Vintage Fuji Roadbike
Recently my 15 year old daughter has "adopted" my wife’s nice road bike, and has been doing some great rides around town on it. So I thought I’d look for another road bike of about the same size to have a road bike available for both of the ladies in my life. I thought I’d go check out a thrift store bike yard, because my partner Steve found a great mountain bike out there. I went to the bike enclosure of the thrift store, and ran into Steve and his wife Jody, who were scouting for a kids bike. We prowled around together looking for gems, and seeing mostly junk.
Steve and Jody left with a nice kids bike, and I saw an aero brake lever on a handlebar, under a pile of nasty bikes. I unraveled the stack of nasty bikes, and got more and more excited as I freed the bike at the bottom of the pile. I saw a Campagnolo brake, then finally got the entire bike free to look it over.
It was a Fuji, with double butted steel tubing, and about the right frame size for my wife. It had Campy hubs, cranks, brakes, headset, shifters, bottom bracket and skewers, and Cinelli stem and bars. The saddle was suede, and it had Shimano pedals. Since one tire was gone, and it was pretty dirty and greasy, the lady at the gate of the bike yard put a price of $5.00 on it. I tried not to jump for joy, paid my $5, and took the bike home to clean it up. It was like Christmas in July, and with new tires and a little soap, the old bike looks pretty decent. This bike was the JACKPOT! Judging from ebay prices, any of the Campy parts would go for $75 to $125, and the whole bike might run $500+ on ebay.
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That is a great find!
No clues, but congratulations!
Nice bike! Looks to be from the era of my youth (late 70’s).
If so, the paint has held up very well!
No advice re Shimano 105, but that Campy equipment is so beautiful, can you convince your wife to keep it? Love the chainwheel. Is it the high end Nuovo Record stuff?
Dave
It is definitely the high end Nuovo Record stuff. I put speedplay pedals on it, and it seemed to weigh 3 pounds less than my wife’s previous road bike. I thought the vintage was late 1980s, because of the aero brakes. In 1988 indexed shifting was new, with Shimano’s 105 6 speed the first entries, and I think it was a few years before Campy had any indexed product. I bought a bike in 1988 that had aero brakes, and I thought they were new then.
Im seeking information on a Fuji model 441
It turns out that my wife likes it fine with the shift levers on the down tube. Its as good a bike as I thougth it was. Lucky me! Bob S.
I’d screw a 7-speed Hyperglide cluster on it, bung on some Campy 8-speed dual-control levers and rear derailleur, and a Campy dual-pivot front brake.
Two years later. I hope you kept it all together. None of that crazy 7 speed freewheel stuff.
I think that is the Fuji Titanium Record !
April 2009, its still in original condition, being ridden by the wife, who loves it. This was the bike I lusted for when I was in college, but was far out of my price range. Instead I got a Royce Union junker and painted it yellow.
I came across your comments by chance and wanted to add a few lines. First congratulations on a wonderful find. I too have a Fuji from about 1980 – which I bought in Hillsborough NJ as a left over for around $400 – almost three weeks pay back then! It was the touring version with a slightly stretched out frame, low flange hubs,, basically Suntour components, and 18 speeds. In 1980 very much a curiosity. Since then I have taken the bike pretty much everywhere and I still use it everyday, though the longer tours are rare now. The bikes are essentially bullet proof: on tours I have had it over a variety of terrain, not always on the road, though to be fair I have had to replace most running parts. I have tried to stay original, but over the years the growing scarcity of originals has made it difficult, especially since I am now in Germany – in Muenster: bicycle heaven. I wish you continued joy in riding!