Jicafold

So I have this Fuji frame. Suntour GT - III dropouts on the back and Fuji dropouts on the fork. Double braze on mounts on the back. Fuji brand fixed cup. Braze on cable guides. Looks as if the original color was light blue. Frame material? Model and year? Any ideas? Thank you.

2cam16

Post the serial number in the Asian Serial Number Guide thread and you'll get some questions answered.

Jicafold

That's embarrassing. I even thought about that before I posted this but forgot to. It is F1409855. Thank you. But I went there and can't figure it out based on that.

T-Mar

Are you sure it's not FI4, instead of F14? That would make it September 1984 and in the grey region where it could be either a 1984 or 1985 model. If you remove the fork, there may be a manufacturer logo and date code on the steerer tube, to corroborate the S/N interpretation. Best clue to tubeset would be the seat post diameter.

Edit: Assuming FI4E in conjunction with the features and light blue colour, my leading candidate would be a 1985 Fuji League, in which case the tubing would be VaLite 1769 and the post size should be 26.6mm.

pcb 

Looks like an '85 League Fuji to me. The League had the same light blue color, same frame specs/features. Sept '84 production for an '85-year model makes sense as well.

In terms of general dating, '84-'85 is consistent with transitional braze-ons, relatively new bz-on top tube brake casing guides while still having top-of-bb der cable guides. By '86-'87 indexing was king, and most production bikes would have under-bb der cable routing.

In Fuji's line at that time, the rounded, non-fancy seatstay ends at the seat lug cluster indicate a mid-level frame. Higher-end models had shapelier scalloped/pointed semi-wraparound seatstay plugs.

The League was a new model in '85, a lower-priced addition to the newish 2nd-tier road-sport group, which began with the Team Fuji in '82 or so, followed by lower-priced Club Fuji, after which the League was added below the Club. The Club still had the more expensive scalloped/pointed seatstay caps.

Fuji had an interesting recalibration of the line in '84-'85, with the single Opus III replacing the Newest/Finest, the high-performance/affordable road-sport branching out to two, then three models (Team/Club/League), the long-lived America disappearing, three full-on touring models (Touring Series III/IV/V), plus adding mountain bikes. Then the yen shock hit, Fuji waited longer than most competitors to move production to Taiwan, and they mostly lost ground for a long time thereafter.

Jicafold

Thank you. I the fork says Ishiwata. And it also says 4.J Hmmm.

pcb 

Looks like the League continued as an '86 model unmodified, same frame, same spec except for the spokes (Wing Star in '85, Hoshi in '86). So '86 production would still make some sense. By '87 it would've been Taiwan production, frame details would be different.

I looked at the Team/Club/League specs again, and Fuji differentiated the three frames in some interesting ways. The Team had no rack/fender eyelets front or rear, the Club had single rear eyelets, none on the the fork, and the Club had dual eyelets in the rear and singles on the fork. They took the trouble to spec three different rear dropouts for the frames, or went to the trouble of adding eyelets on the Club/League.

I'm just going off of catalog specs/photos, don't have an ironclad memory of these details. I did sell by then-gf a Team when they first came out, since she had gotten faster/stronger and we figured the Team would be a better fit for her new fitness level than here '80-ish America. Because narrower, higher-pressure tires, tighter frame clearances and a harsher ride were necessary for speed, we thought back then. She liked it.

Weirdly in the catalog photos, the Team and League have over-bb der cable guides, which the Club has under-bb. Fuji might have had some excess Team frames they needed to carry over.

I think '86 was a rough transitional year for Fuji, hit hard by the endaka while trying to hang on to Japanese production. The flagship Professional was dropped from the catalog, and '87 would see them roll into a full line revamp, with some IMHO not very attractive new graphics and models. They spec'd a lot of Suntour indexed drivetrains, which didn't help them in the marketplace. In my mind they kind of lost their aura of classiness in the process.

T-Mar

Fork date code is October 1984 supporting an FI4 frame serial number and a 1985 model. Ishiwata was also the manufacturer of Fuji's VaLite. In this case, it's basically rebranded Ishiwata Magny EXO-H, which was a heavy gauge, quadruple tubeset in a carbon manganese steel alloy.

Jicafold

It does feel somewhat portly. Thank you for the information.

Cougrrcj

Dang, you guys never cease to amaze me with Fuji history. Now if we could only figure out the various manufacturing facilities codes... because I'm STILL trying to figure out who was 'K', dammit!!!! My Sept '74-built '75 S10-S is K9I003xx. We have a bunch of the K9Is (well at least three ) here on BF.net, and I'm sure we'd all like to know!!!