Fuji 1.5 for my boy ... Any good?

Philly8mt

I only started riding recently and had to put up with some mild ribbing from my 14yr old boy ... The Lycra etc etc.

Anyway now that I'm enjoying days out cycling with a mate, all of a sudden, he's shown some interest! Now I don't want to be pushy and turn him off so I just let his curiosity grow to the point where he was sat on a Triban 3 (red) the other day at Decathlon.

Last night we spent a good 90 mins on the iPad looking at bikes that he liked

Anyway ... He's (sort of) fallen for this red and white fuji 1.5 sportif thing!
It's probably as much to do with the colour scheme as anything else tbh .. But .. If it gets him involved????

Anyone any experience of them? It doesn't seem to be a brand that gets much attention on here ...

I myself am still very much a beginner and will readily admit to not knowing all the ins & outs.

CrouchingPig

I think for the £500 approx you could probably buy a better specced 2nd hand bike from a couple of years ago with better groupset etc, which has lost most of the money it'll lose, helping you out if he decides its not for him - selling it on at a similar price you'd bought it for - and more than likely being a "better" ride.

night_porter

Fuji bikes have been around for over 100 years. I have owned one and think they are excellent bikes well made and beautifully finished. The 1.5 sportif is comparable in price to a Giant defy, Specialized Allez, Trek 1.1 of the same specifications but if you were to sell it on they would all return a better price because they are better known brands.

So nothing wrong with the Fuji if you intend to keep it and ride it but look at one of the others if you think he will not stick with riding.

You mentioned the Triban 3 (which also comes in red) but is £200 cheaper with the same groupset and lots of people rave about it. Why not get him one of these as a starter bike and see how things go?

Philly8mt

night_porter wrote:

Fuji bikes have been around for over 100 years. I have owned one and think they are excellent bikes well made and beautifully finished. The 1.5 sportif is comparable in price to a Giant defy, Specialized Allez, Trek 1.1 of the same specifications but if you were to sell it on they would all return a better price because they are better known brands.

So nothing wrong with the Fuji if you intend to keep it and ride it but look at one of the others if you think he will not stick with riding.

You mentioned the Triban 3 (which also comes in red) but is £200 cheaper with the same groupset and lots of people rave about it. Why not get him one of these as a starter bike and see how things go?

I must admit to liking the idea of starting him off on the t3 red. The other thing I have to consider is the fact that he's still growing, so whatever I splash out on now won't be a long term proposition.
He really did like the look of the fuji and we all (I guess reading this forum) need to love our bikes

Not so keen on second hand as I'm no mechanic and not sure if I were him that a second hand bike would excite me much!