Fuji light touring frame in chrome. Any guesses ?
 

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...I've had this for ten or twelve years, bought it used from some guy who said he built it up from a bare frame (also used).
It's old enough to have a head badge, and the stays are long enough that I'm sure it must be a touring frame. Has minimal braze-ons.

I was riding it today, and it occurred to me that someone here might know what it is (or was sold as). The seat stay caps are kind of distinctive, and I think maybe the chrome is all polished, so it probably wasn't painted originally, just the chrome. I could be wrong on that. I can't see any serial numbers on the BB shell, because someone modified it with under the shell cable routing, using a Trek plastic guide, that is glued on there. The under the chain stay cable housing stop for the rear derailleur looks like it was added on, not brazed, but maybe screwed into a small hole threaded in there.

Anyway, thanks for any ideas. I'm not knowledgeable at all on Fuji products.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5c09a5449a.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b9e25a1e41.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8891bdc6c7.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d331badbd1.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...71924e9a3f.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6523e8b6ee.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...12725dd164.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0330e204f6.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...515bee08c0.jpg

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...I did some Google image searching, and lucked into a couple of threads here on Bike Forums. They seem to indicate it's a Fuji Finest, from 1971, based on the unique fork crown.. It probably did have paint that has gone away long ago, along with decals.

Fork Crown ID and other Fuji weirdness
All Things FUJI

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Before I got to the last post, I would have guessed that this is a Fuji Finest. The slightly angled rear drop outs and seat stay caps are distinctive. The 70s Fuji Finest is fully chromed underneath the paint job and the frame geometry is close to what we might call today a touring or really a sports touring bike. When the Finest disappeared from the line up, it was replaced by the Fuji America which was designed to be a "fast" touring bike. This is a terrific all around machine.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e9507cd9c8.jpg

Yep. that is a Finest. I should build my 75-ish frame up, but I have had a mild desire to buy one with the original blue paint and track crown. A couple 71's popped up this last year, but I did not pull the trigger. I probably should have, but could not warrant another bike in the stable...nor getting rid of something else.

Out of curiosity, did that come out of Milwaukee? I recall one of these with stripped paint being listed there about a decade ago.

...no, I got it from some fireman here, who got it from another fireman, who ran through a lot of bikes. This is in Sacramento. I'm kind of surprised at how well it's polished, if they knew paint was the ultimate plan for finishing these. Maybe next year I'll try to paint and rebadge it.

I had a white '72 Finest, and for a couple years another forum member let me borrow his, which was blue. Both of those bikes had oval fork blades and a rather cheesy looking pressed fork crown on which the chrome had rusted worse than the rest of the frame. I've never seen one with the nice forged crown on this bike.

Looked like a "Finest", but could it be a "Newest"?

My '72 Finest does not have brazed on cable guides on the top tube. (neither does the other depicted 1971) I doubt those would have been added afterwards, or we'd see discoloration from the heat.

A Finest? Aside from that and the fork crown, it does match, but then... what year? I'd imagine a serial number would be visible, and that might settle everything.

The early-70's Finest in this catalog has the same fork crown: https://classicfuji.posthaven.com/ea...mestic-catalog

I have a 72 Newest. Different than bike posted. Fork crown, droupouts, seat lugs, etc etc.