tarman

My father has a mid-70's Fuji road bike that I'm going to get from him. All I know is that it was top of the line when he got it, it has shimano components, and it's green. I may be able to get a deal on some shimano 105/ ultegra components from some friends at school. My question is will they fit? Are all components a standard size? Even if they do fit, is it worth it to upgrade? Thanks guys.

nebill

Personally, if it is a top of the line bike, yeah, I'd fix it up! And yes, most components should fit. Things like the bottom bracket will screw right in, and the brakes would fit. I think those bikes used a clamp on front der, so you would have to be sure that you have the right size of clamp. My first road bike was a '79 Roubaix, and it was a super little bike. It's still in use by my son. The bikes built by them in the '70's were all built in Japan, and were a good quality piece of equipment. Should be a fun project, and with a little work, would end up being a fine rider!

Walter

You will have trouble with the Shimano 8/9 speed rear wheel fitting as it's 130mm and your bike is somewhere between 120-126mm. Steel frames can be spread though.

Normally, I'd advise against a complete modernization of an older bike but if the bike is free and the components are cheap and you're willing to deal with the inevitable hassles, why not?

Btw one way around the front derailleur situation would be to leave it as a friction shifting downtube operated unit. No one less than Lance A. does that on some of his very modern racers and, from what I understand, Shimano never has gotten a real ability to trim the FD built into their STI yet.

LittleGinseng 

Greetings! I too am a proud owner of an older Fuji bicycle. It's a mid-80's Club Fuji, originally equipped with Suntour Cyclone components. Well, I completely wore out the drive train, along with the rims, seat, etc, etc. After doing some research, I discovered modern parts would fit perfectly. The only work I had to do was very carefully cold set the rear stays to accept a 130mm 9-speed hub.

The bike is now equipped with Ultegra components: brakes, derailleurs, crank, bottom bracket, and hubs. I wanted to stay with a vintage appearance, so I'm using Shimano aero brake levers(the spring-loaded ones), the downtube shifters are Dura Ace 9-speed(full index), seat post is a vintage Dura Ace EX from 1979. The front end is still original: Hatta headset, Nitto stem and bars, and original Ishiwata fork. The end result is wonderful Rides like a dream. I can post some pics if you'd like to see what is possible.

eddy m

It's pretty costly to modernize. If the original stuff works, you should leave it as it is, or , better yet, convert it to fixed.

manboy

yeah, if the older stuff works, i'd say leave it! as long as you know how to use them, i think the friction shifters work better anyway. besides, then you get the full classic appeal.

zonatandem

Had a '75 Fuji Finest plus a '75 Fuji Professional. NO Shimano, but top of the line Suntour componentry.

norsseman

My Fuji from the late 70's only has about 90 miles on it, and am keeping it as is
of course. Greatest bike I have ever riden. Suntour components are grrrreat.

Tom Pedale

I believe the FUJI Ace was one of the top of the line models.

Possible glitches with component upgrade:

First, I'd check to see if tire size is 700C, if it's 27", generally speaking forget the whole thing. This would indicate a frame in all likelihood not worthy of upgrade as in heavy and rides like a rock. If tubing decals are present on the seat tube, they should tell you something. FUJI used a lot of Ishiwata tubing that ranged from Hi-Tensile(cheap) to non-butted, butted and double-butted (good, better and best, respectively). Some of the best frames may have used Tange, although my mind becomes exceedingly cloudy when I try to remember some of these details. I do clearly recall however during this time a memorable backpacking trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a ladyfriend of mine, but that's another story.

One of the items from a modern 105 group that will most definitely not work on this frame regardless of the tire size is the brakeset. Mid-70's bikes had a longer reach (distance from the brake center bolt to the middle of the rim). If you try to hang the modern calipers on this bike, the pads will be contacting the tires. You can order a standard reach brakeset (Shimano), but it will cost you and it's something you'll never find on sale. Also, some Japanese h/bars from this era had smaller diameter, if so clamps on brake levers will be too large, resulting in loose levers.

Other problem areas involve the bottom bracket. Modern day bottom bracket axles are way shorter than the ones found on 70's bikes. If you hang the new crankset on the new axle, you may find the crankarms on one or both sides whacking the chainstays. If you elect to keep the original bottom bracket axle and hang the new crankset on it, then you better find out if the taper of the old axle is the same as the new axle. If it isn't and you install the new crankset, it will loosen up and ruin the taper of the new crank, which will make it toast.

Other possible areas of concern, some previously mentioned in other posts, include cable routing, not only for the front derailleur, but also, if using STI, the stops for these cables normally found on the down tube.

In short, before buying any parts, good price or not, examine and measure the frame carefully to ensure component compatibility before plunking down your hard earned money.

halfspeed

If it's mid-70's, wouldn't the tire size almost certainly be 27"? I have bikes from the mid '70s to the late 80's with 27" tires and they are certainly not throw-aways. Both rims and tires are available for 27" bikes.

Long reach brakes are easy to find used or parted out from an old bike. Tektro makes very nice affordable long reach brakes too.

Ishiwata is fine tubing. I have a Trek TX-500 built with 022. Somewhat comparable to Reynolds 531 of the time.

New, wide spindle bottom brackets are available from a number of manufacturers including the affordable Tanges. Measure the width of the original and replace it with a new one of comparable width. Do make sure the taper matches the crank, though. I have a Tange BB with an original SR crank on my Trek.

Rivendell sells a downtube cable stop that can be used on frames without the braze-ons.

The bottom line is that usable modern parts are still available for most '70s era bikes. (With French bikes, however, all bets are off.) If the frame is nice, it can be worth the upgrade.

craigstewart

I bought a japan version of Club Fuji in about '87, I guess it was one of the last ones made in Japan. I understand that later ones were built in another asian country, don't know which one.

My club fuji is equiped with a sugino GLP crank, suntour clyclone derailer, fuji valite tubing, dia comp side pull brakes, suntour LePree hubs on the wheels.

I bought it new in boulder colorado, and was introduced to sport clycle riding. This bike is extremely smooth and very fast (for me that is).

I had this bike on the garage wall for about 10-11 years until just the other day when I started putting new acessories on it. Had to clean the oxyidation off and behold a beautiful red and yellow bike emerged!

New seat, new tape, new computer, new tires-tubes (continental 2006 ultra gatorskin 23's), new mini bag under seat. Still neeed to get a couple small items, but I don't undestand why someone wouldn't put a little back into a vintage bike. People actually stare at this bike coming and going because of the paint job that Fuji put on them.

I cannot tell this bike from the new ones. I tried to justify spending the money on a new bike, but just couldn't let go of this bike.

Let me know what you think.

T-Mar

As you probably gathered from the previous posts, there may may be some difficulties, but they are surmountable. As for the wheel size, if it is a top line bicycle, then the wheels should be the current standard 700C, but they should also be tubular. I don't know if changing the wheels were part of your plan. If not, definitely check into what you've got. Tubular tires and rims are remarkably light and give a fast, resilient ride, but they are also more prone to flats, difficult to repair and relatively expensive. If you don't want tubulars and new wheels are not included in your deal, the cost of new rims, spokes and tires, and rebuilding them will add quite a bit of cost to the project.

USAZorro

If your wheels are tubular, and you don't want to mess with them, feel free to PM me.

gearone

Do you think is it possible to put a new Dura Ace 7800 cranks with its own BB on a 70's fuji frame. I am afraid that BB will be too short for the frame!?
Has anyone done it?
Thanks

Grand Bois

It's butt-ugly, overpriced and doesn't belong on a vintage bike. You can get a NOS Suntour stop on eBay for 10-$12.

I don't disagree with the rest of your post, though.