.

It took some time to fully evaluate and understand the consequence of that fateful meeting with the railroad crossing. The bike still tracked true and the frame showed no sign of weakness. But when I changed the headset bearings I discovered that the upper and lower races were slightly out of alignment. I had to leave the fork slightly loose or it would bind when turned. Not a big deal. Over the years the paint lifted off the wrinkled areas of the frame. At first the only thing I did was make sure the exposed area was well waxed. But over the years some rust appeared (after moving to Florida). I lightly sanded and hand painted the exposed areas using a Rustoleum primer and Testor enamel top coat. The paint match was terrible but at least the frame was sealed.

I’ve stripped my Pro down to the painted frame, dismantling and cleaning and waxing and greasing and lubing everything single piece perhaps 6 times in my 37 years of ownership. You don’t really know what you have (from an engineering standpoint) until you disassemble and reassemble everything. Only then do you learn everything about your bike, all its dirty little secrets, all the shortcuts, all the warts. Well folks, this 1977 Fuji Pro of mine just doesn’t have any warts. The Superbe components are wonderfully made and expertly matched to the frame. I’m not exaggerating here – it’s like working on a Swiss watch.

So I have a (loaded) question for all you Fuji aficionados out there. What is the one part of a bike that your eyes first zoom in on? For me it’s the front fork. That’s where (for a steel frame anyway) you will immediately see how much care went into the engineering of that bicycle. That’s where you find out if the bike was mass produced or hand crafted. And from a functional standpoint the front fork is the most important part of a bike. Road feel, responsiveness, shock absorption, tracking all are a direct result of the front fork’s design. Of course frame stiffness and frame angles also play a role but I’m hoping you get my general drift here. All that said and admitting to a biased opinion, I contend that no other bike, not even a different year Fuji Pro bike has a front fork as beautifully crafted as the front fork of my 1977 Pro. Its shape is just so sensual. It is perfection.

My ’77 Pro is large at 24” and has very aggressive 74x75 frame angles. So how does it ride? It’s very firm yet just forgiving enough to keep you from bone and joint damage! It’s frighteningly responsive. The rear triangle is very strong and stiff, so very little energy is lost pedaling this bike. I’ve done a lot of riding on flat roads in Ohio and lower Michigan, and on the Pro I was nearly always cranking at 108 gear inches and often wishing I had just a little more! So back in the day I purchased a couple of 54 tooth Sugino chainwheels and a 5 speed Shimano 600 13-18 freewheel. I have to say that riding this Fuji Pro down on the bars on a flat, smooth and quiet country road with a light tailwind, cranking at 112 gear inches, is just about as good as it gets.

I gave up the Ukai tubular rims in favor of clinchers after 3 years and a series of flat tires riding the streets of Toledo, Ohio. But now that I’m recognizing that this Fuji bike of mine is indeed a rare bird, I’m interested in bringing it back to its original appearance and function. That’s not a big project because I have all the original parts except for the freewheel, the gum rubber brake hoods and gum hoods for the levers (brake cable release, skewers, shift levers), the frame pump, the leather h-bar cover, the cable housing, the chain (naturally) and perhaps the skewers (I have to dig through my parts box). I still have the original saddle, nice looking but with a cracked frame. I even have the original white Fuji water bottle (a bit dirty inside from carrying tools in there). I just need to rebuild the tubular wheels and get some tubular tires. That’s all!

This bike was stolen in 1979 while parked at the University of Toledo. I thought it was long gone. But the police called me a day later reporting it found near the art museum leaning against a tree. One of the tubular tires was flat and the saddle had a minor tear. But nothing else was missing or broken.

My story told, here is a link to a few cell phone photos of my '77 Fuji Pro, taken today. More photos will come with better lighting and a better camera.
https://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...77FujiPro1.jpg
https://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...516_200752.jpg
https://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...516_200706.jpg
https://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...516_195414.jpg

Quote from my story above: "...and a 5 speed Shimano 600 13-18 freewheel"

Uh-oh, that photo shows 6 cogs. Pants on fire. But I still recall that my '76 America was a true 10 speed! Scott, am I right about this?
Also a price update. I bought this '77 Pro new (as a demo with the show bike story) for $710 plus tax. The salesman penciled in prices for some other 1977 model Fuji bikes on my No. 7 Fuji catalog:
Newest: $499
Finest: $430
America: $349

I'm a bit confused as to the format of the serial numbers on these... There is a thread on this forum from years ago that discusses Fuji serial numbers, as well as an external website that discusses it as well. Fuji used a number of different serial number formats over the years. According to the general consensus, the format for a normal Fuji from the era that our bikes come from would break down as YYXZZZZZ where: YY = two numbers indicating the year of production, X = a letter, indicating the calendar month of manufacturer (A = January, B = February, C = March, etc), ZZZZZ = a five digit number sequence, probably indicating frame number during month

Example: 77B14425 indicates the 14425th frame manufactured during February 1977.

That breaks down in your case, since you don't even have letter in your serial number at all. Even if that zero is actually an O, it still doesn't work unless you have a fifteen month calendar. Mine comes a bit closer, since mine is 75F50001, suggesting a June 1975 build.

According to the Classicfuji link, the last few digits would indicate the number of the frame of that specific model that was manufactured in that given month. That again doesn't really jive. According to that interpretation, they would have made over 50,000 Professionals per month, which seems highly unlikely. They do make reference to a special format being used certain hand-built high-end frames in the 1980's, and I'm wondering if something similar is going on here. I've shot out a couple of emails to some of the other 1970's Fuji Pro owners that I've come across on the interwebs, and I'm going to try and see if I can try to expand the sample set a tad.

Did yours have the rainbow stripes on the seat tube originally?

I bought this one from the original owner which he used for touring the Colorado mountains I paid $150 for it last year

Yes, I took them off as well as the bike store decal, soon after purchase. I didn't like the look then.
More tidbits for the record keepers:
My America was purchased 4/6/1976, S/N #75E50280
My Professional has the correct S/N #77C50035 . I misread the C as "0". That probably helps a lot!

Retail prices for the America:
1976: $320
1977: $350
1978: $430

The US retail price for a 1978 Professional was $800.

This is turning into a pretty interesting thread .. all the prices I've seen correspond with the suggested retail price sheet I have for 1977. Toeclipper, if you ever want to replace those rainbow decals, VeloCals has them available under their Fuji section. And yes, if possible, go back to the Ukai tubular rims, tires have come along way in 30 years! I pm'd you my email address ..

Scott

wow OTG, that looks mint! Love the color!

Scott

That definitely fits with the pattern better: yours would be March 1977 then. The question now in my mind is whether the first five indicates something other than 50000. I can't help but think that it makes a lot more sense that yours would be the 35th Professional made in March 1977, and mine was the first made in June 1975, versus the 50035th and 50001st of the month.

Thanks Scott, the only thing I had to replace was the rear derailleur and the pedals, everything else is stock. I have it listed on Craigslist, anything I get for it will go to my son towards his Madone build. He got a nice deal on a frame from the shop where he works and is putting it together a bit at a time.
Dave

OTG, the original owner took wonderful care of this Espree. How old is it?

Please be advised that I can read but can't respond to PM's at this time, not until I have over 50 posts. You can PM your email address if you wish to have a conversation.

As near as I can tell it's a 1977, the bike shop was going to throw it away. It had no tires, a broken chain and a seized rear derailleur when I got it.

Hello mike how are you. How much you pay for that bike. In wich state do you live. In thrift stores in your area do you see bicycles? I live in Atlanta Ga i go in thrift stores very often most of the times i not see any bicycles. Few times only and prices is high plus that bikes need repairs