1983 fuji olympic

I know none of the specifications of my Fuji Olympic - not the dimensions, date of manufacture nor the intended market. Despite all this, this Fuji has become my favorite, most ridden bike. I was actually searching for a French bike whose parts I could use as a donor for my Urago racing frame when I stumbled upon this bike for $250. The bike looked pretty rough but I bought it anyway figuring it would be good for parts. When I got home and started cleaning it up I noticed that the bike had very little signs of actual use - the bike just needed some maintenance. I ordered up a Shimano 600 wheelset (I was scared of the tubulars it came with at the time), new brake hoods, new handlebar tape and after a bit of elbow grease it looked & felt like a new bike.

I didn't want to use my expensive Miyata 1000 touring bike nor my even more expensive Bridgestone RB-1 racing bike to commute to work, so with immediate effect the Fuji became my commuter bike. Up until I quit working at the Census Bureau I rode my Fuji for half of the commute, parked it at L'Enfant Plaza and took the metro into the office. My daily rides were so therapeutic - the majority of the ride was along the Mt. Vernon trail where I would get to see the Jefferson Monument, the Capitol building and also planes taking off & landing at National Airport. Given the vintage & quality of the parts it came with & the fact that it used Ishiwata triple-butted chromoly steel, I'm guessing that it's a mid-upper range racing bike from 1983-1984 (maybe the name "Olympic" was meant to coincide with the 1984 olympics?). There's only been a few modifications on the bike other than the Shimano 600 wheelset - I crashed it once and had to replace the Dia-Compe drilled non-aero levers for a set of Shimano BR-400's and the Fujita leather saddle for a Fujita suede saddle that Keiko graciously found for me in Japan. Since then the Fuji's been my go to bike for everything from errands to centrury rides.

contact: jonathantakeuchi AT gmail DOT com