Jim Hultman wrote:
>To those interested in old Fuji's...This comes from Santana, not Fuji...I
>hope you'll accept it as possible Fuji built their VaLites this way....(I
>don't want to cut my Club Fuji apart to prove it though).
>
>"How about a "quad butted" tube? While double-butted and triple-butted tubes
>both have two internally-tapered transitions (one at each end of the tube),
>a quad-butted tube has four internal tapers---one at each end plus a pair in
>the middle to create a mid-tube reinforcement (i.e. 8/5/8/5/8---read each
>slash mark as a transitioning taper). Easton has produced double-length
>quad-butted top tubes for Santana since 1993. The thick center section
>exists where the front seat-tube passes through the one-piece top tube.
This makes lots of sense for a tandem's top tube, but that's not how Fuji used the term.
As Fuji used it, it refers to a tube with a normal butt on one end and a stepped butt on the other end, or possibly stepped butts on both ends.
At this period, the Japanes manufacturers were working very hard to outdo one another, and various types of reinforcements were used, including spiral splines et. al.
The various proprietary tubings made by Fuji, Miyata and others in the '80s were very fine indeed, and the frames are excellent.
Sheldon "http://sheldonbrown.com/japan.html" Brown
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