Fuso Components

I am often asked, “What was the standard component package on the Fuso?” or John Howard, or Recherché.

The answer: There was no standard component package. The reason, I only sold frames, not complete bikes.

The frames were ordered by bicycle dealers, usually for a specific customer, who then chose the components and the bike shop ordered these in and built the bike.

Often what happened was the customer could not afford an all Campagnolo or Shimano Dura-Ace equipped bike. So the dealer built the bike with lower priced components like Sugino, Sun Tour, or Shimano 600.

The thinking was, (And I agreed.) the frame is what determines how the bike fits, handles, and feels to the rider. Wheels are the next important factor, but after that a Sugino crankset, or cheaper pedals will, for the most part, feel no different than Campagnolo. The main difference is the quality of finish and the durability of the product, not so much in the ride quality.

The theory was, get a newcomer on a quality frame, get them hooked on cycling and they would come back and upgrade to a better quality component later. This was a smart business move for the Bike Dealer, and it sold frames for me.

For about the same price as say a mid range Japanese or European import, a customer could get on one of my frames with lower priced components. And of course when the customer compared the mid range import and my bike on a test ride they could feel the difference.

That was the theory. In reality what happened in many cases, the bike purchase was an impulse thing, and after a short period, the bike ended up sitting in the garage where many still languish to this day. 

From time to time such a bike comes up on eBay, often with a mish-mosh of cheap components.

If you are buying such a bike, realize that you are basically buying it for the frame.

If you strip the components to replace them with, say Campagnolo; these left over parts will have little or no resale value.

On the other hand, many may not want such a bike. If you can buy it at a bargain price, you can ride as originally intended and upgrade the components as they become available.

All frames I built were measured center to top which is approximately 2 cm. more that the center to center measurement. For example frame stamped 58 under the bottom bracket shell, would measure 56 cm. center to center. Also, if it is a Fuso and you ask the seller for the frame number, you can link to my Registry here and get the approximate date it was built.

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Moving Target

Paul Theroux wrote a series of essays in a book titled “Fresh Air Fiend.” One of the stories is called “The Moving Target,”

It starts out by talking about a traveler named Nathaniel Bishop, who in 1877 rowed a small boat from upper New York State to New Orleans. A distance of 2,600 miles.

On arrival in New Orleans, as the exhausted Nathaniel Bishop tied up his boat, a group of young drunks approached, mocked him, swore at him, and threatened him with violence. Theroux commented:

“This, I have come to think, is a very American reaction, rewarding eccentric effort with scorn and violence.”

Theroux then goes on to write about a man named A F Tschiffely who in the 1920s rode a horse 10,000 miles from Buenos Aires to New York City.

His two and a half year journey took him over the Andes, through Central America, across deserts, swamps, and jungles. However, his worst part of the journey was traveling through the United States.

Cars would deliberately swerve close to scare him and his horse. He had bottles thrown at him, and shouts of “Ride ‘em Cowboy.” In the Blue Ridge Mountains a driver sideswiped him injuring his horse’s leg. Then honked and waved in triumph as he drove away.

After two more serious incidents, Tschiffely had to abandon his ride in Washington, DC and finish the final leg to New York by train. Theroux goes on to write about intolerance towards cyclists and runners, or anyone engaged in any form of exercise in public.

After reading these accounts of how things used to be, I am reminded of a line from the 1969 movie “Easy Rider.”

“Americans talk a lot about the value of freedom, but are actually afraid of anyone who truly exhibits it.”

Isn’t that the truth? Haters are “Equal Opportunity” bigots. It is not just about race, and it probably never was. It is simply prejudice toward anyone appearing different, or doing something different, or behaving differently than the perceived norm.

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Coming to terms with the Vaccine

After being locked down for most of 2020, I anxiously awaited while a Covid vaccine was developed. At eighty-five years of age, I was one of the first to get it. Having signed up with a local pharmacy in December of last year, I got my first Moderna shot in January this year, the second in February. I was fortunate in that I had no adverse side effects from either shot.

There was never any hesitancy in my decision to get vaccinated, at my age I was not messing around with this one, and on completion of my second shot, I felt a huge sense of relief in that I was now somewhat protected.

Recently as restrictions were lifted, and I have appreciated the freedom of not wearing a mask everywhere I go, and the simple pleasures in life like eating out in a restaurant occasionally. Now there is talk of a partial shut down again, and it is not just here in America, it is world-wide. Riots in *Australia and France over restrictions, democracies where people enjoy everyday freedoms, and therein lays the problem. One cannot live in a democracy and mandate that people get vaccinated.

The other issue is the fake news and conspiracy theories that abound. I have read some outrageous claims, mostly on social media, and the comments section of articles. One said that the government was injecting nano-bots into people’s blood stream, the object being to be able to track people. “Really… You think the government would go to that trouble and expense when they can already track what you saying on Facebook?”

Another said that they knew a person who had the shot, and after their arm swelled up so bad, the arm had to be amputated. To which I say, “No, you did not know such a person. You either made that up or read it somewhere.”

One must use logic, and look at the source of the story, and look for other stories on the same subject. The problem is people tend to look for opinions that align with their already established beliefs. This can be seen by the states and areas that have the lowest numbers of their population vaccinated. People tend to believe and do what their friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors do.

One can also see that the areas with the lowest vaccine rates, have the highest hospitalization rates, proving that vaccines work. Also, as the months go by, more and more data is collected, and I do not see the adverse side effects materializing, that those opposing the vaccine use as an excuse not to participate.

What about the long-term effects of the vaccine? What about the long-term effects of the Covid virus when doctors have seen damage to lungs equivalent to a lifetime of smoking? Not to mention long term brain damage. To the people who tell me they are afraid to take the vaccine, I tell them I was afraid not to take it.

Does anyone remember Aids back in the 1980s? No one took that serious until people we actually knew caught it and died. I remember at least three people who died, not close friends but people I had met and conversed with. It had a profound effect. Sadly, it will take the same thing with the Covid. When friends, family, or just people you remember talking to fall victim, it will cause you to re-think. Why not re-think now?

*Australia. See comment below. 

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Believers, non-believers, and those that will believe anything

Does anyone remember before the Internet and social media how simple and pleasant life was? For the most part there were just two main schools of thought. The religious element that believed in God, and the atheist that did not believe in God.

It always seemed strange to me that politics were always tied to each side with the religious side to the right and the atheist to the left, but that is the way it has always been. Those that did not believe in God were often scholars, academics, and scientists, who say that the existence of a God could not be proved by science or mathematics.  

If one thinks about it, is a belief in science any different from a belief in God? The atheist can be every bit as dogmatic in his unwavering belief in science. And what about the free thinkers, the artists? Do they not have a place in the spectrum? For what is creativity but having an original thought.

The scientist discovers and the artist creates, both spring from an original thought so is there any real difference? The scientist tries to prove his idea by scientific experiment or mathematics, if he cannot it remains a theory to be proved later by other scientists, The artist has an original thought and sets about bringing that idea into fruition as a painting, sculpture, poem, song, literature, or script.

Scientific discovery implies that the science, (Electricity for example) was always there waiting to be discovered. As a songwriter I share a belief held by many other songwriters that the songs are already written, and they just appear, often very quickly in the mind of the songwriter.

Some of us believe the artist is simply a vehicle through which art appears. This is not new thinking, the Native American called it “Hand Magic,” the Great Spirit guiding the hand of the artist as he creates the pottery, or she weaves the blanket. 

In order to hold such a belief, one must realize there is an Intelligence at work way beyond any concept our feeble minds can conceive. If that were not so, then we have reached the end of scientific discovery, there is nothing left to discover.

Or could it be that scientists create the science, and artists simply discover the art, all made possible by an Intelligence that might be God. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful discovery, that we really are all just One, and all on the same side. On the same page so to speak, or we could be if we just make the effort.

People are splitting into groups held together by an ever-increasing amount of strange science and conspiracy theories. It seems people go online not to find answers, but to seek out others with the same point of view. When the answers are there to be found if one keeps on looking with an open mind.

And if one can believe in an Intelligence beyond our own inadequate intelligence, the answer to anything and everything is there for the asking.

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Stolen Bike finds new legitimate owner

Back in November 2016 I got an email from a Police Officer with the Moreno Valley PD, in Riverside County, California. He had a Fuso bike in his possession that was thought to be stolen, and he was trying to track down the rightful owner. (Picture above.)

The bike was not listed on my Registry, and I had no way of knowing who the original owner was as I sold all my frames though bike dealers, so no longer had records of individual frames, or where they went. I did however post the story here on my blog, and posted a link on the Dave Moulton Bikes, Facebook Group.

In 2018 this 60 cm. Fuso bike, frame number #948, was sold by auction from the police impound after the new owner had posted it in three different newspapers. This was required for transfer of ownership. The new owner has now listed it on my Bike Registry.

It seems to me a lot of people made a real effort to try and find the owner of this bike after it was stolen. The owner, it appears did not even take the time to file a police report. Had he done so the bike would have been returned. The same as it would have been had he listed it on my Registry.

If you want to win the lottery you must first buy a lottery ticket. If your bike is stolen and you would like to get it back, you increase your odds greatly by filing a police report. If it is a bike I built and it is listed on my registry, I can flag it as stolen and you will have a whole host of fans of the brand looking out for it.

To the original owner it was obviously just a bike, and his thought was probably. ‘My bike is stolen, and I’ll never see it again so I’ll just get another bike.’ I am pleased this long drawn out story has come to a happy conclusion. Welcomed back into a family of owners where FUSO #948 will be appreciated for what it is, rather than being just another bike.

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