A brief history of classic Fuji BMX bicycles

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A brief history of Fuji and its BMX bikes :

Fuji is most well known for their road bikes; however, between 1979 and 1986 Fuji a.k.a the Nichibei Fuji Cycle Company, Ltd produced some very nice BMX models. The Feather Professional and Feather, are the most well known of the models. Anyone that remembers these higher-end models back the day, remember they were quite expensive.

Let’s back up for a moment… In 1899 they began importing bicycles under the Nichibei Trading Company. Nichibei translates to “Japanese-American”. In 1919 they merged with a mechanical engineering company and began manufacturing bicycles for the Japanese market under the name The Nichibei Fuji Cycle Company.

In the 1950’s they began exporting bikes to America through the Toshoku American Company. These were private branded and sold mostly through Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards house brands.

Starting in 1971 Toshoku America establishes Fuji America and the Fuji brand bicycles are introduced to the USA. Also during this time, the house brands are phased out. In 1973 Japanese innovation is at full force which leads to the introduction of the double-butted chrome molybdenum frames. Fuji became famous for their unique frames and welds at this time.

Now begins the BMX bikes! In 1979 they introduced the Fuji Feather (Professional) and the MX-500 at the Fuji Japan Cycle Show. The Fuji Feather Professional was a striking, well built and decked out machine aimed at the top of the market. The MX-500 was a much heavier but very durable entry-level bike. The Feather Professional and Feathers are manufactured from 1979/80 to 1982. The Feather Pro and Feather models were manufactured in Japan, the MX and later X models were sent to Taiwan in the early 1980s. 

After 1982 Fuji no longer aimed at the high-end BMX market and started offering more basic models like the 750x and ending with the Dyna-mite in 1986.