jamesdak 

Very, very nice! I take it that's the original saddle, housing, bar tape, etc? Mine came all original too except for the saddle and wheels.

I'll share a pic of mine again as I just shot this to show the new tubular setup I just put on it. Original bar tape still under the leather wrap.

delbiker1 

This Fuji Ace frameset was given to me a couple of years ago. By default, it became my experiment bike and has been changed many times since I first built it. I really went in a totally different direction with it recently. I stripped and repainted it with rattle can Rustoleum Gloss Enamel Smoky Grey. I put mustache bars on it with mountain bike brake levers and DA 7700 bar ends. The right shifter I could get to work for a while, then something happens internally that prevents it from operating properly in either friction or indexed. I finally quit messing with it and am now using a 105 8 speed DT lever for the right bar end. It works great in friction.

I like the way the build finished, but I still am not sure about mostly black components, or going with more silver and gum/brown wall tires. The only thing original on this bike are the materials used for the frameset. It is on the heavy side, very comfortable, versatile and fun to ride. I have some decals coming, OLD SCHOOL FUJI, that will be on the top, seat and down tubes.





Pretty sure I like the mostly blacked out better.

Rocket-Sauce 

Those ACE frames are very nice. I don't think they made them in '88 however. There was no ACE model in the 1988 lineup. I believe yours is a '89 (unicorn fork). I had a 1990 which came with a semi sloping lugged fork. I built mine up with a mishmash of Shimano (105, Dura Ace, and Ultegra) and Sram (cranks).
It rides very well.

I've posted here before, but what the hell...

delbiker1 

Rocket-Sauce , thanks for the reply. I have seen the pictures of your Ace, very nice. I believe you are right about mine being an '89. I wanted something different, that is what I came up with, in the end. It is a fine riding frameset, a bit on the heavy side and I don't care. Sometimes I think about how I can lower the weight, but I always get back to leaving that alone as it does not matter. The whole bike has been done with the only concern that I wind up with a decent looking bike that rides well. The reality is that I could have left the frameset with the original finish and just restored it as much a could be done, including fixing some areas of surface rust. It has been both a fun and a frustrating project, the frustration all directed at me.

In the end, I wound up with a bike that is really close to as I envisioned it. I am pretty sure the mostly blacked out components are going to stay. I had not used bar end shifters in close to 35 years. They work well, friction, and just make sense on this particular set up. I sure like them better than the DT levers.

cycleheimer

The Saratoga touring model in the same color and similar decal designs. One of my favorite Fujis, but a bit heavy.

BFisher 

...so how could I not jump on this beautiful '87 Roubaix? Almost complete 105 6-speed group, which is in fantastic condition. It got fresh consumables all around. After a minor wheel truing, it'll be ready for the road.

rekmeyata

NICE!! Looks like new too.

casanewt

Nice! Yours has the VALite "Si 45" channeled tubing. Similar in some ways to Miyata's splined tubing and Columbus SLX, except that it is not spiraled.

BFisher 

Interesting thing, I noticed the catalog specs SR hubs, but this bike has 105s. I failed to remember that I have the matching 105 headset until after I'd cleaned and repacked the original Hatta. I even have the pedals, but one of the clips is cracked.

casanewt

Makes sense that the spec sheet may be incorrect. This was right around the time when Shimano was pretty much demanding manufacturers use their full group if they spec'd their drivetrain.

casanewt

Heads up in this region...sad condition though https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...ok_story_share

t2p

nice looking Fuji at a flea market this past weekend

USAZorro

I have what I believe is a 1972 Finest. Seatpost is 26.6.

smontanaro 

I just bought (most of) what I think is a '74-ish The Finest. (I haven't actually seen in person it yet. It's at my son's house in Portland.)



Somewhere along the way its 27-inch wheels were swapped out in favor of tubulars (maybe some better hubs as well?). Trying to figure out what I should look for in the way of a crank, I checked the '74 Fuji catalog scan on Velobase. It doesn't list specific vendors or model names for anything though. Any idea what would have been delivered during the mid-70s?

(FWIW, I converted the multiple JPEG files in the Velobase scan into a multi-page PDF: Fuji74.pdf should anyone be interested in that sort of thing.)

T-Mar

The boom era Finest typically came with a Sugino Mighty crankset. They also came with a tubular wheelset, so those wheels could be OEM. Get the serial number from your son and we'll know the year.

smontanaro 

Thanks T-Mar. I might even have a Mighty in the bin. Interesting about the tubular wheels. That '74 catalog says 27-inch rims. Of course, if it's not a '74 I imagine it could be anything.

Chris said the serial number was hard to read, but he suggested "5610593". Looking at the pic he sent, I suspect the second character is "G," but that doesn't line up with the description of the Fuji serial number decoder. It is kind of hard-to-read:

T-Mar

I suspect the letter prefix was poorly struck and it's ?6G10583. That would make July of Showa 46, which is 1971. That makes sense after having a closer look at the frame. First, it has the round track blades used only on the very early Finest models. Second, the front derailleur appears to be a Spirt, which is what was spec'd in 1971. In 1972 it was upgraded to the Compe-V.


As for the wheelset, it was fairly common to describe tubulars as being 27" during the early 1970s bicycle boom. Some even stated 27" on the label. The USA just couldn't get their head wrapped around non-Imperial tyre sizing. If you look at the old Fuji catalogues, it actually says "tubular" for the Finest, while the lower models say "W/O" (wired-on). Or you can look at the valves. The Finest is equipped with Presta and the lower models use Schraeder. High performance 700C wired-on wouldn't hit the markets until 1976, so when you see Presta in earlier catalogues they are almost invariably tubular.

smontanaro 

Ooh, neat...

thumpism 

The one in our showroom back then had Sunshine hubs and foam-filled Nisi tubular rims.

T-Mar

The Sunshine hubs are correct but I remember the rims being Ukai, not Nisi. The core was filled with a plastic or foam material to increase rigidity. The tubular tyres were Toyo brand, later transitioning to Fuji branding.

smontanaro 

Thanks for the rim/hub updates. Now I'm really interested to get this bike home and check it all out. My son said the seller was the former owner of the Portland Bicycle Emporium. I wonder what other bits he still has stashed away...

thumpism 

Probably correct. It's been a looong time.

Triplecrank92