Retrogrouch's New Old Bike: Dave Moulton Fuso

I just picked up a "new" old bike the other day -- a bike that I've wanted since I first saw one back in 1985: A Dave Moulton Fuso.

1986 Dave Moulton Fuso - 27 years old, but still
looking good.

Dave Moulton was a highly respected frame builder originally from Worcester, England (where he built bicycles full-time from 1974 - 1978 -- though his frame building experience goes back a lot farther), who later moved his frame building operation to the USA (from 1981 - 1993). Today, Dave is retired from the bicycle industry and is a successful writer and blogger. He built quite a few custom-built bicycles with his own name, as well as some very nicely hand-built production bikes under different brand names to distinguish them from the more exclusive custom-built bikes. One of these hand-built production bikes was the Fuso.

The Fuso line was launched in 1984 and continued until Dave retired from frame building in 1993. The name Fuso was an Italian twist on Dave's last name. The bike has an Italian vibe to it -- or at least, Dave felt that Italian bikes like Colnago, DeRosa, and Cinelli were the main competition. The word Fuso is Italian for molten. Clever. The head-tube logo features an image of molten metal being poured into a mold. On the bike I just acquired, which is from 1986, that head-tube logo is a classy enameled badge. Later ones used a decal instead of a badge.

Nice-looking head badge.

I first learned of the bike from a magazine article in 1985 -- I believe the magazine was the now-defunct Bicycle Guide -- and they did ride tests of several production bikes built by men primarily known at the time for their custom-built frames; people like Dave Moulton, Ben Serotta, Ray Gasiorowski (Romic Cycles), and others. (by the way, if any readers out there can dig up a copy of that article, let me know -- I'd love to get a scan of it). The editors loved Moulton's Fuso, saying it was a great bike for all kinds of fast riding and racing. (Update 4/15/2014: I have managed to track down that article -- it was actually Bicycling Magazine, 5/85)

Several color combinations were available in the Fuso line, and the example I found is the classy red and charcoal gray which was always my favorite. It is completely built with what was then the newly introduced Shimano Dura Ace SIS group. In 1986, I would have scoffed at the indexed shifting (yes, I was a Retrogrouch even back then -- though the name had yet to be coined). I suppose after about 27 years, it's proven itself effective, but part of me is still tempted to put on a pair of 80s vintage Simplex Retrofriction shift levers (I have a spare set somewhere). It's what I would have done back then. Actually, if I were the original owner, buying a Fuso frame in 1986 and selecting components for it, if I couldn't have gotten Campagnolo at the time, I almost certainly would have picked SunTour Superbe Pro -- I always preferred SunTour over Shimano. But now, after all these years, Dura Ace is still around, and SunTour is pretty much gone. And the Dura Ace of that generation undeniably looks and works great.

I really like the look of the seat-lug/seat-stay cluster. The seat-stay treatment is unique and lovely. The Dura Ace seat post is a classic-looking piece, and the Selle Italia Turbo saddle was the perfect choice in 1986. 

That is a monster-long stem -- 13 cm! I think I'm going to need to change that before I can ride this. 
It's over an inch longer than any stem I'd be tempted to ride on. My arms just aren't that long.

Dura Ace brakes, and a Chris King headset. Those headsets were available in 1986, but I'm certain 
this one was installed later in this bike's life.

Dura Ace drivetrain shows signs of use, but still looks pretty good for a 27-year-old bike.

Dura Ace SIS shifters. I still could put on some retrofriction levers. 
It would be a total Retrogrouch thing to do.

"From the Frame Shop of Dave Moulton." The original bike shop decal is still on the seat-tube, too. The bike needs a pair of pedals. I've looked for 80s vintage Dura Ace pedals, but they're ungodly expensive today. The Shimano 600 (pre-dates the Ultegra group) pedals are similar in style to the Dura Ace, but sell for a good bit less today. I could swear I had a pair of the 600 pedals buried in a box somewhere, in need of a rebuild, but I can't find them anywhere. They would be an acceptable choice.

One might ask what was the difference between a hand-built production bike and a custom-built one. That can vary a bit from builder to builder, but in this case, I think I can give a decent explanation. The Fuso line of bikes was hand-built to a standardized design, with standardized measurements and angles in a range of different sizes. A customer ordering one could select the size they needed, and pick from a set range of colors (though the palette of choices expanded over the years). Because most of the design was standardized, Dave could build a number of frames and keep some in stock, to be painted in the selected color when an order would come in. A fully custom-built frame, on the other hand, was built specifically to a customer's order -- likely made-to-measure. With a custom-built bike, things like tubing gauge and specific measurements and angles could be varied for the customer's particular needs, riding style, and weight. It's also possible that certain details could be selected by the customer, such as lug style, or braze-ons for things like water bottles, or whether or not to have fittings for fenders. Exactly how much input a customer would have on a custom-built bike would really depend on the builder. Dave Moulton was first and foremost a builder of racing bikes, so a customer probably didn't get to go too crazy with special requests. But the cost for a custom-built frame would be a good bit higher than the production Fuso.

As previously stated, Dave Moulton retired from frame building in 1993. I've read articles on his blog where he explains that one of the things that affected that decision was the popularity of the mountain bike. By the late 80s and early 90s, sales of road bikes really suffered as mountain bikes surged. I remember visiting bike shops at that time and being struck by how few road bikes, whether for racing or touring, there were on the showroom floors. (A similar phenomenon happened not long afterwards where one would go to a car dealership or an auto show and find nothing but SUVs.). Dave did try his hand at making some mountain bikes -- which were very different from the competition's. He approached the mountain bike from a road bike perspective, making it lighter and more nimble, with much steeper angles and shorter wheelbase than the MTB norm of the day. I guess they didn't sell well (though I sure wouldn't mind finding one), and road racing bikes were really his thing. Eventually, it just wasn't economically viable to keep him going.

An interesting note on the Fuso bicycles is that the brand has been revived in recent years by Russ Denny, who was once an apprentice to Dave. He still builds bikes out of steel, some with lugs -- some more traditional in design, and some with a more modern aesthetic. Here's wishing him the best of luck.

Addendum: A coincidence. As I was writing this, 10/07/13, I was double-checking a fact on Dave Moulton's site and found that his latest blog post is all about how and why he left the bike business. Apparently it was 20 years ago this month.