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Fuji Advanced Sports, Inc., better known as Fuji Bikes, is an American manufacturer of bicycles originally established in Japan in 1899.The company takes its name and logo from Mount Fuji, a Japanese symbol of strength and endurance. Fuji Bikes is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

History

The company was founded in Japan in 1899, by Nichibei Fuji. Largely patterned after English and European designs, Fuji bicycles soon became known for offering bicycles that performed outside their price level. By the late 1920s Fuji was Japan’s most popular bicycle, winning races in Japanese cycling competitions. In the 1930s, Fuji established the first national stage race between Osaka and Tokyo and, naturally sponsored the winning team of this "Tour de Japan." Today, this race remains one of the premier races in all of Asia. After World War II, Fuji continued to participate in racing competitions, and in 1951 the first Asian games were held in New Delhi. The New Delhi race was won by a young Shoichiro Sugihara riding a Fuji.

During this period, Fuji became associated as a partner with several well-known contractors providing bicyle parts for Japanese bicycles, including Sugino and SunTour. Sales quickly expanded into other Asian markets. In 1964, the Olympics were held in Tokyo; Fuji’s chief engineer and designer Dr. Shoichiro Sugihara coached the Japanese national team and designed its race bikes. He also designed the bicycles that the team competed on. He repeated this role at both the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Fuji’s place in bicycle history was assured.

Known for their reasonable price and excellent quality, especially in frame construction and fitting, Fuji bikes began to sell widely in the United States. Their modern, slant-parallelogram SunTour derailleurs and Sugino lightweight cotterless cranksets worked as well or better than equivalent European designs. By 1971, Fuji America was established in the United States, and Fuji bikes played a major part in the 'bike boom' of the 1970s. Along with new, lighter chrome-molybdenum and chrome-vanadium butted steel frames, and a top-end Shimano Dura Ace component group, Fuji introduced the first mass production 12-speed bicycle in the mid-1970s, a revelation for the time. In 1974, Richard Ballantine, author of the best-selling Richard's Bicycle Book of the 1970s, recommended Fuji road bicycles at or near the top of each of four price and quality categories, from basic (low-price) to professional (high-end). Ballantine stated that the reason he did so was simple:

"Fuji bikes almost always have very good lug work and finish, an excellent well-balanced selection of components, and a value-for-money price tag."

Fuji bicycles ranked first in Consumer Reports competitive test evaluations in 1974, 1976, and 1980. In 1978, Fuji sponsored the first national women’s racing team.

During the early 1980s, Fuji developed a series of well-regarded, high-quality touring bicycles, and in 1986, was one of the first companies to manufacture bicycle frames made of titanium. However, Fuji's product line was heavily weighted towards road and touring bicycles, and the company was not well situated to take advantage of the unexpected mountain bike sales boom of the mid and late 1980s. The phenomenal increase in public demand for mountain bikes caused a steep decline in touring and road bike sales. This development in turn allowed other manufacturers such as Specialized, Giant, and Trek to make inroads into Fuji's share of U.S. bicycle sales, often using frames produced at lower cost in Taiwan.

With the continued rise of the yen, Fuji fell on hard times in the early 1990s. One of the last Japanese bike companies to shift production to Taiwan after the fall of the dollar, Fuji bicycles became increasingly uncompetitive in price in the United States, causing a drop in sales. Additionally, initial production of Taiwan-made bicycles were not as well-regarded by U.S. buyers as the Japanese-built frames. Eventually, the company designed new model lines, taking advantage of modern improvements in materials and construction techniques.

Products

Bicycle Models

Road Bicycles

Road

• SL-1
• Team
• Professional 1.0
• Roubaix
• Newest

Specialty Road

• Aloha
• Track
• Cross
• Touring

Women's

• Supreme
• Finest

Mountain Bicycles

Mountain

• Thrill
• Outland
• Panic

Hardtail

• Team Issue MTB
• Mt. Fuji
• Tahoe
• Nevada

Lifestyle Bicycles

Hybrid

• Absolute
• Crosstown
• Sunfire
• Vantage CX

Cruisers & Comfort

• Sanibel
• Captiva
• Shangri-La
• Monterey

City

• Kobe
• Kyoto
• Slider

Kids Bicycles

• Dynamite
• Sandblaster
• Boulevard

Police Bicycles

• Police

Model Specifications

Sponsored Teams and Riders

Fuji sponsors and equips the U.S. professional cycling team Team Toyota-United, which races Fuji Carbon Race series bikes. It also sponsors two UCI Women’s road Teams, the American TEAm Lipton and German Team Nurnberger, both riding Supreme SLs. Fuji also sponsors triathlete Matt Reed.

External links

• Corporate website
• Bicycle Culture Center, Japan

References

1. Fuji History
2. From 1972 to 1974 annual U.S. bicycle sales in the United States doubled, from 7 million to 14 million. About half of the bicycles sold were the new 10-speed road models. The oil embargo of 1974 assisted the growth of adult bicycling, and the USA became the major market for quality bicycles.
3. Ballantine, Richard, Richard's Bicycle Book, Ballantine Books (1974), ISBN 0345276213, p.55
4. Brown, Sheldon, Japanese Bicycles in the U.S. Market, Article
5. Brown, Sheldon, Japanese Bicycles in the U.S. Market, Article

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