A tale of two early Fuso bikes

The Fuso frame was introduced in 1984; they were numbered in sequence as they were built starting with 001.

The number one Fuso is owned by a former bike store owner in San Luis Obispo, CA. A year ago I heard about number 10, and just this week I received two emails from the owners of numbers 20 and 32.

Number 20

Paul Matrisian wrote a brief but interesting history. The "2 Wheel Transit Authority" decal on the left chainstay tells me the bike was originally sold in Huntington Beach, California. This was a huge bike store, (Housed in a former bowling alley.) that is no longer in business. They sold a lot of Fuso bikes throughout the 1980s.

Somehow the bike made it’s way to Salt Lake City, UT where Paul picked up the story when a friend of his bought the bike for $100 in 1993. Later the Fuso’s owner moved to Nashville, TN where he used it to commute to school.

He later bought a mountain bike and the two bikes were kept locked to a front porch railing at night. One evening in 2002 the mountain bike was stolen but the Fuso was ignored. Soon after this Paul wanted to try his hand at triathlons but didn’t own a bike. His friend having no further use for the Fuso gave Paul the bike.

Paul hooked up with some local bike enthusiasts who were able to help him in choosing and fitting some new components. Some new Shimano Ultega stuff, along with a new stem, pedals, and some new rims. In his email Paul said:

“I have had the opportunity to trade rides with people. All remark what a good ride this bike has. I must admit I like the feel of a steel bike over some of these newer bikes. I am very fortunate to own this bike. The condition of this bike after this many years, attests to the quality of the craftsmanship in its construction. I have included a picture of 'us' entering the transition area in my last triathlon.” (Picture by www.brightroom.com)

Looking at these pictures, I notice the decals are slightly faded, probably due to the bike being left out in the elements. However, the red paint looks a bright as the day it left my shop.

Red paint is usually one of the worst colors for fading; did you ever see and old red car that has not faded to orange? I always used a candy-apple red over a bright orange (almost florescent) base coat on the Fuso frames. What you see is this bright base coat shining through the candy-apple top coat. Time has proved it doesn’t fade; auto makers take note.

I also think it is great that this bike has allowed Paul to participate in a sport at reasonable cost. Thank you Paul for sharing your story.

Number 32. (Pictured above.)

Compared to number 20, this one has led a sheltered existence. Stephen Jaffe emailed me to say he is the original owner. He bought and rode the bike throughout the 1980s, then later quit riding. However, he kept and stored the bike. He is pleased that he did, because he recently started riding again. He has replaced the pedals and saddle, but everything else is original. He said, “The bike is just as enjoyable as it was twenty years ago.”


I think it interesting that two people would contact me in the same week with two totally different stories about two very early production Fuso frames. They were both built within two weeks of each other. I went on to build close to 3,000 of them by the time I retired in 1993.

Footnote: The other number stamped on the bottom bracket shell (57 and 56 respectively.) is the frame size in centemeters measured from the center of the BB to the top of the seat lug. All my frames were measured this way. Subtract 2 cm. for the center to center measurement.

Comments

[Fritz]

I read this last week but had to come back to it. It's outstanding to see these old bikes given new life like this. I guess the rear triangle had to be bent out to accommodate a modern hub?

[daniel]

Hi - spotted a fuso this morning in NYC - it was *tall* and purple and looked to have original campy shiny bits on it. Locked up outside an office building on 44th street - thought you may be interested!