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BUILDING THE FUJI THE ACE
  The Fuji is practically free of any kind of braze-ons. There are no top
tube brake cable guides. A clamp, on rear derailleur cable guide, mounts to
the right chain stay, eliminating the need for that braze-on. The bottom bracket guide is also a clamp-on unit, as
are the holders
for the water bottle. The beautiful Dura-Ace shifters are not braze-on
mounted either. The entire frame set is clean and sleek, thanks in part, to
the absence of these modern component guides or mounts.
The long
horizontal Shimano forged drops, would
 lend
 themselves well to a Fixed Gear of Single
Speed build, assuming that restoration is not the goal. And, restoration
would be an absolute snap, with this great old Asian bicycle. The Fuji was
one hundred percent original, as nearly as I could tell. It appeared that
nothing had been changed, added or upgraded, with the exception of the clamp on
water bottle holder.
The
quality of workmanship, on this early seventies mount, is equal to the materials
used. Fugi's own chrome molybdenum double butted steel tubing, ending in
very cleanly install chrome plated forged drops,
 form the foundation
for this remarkable bicycle.
The cleanly installed lugs, though very plain
in both design and presentation, add to the simple beauty of this frame set.
The Fuji name is pantographed into the seat stays and, aside from than that, no
other adornment can be
found.
 Completing the classy and vintage look is the beautiful head badge, depicting
the world famous Mount Fuji. I find it sad that bicycle manufacturer's
elected, one at a time, to eliminate these, sometimes highly ornate, frame
attachments. My own CCM Tour du Canada has
perhaps the ugliest head tube sticker I have seen, while lesser CCM bicycles
were offered with a very ornate brass head badge that, needless to say, improved
rather than detracted from the appearance of the bicycle.
 The only thing, about the Fuji, that I did not like, was the color. At one
time, my favourite color for a bicycle was black. Today, I see this much
differently. Today, I want bright colors, announcing my bicycle's presence
in traffic. I want to wear bright clothing to emphasize the bicycle's
announcement of its presence. And, the Fuji makes little or no statement with its drab
silver/bronze color choice, blending perhaps invisibly into traffic.
 In all fairness to the "I didn't like this" thing, the tubular tires did
throw me off. I just can't see the value in running these antiquated rim
skins, in today's high pressure clincher world. That said, as my level of
understanding and interest, in all things of Velo vintage grows, I am learning
that the tubular tire does offer a better ride. It is unlikely that the
novice (and I am no expert by any means) will notice a difference, but use of,
and comparison, to clincher set-ups, does suggest a positive difference.
Today, even though I have built up a beautiful set of clincher wheels for my
1975 CCM Tour du Canada, I am seriously considering installing the
original tubulars that came with the bicycle. And I have a set waiting for
the bike already, hanging in
The Old Shed.
Additionally, I have built up other bicycles, long after owning the Fuji, and
each of those were fitted with tubulars. My
Bottecchia Professional, all but demanded the sew-up system, as did my
sixties something
Peugeot PX10. So, too, did my sixties something
Legnano Gran Premio and, I will soon be replacing the clincher hoops on my
1976 Marinoni Quebec.
The wheel set was really quite nice. The Dura Ace low
flange hubs, seemed to be in excellent condition though I never did take them
apart, for inspection. The UKAI sew-up rims, were the first I had ever come
across, and in very good condition, showing little brake surface wear, though the
brake surface was in need
 of a good cleaning.
The
balance of the component grouppo made a simple statement. The best!
It is a simple as that. The The Ace is full first generation Shimano
Dura-Ace. The only other
 component grouppo, that would offer reasonable
competition to this wonderful old set, would be Campagnolo's Nouvo Record grouppo, of
similar vintage. In fact, closer inspection of the Dura Ace offerings, will reveal a close resemblance to many of
the worshipped Campy components.
The Crane derailleur, predecessor to the
Dura-Ace unit, was in great shape, however; I the only picture I have, to depict the
component, is poor at best. The Crane, ornate in itself to say the least,
worked just fine and looked good doing it. The first generation Dura-Ace
crank and ring set is another great example of imitating the best of the time.
From a distance, it is hard to tell the Shimano
 offering
from the Campagnolo Nouvo Record one.
The Fuji's pedals and traps proved to be very
interesting. This was the first set, that I had run across, with leather
clip protectors. I guess the leather was intended to protect the riding
shoe and, perhaps, dress up the appearance the bicycle's appearance, at the same
time. None-the-less, these unusual leather covered
toe clips, did add a touch more vintage appeal to this nicely prepared old road
bicycle.
  The best part of a first generation Dura-Ace grouppo, for me
at least, is the brake set. I have never used a set of side pulls that I
like more, with perhaps one exception - the Mavic SSC brakes mounted on my
eighties something
Vitus 979. The Dura-Ace levers seem to fit my hands
perfectly.
The first time I had the pleasure of using these brakes was on my
1972 (best
guess)
Motobecane Grand Record. The levers were perfect and little effort
was required to implement powerful braking action.
Of course, the hoods, handlebar tape and other perishable items had,
indeed, perished
with the passing of time. The cloth handlebar tape had rotted, as had the
original Shimano brake hoods. No effort was made, to replace these items,
since the bicycle, being way too big for me, was never intended as a keeper. The
fellow, who purchased the Fuji from me, had owned an identical bicycle, in the
early seventies. It would be up to him to restore the bicycle to his own
specification. What a great ride the The Ace must be today.
  The
control center for the Fuji was a bit unexpected. I am unsure of when the
Nitto Universiade 105 handlebars were first issued, but I was surprised to see
them on the Fuji. Perhaps they were added at a later date. And, that
might also apply to the beautiful Nitto Pearl 9 steering stem. I had never run
across one of these Pearl stems before, nor have I seen one since.
 And, in keeping with components that were unfamiliar to me,
the seat post must also qualify. Try as I might, my old eyes just could
not make out exactly what was etched into the early indexed seat post. The
post supported a very nice and old 3TTT patterned saddle. The leather was
still
 in great shape and I could see no reason to warrant replacement. For
the few miles I rode the bicycle, the 3TTT proved to be an adequate perch.
Though I have few pictures, of this great old Asian road bicycle, the few that
I do have depict the beauty and preparation of this bicycle, reasonably well. The
Fuji,
in spite of its drab appearance, is really an intricate joy to behold, assuming of
course that one likes to behold bicycles. I personally found the The
Ace to be a very nice bicycle. I like bicycles from the Far East,
generally finding them to be exceptionally well made, attractive and affordable. And,
some of the best rides I have experienced have been on Asian road bicycles.
The day will come, when another really nice mount, from the Far
East ,finds its way into The Old Shed. Perhaps I will even be lucky enough
to stumble across another
Miyata 1000.
NEXT - RIDING THE FUJI THE ACE |
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