The sale has been ongoing for almost 6 months, making me think that this model is very unpopular even at only $1,500.
What’s the catch? The alloy material used in this bike seems to be a quality stuff that was also used in Fuji’s previous alloy bikes reviewed as very stiff.
I was shopping for BMC Teammachine and CAAD13 for its stiffness, but SL-A’s price tag seems to be too good.
by 17021
9 Comments
Because Fuji
Almost anything made of aluminium will be stiff
Fuji doesn’t spend as much on marketing as pretty much every other maker. So… now you begin to understand how much of “buzz” you see online and in the press is not exactly on the level: it’s bought and paid for.
Nothing wrong with Fuji, it’s a storied brand that doesn’t get a lot of hype. This is probably a Kinesis frame. Should be a solid buy.
In my experience Fuji’s are criminally underrated and have little to no “cool” factor. I don’t mind though since it meant I got my 2017 Jari for around $1,500 and to this day is one of my favourite bikes to throw my leg over. Both the aluminum and geometry of the original run of Jari’s is both stiff and compliant in all the right directions. Have multiple 200km days on it with no comfort complaints.
Fuji bikes are solid. I still have my Roubaix 1.3 I got 10 years ago with 105 components. Rides like new, everything original, I’ve only replaced consumables.
I’m only replacing it because I want to catch up with hydraulic brakes, di2 and carbon fiber.
There are no “stiffer” alloys. All aluminium alloys are about the same stiffness to weight, same for steel and titanium. Only carbon is an outlier, especially since you can play with layup.
Stiffness comes from frame design, period.
They have very different *strengths* however, but you cannot gauge that without destructive testing.
Long story short, Performance Bike was Fuji’s main retail partner in the US, nearly bankrupt and owed Fuji‘s parent company (Advanced Sports International) millions. This forced ASI to buy Performance Bike to prevent their debt from being erased. ASI also went bankrupt as a result so now a much less active holding company owns the brand and isn’t doing that much with it.
It’s a great deal for a Shimano 105 bike. Hard to say how the ride quality compares to the more expensive offerings without riding it. Fuji quality traditionally has not been the best. Some of it doesn’t matter much, but it can take away from the experience.