The Bike Registry: Five Years On
Tue, April 7, 2015 
I started the Dave Moulton Registry in 2010, to list and account for the many frames I built, to preserve those left for people wishing to own one. The Registry will be five years old later this years. I have just counted the number of Fuso frames listed. Roughly 250. That is only about 10% of the approximately 2,500 built between 1984 and 1993.
It leaves me wondering, where are the other 90%, they can’t have all been wrecked, rusted away, or thrown out as trash. I have a feeling I will continue adding to the list for a number of years to come.
There is hardly a week goes by when at least two or three appear on eBay. Just this week a beautiful 50cm. Fuso Lux with custom paint, and fully Campagnolo equipped, went for $735. (Picture above.)
Often they are sold and bought on eBay and Craig’s List and I never hear of them again. I don’t feel inclined to list frames that appear on eBay, I need a contact from an owner. It is possible the new owner doesn’t want it listed.
Looking over the frames listed on the Registry, I find it highly satisfying that many are owned by the original owners, having bought them new in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Most of the frames listed have original paint. The cost of a re-paint is often far more than the frame is worth. I would suggest if you own one that is a little beat up and shabby, that you keep your eye open for one that has had less use.
The reason 90% of the frames I built are unaccounted for, could be because many are sitting in basements, garages, and attics. Some having had little use, with beautiful paint hidden under a coat of dust.
Recent interesting additions to the Registry include the one pictured above. It a UK built custom frame that lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1976 I built a number of frames for a Richard Scho, who owned a bike shop in Copenhagen.
So when I got an email from the bike’s owner Carl Pedersen, I felt sure it was one of those that went to Copenhagen in 1976. Strangely, when Carl provided the number, it was built in 1975 and was originally sold in England. It is a mystery how it made its way across the North Sea to Denmark.
The one pictured above is an early 1st. Generation Fuso, (#190) with a special red, and blue paint. This paint scheme was done exclusively for a bike store called “Two Wheel Transit Authority.” They were located in Huntington Beach, California. Those who lived in Orange County, just south of Los Angeles, in the 1980s will remember this store.
It was a huge store, opened in a premises that was formally a Bowling Alley. Doing about 4 million in sales each year, they ordered a lot of both custom ‘dave moulton’ frames and Fuso. They ordered enough that they had their own Fuso paint colors.
The one above was further customized for Two Wheel Transit’s owner, Paul Moore, and had white stars added to the blue lower section of the frame. Two Wheel Transit went out of business in 1990.
My thanks to Richard Salinas, of Ontario, CA for the above Fuso pictures. And thanks to all those who have registered their bikes, your interest and support is much appreciated.
If you ever meet someone on the road riding one of my bikes. Please make them aware of the Registry (If they don’t already know.) so the Registry may continue to grow. If you have a frame to register, email me the relivant info. davesbikeblog[AT]gmail[DOT]com
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Bike Registry, Fuso
Reader Comments (8)
I really dig the looks of the stars & stripes bike, thanks for sharing Dave !
Mitch,
I painted at least two Fuso Lux frames white, with a blue with stars fade from the head tube along the top tube, and red and white stripes fade on the head and down tube.
As with many of my frames I shipped them out and have never heard of them again, but they are out there somewhere.
Dave
Dave, if you are wondering what topic to add to the blog, an update with pics like this would be great! So have you plotted the registry rate? Has it slowed, accelerated or stayed the same in the last 5 years? I would expect a big jump at the beginning.
Dave, I'm sure a lot of good lightweight bikes have ended up on the scrap heap or in the hands of people who don't know bikes. While the original owners knew what they had, to their spouses and kids, they're just "old bikes". Also, many custom frame builders, like yourself, were too proud to use Reynolds or Columbus decals on their frames, so to someone not in the know, if they didn't have fancy lugs, they were just another gaspipe frame. Back in the day, a Reynolds decal and Nervex lugs was the only way to distinguish a "proper" bike.
I have a friend who rides a Recherche, and I've encouraged him to take photos and submit them to the registry!
Also, whenever you see one on eBay or Craigslist, there's no reason not to send the seller a quick message saying "Hi, I am Dave Moulton, the guy that made that bike. I'd appreciate it if you could submit your pictures to my bike registry (link to description/instructions), and encourage whoever buys it to contact me to get added to the registry as well"
New people adding their bikes to the registry come in at the rate of 2 or 3 per week on average. This has been steady since the registry opened.
With regard to contacting people selling my bikes on eBay, many do the research and mention the blog and the registry without contact from me. Some sellers ask way too much money for the frames or bikes, and I feel if I contact them it might be seen as my endorsement of the sale. I don’t like to see people get ripped off, whether they are buyers or sellers.
Whenever there is a bike or frame on eBay I will get several emails from people wanting to know its history, sizing questions, etc. So answering these and other emails, maintaining the Registry and this blog keeps me pretty busy. Plus I do have a life outside of all the bike stuff.
As it stands adding new entries and pictures to the Registry, along with corresponding with owners and would be owners, gives me a great deal of satisfaction without becoming a chore. I would like to keep it that way.
Dave
Hello all, don't forget that Dave is happy to receive donations via Paypal to help with the cost of running the registry!
Well worth chipping in now and again in my opinion.
Cheers,
Martin
I well-remember Two Wheel. In fact, I bought my first racing bike there, a 1986 Specialized Allez SE. I lusted over all of the higher priced bikes, but I went with what I could afford, and the Allez got me safely through a lot of crit racing and four years of city riding without a scratch.I don't recall seeing Fusos there, but I'm sure I just don't remember. Had I the money, I'd have snatched one up, for sure, but budgetary concerns won out in the end.
It was a sad day when then closed their Huntington Beach store and then tried to make it a few miles away off of the 405, but that store didn't last, either. Their yearly super sales were the thing of legend, and where I actually got the touch, albeit briefly, Greg Lemond's 1989 Tour de France time trial bike. Ah, memories...
Bob