How many Fuso Lux Frames?
Mon, January 28, 2019 
Like most frame builders, I stamped a serial number on my frames. Most products of any value have a serial number. It is an identification mark on an often otherwise identical product. My custom frames were stamped with a number that represented the date it was built.
When I started to build the non-custom frames like the John Howard and the Fuso, these would hang in stock unpainted, sometimes for months, waiting for a customer who needed a particular size. To stamp the frame with the date it was built, and the customer would perceive it was old stock.
It was practical to simply stamp these in sequence starting at number 001, which I did. It also served as a record of how many frames I was building. Beyond that I could have kept records of frame sizes, the color they were painted, and who they were sold to.
I kept no such records, I could see no useful purpose in doing so at the time. The reason, back in the 1980s when I built these frames, I could never envisage the Internet, and corresponding with people 30 years later about these very same frames.
However, since I started my Dave Moulton Bike Registry in 2010, and owners are sending me details of their frames, I am able to fill in some of the missing information. For example in 1986 I introduced the Fuso “LUX” model.
The Fuso Lux had a chrome plated right chainstay and dropout faces.
People had often lamented the passing of the John Howard frame with its chrome plating and superior finish with decals buried under eight clear coats, then sanded smooth before applying the final clear coat for a super smooth, ripple free finish.
The LUX (Luxury.) frame had these niceties. These frames were built to order, in other words an order preceded the frame being built. Other than that it was built on the same jig setting as the other Fuso frames. In a batch of five frames, one might be a special order LUX model.
But, when I stamped the batch of frames in sequence following the previous batch, I kept no record of which number was allocated to the LUX frame. As a result I have no idea how many Lux frames I built over the years. There is no point in counting the LUX frames on the registry, as even after nine years it only lists a fraction of the total frames built.
However, back in 2015 I wrote a piece about “One Thousand Fuso Crowns.” In 1985 I ordered 1,000 Cinelli fork crowns with the Fuso name cast in them. (See picture left) Just this week a blog reader emailed me to point out there was a Fuso frame for sale on eBay #303 with a FUSO crown. This is a lower number than I previously had known.
So at the time of writing this, it has been established that FUSO frames numbered in the range of 303 to 1511, built in the five year period from 1985 to 1990, had the FUSO name fork crown. This is a total of 1208 frames.
As there were only 1,000 FUSO crowns, the excess 208 frames must have been the LUX model, as the LUX had an integral aero crown, without the FUSO name. (See right.)
This is the most accurate estimate I have so far. There will be a few more built after 1990, and as we discover more FUSO crown frames outside the current 303 to 1511 range, it will increase the Fuso LUX count.
So be on the lookout for FUSO crown frames with serial numbers below 303, or above 1511. If yours is within that range, it is already counted.
Read more about the Fuso LUX here.
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Reader Comments (3)
Also no allowances for Pista or Recherche models as they didn't have FUSO crowns.
My Pista has a 4 M crown, The Recherche is semi sloping with a cutout on the leg.
Neal,
Yes there were a few Fuso Pista (Track) frames built not many, and it is true that they will be included in the non Fuso crown count.
But NOT the Recherche frames, they had their own separate sequence of frame numbers and so were not included in the Fuso count.
The 208 frames still means there were around 200 LUX frames allowing for a few track frames, a closer estimate than I previously had.
Dave.
I just lucked into Fuso Lux #1882... a local bike shop here in Arizona pulled me aside and asked me if I'd be interested. They had taken the bike in on trade, and as I looked over the frame, I kept asking them, "Are you serious? Are you SURE?"
This bike doesn't have the stamped Fuso logo on the fork lugs, and there's a logo on the top tube that states: 'Built for I Martin". Elsewhere on the frame, there is an I Martin Imports sticker.
The bike was built with 1st gen Campy C-Record, and I had to find a replacement for the drop-out hanger, and it was a PAIN to replace, but I did it...
A friend of mine is a GM for a body shop and will be cleaning and touching up some dings in the paint. Other than those small items, this bike is a BEAUTY! Metallic Pearl black paint, Campy C-Record high flange hubs, the Campy retro-friction shifters, C-Record cranks and Record brakes, not the Deltas...
I AM IN LOVE with this bike!
THANK YOU