Hey Don,
Very tasty bikes, I think, underappreciated and overlooked by many both back in the day and today. IIRC the '81-'82 Pro and Newest frames looked nearly identical, using the same lugs, fork crown and seatstay caps. The Finest MkII had slightly less-deluxe seatstay caps and fork crown.
I don't think many high-end Fujis sold in the US, especially compared to European high-end road bikes/frames. Narrower distribution, fewer dealers, fewer bikes in the peleton, etc. I'm not aware of them being sold in any market outside the US, either. Less on the ground back in the day means fewer available on ebay today.
Be knowing that this triad was spec'd specifically for US criterium road races and features tight wheelbases, upright angles (75-deg seat and 74-deg head), stout fork blades & stays (though real-world effects here are controversial) and quick handling. They are fast and responsive and do not soak up road imperfections. They always put a smile on my face when I wanted to go fast but were not the bikes I chose for long rides.
I'm hoarding my share, though the best are not rideable. A '79 Professional (damaged), '82 Finest MkII (scabrous but rideable), '85 Opus III (beater fixed gear), '86 Design Series Road (damaged). "Someday" the Pro and Design Series will get reworked and maybe repainted.
Cheers,
Paul Brodek Hillsdale, NJ
On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 22:41:32 -0700 (PDT), Donald Gillies
<gillies@cs.ubc.ca> wrote:
>I have a NOS 1981 or 1982 catalogue from one of Sheldon Brown's
>competitors on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. In those years the top
>4 bikes from Fuji had just about same chromoly pipes
[snip]
>Why are these fuji's so rare on ebay ?? Are the IBOB's hoarding them
>all ??
>
>- Don Gillies
>San Diego, CA
Paul C. Brodek
Hillsdale, N.J. U.S.A.
E-mail: pcb@skyweb.net