Fuji Jari Carbon 1.1 review: a fascinating fence-sitter
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- Fuji’s a brand with a long and sometimes turbulent past. First founded in Japan at the turn of the last century, the brand built a following at home by importing American goods, but by 1919 it had begun making bikes in Japan and exporting them across the Asian region, and eventually, back to America.
By the 1970s, Fuji was a global pioneer in road cycling - the first manufacturer to introduce Shimano Dura-Ace and the first to sell a 12-speed bike - with a nostalgia-fed place in the American cycling pantheon similar to Schwinn.
The good times didn’t last. By the 1980s, Fuji had missed the mountain bike boom, and by the 1990s, it had fallen on hard times. Just before its centenary, Fuji declared bankruptcy.
The brand has revisited this pattern over the past couple of decades, playing musical chairs among a number of different investment groups and conglomerates. But in 2019, Fuji and its stablemates - Kestrel, Breezer and SE - finally found stability under the Advanced Sports umbrella, itself owned by another international business group.
That year, Fuji released the Jari Carbon.
Now, with that origin story, you might be forgiven for thinking that Fuji’s designers might have had one foot out the door. Fuji is a brand rich on heritage but somewhat light on cachet, and the release of their flagship gravel bike could easily have been an afterthought.
What’s pleasantly surprising is how little that is the case.
See the full review at:
cyclingtips.com/2021/02/fuji-...
Music by Epidemic Sound
Includes paid promotion: Our second Field Test was done in partnership with Ride High Country, the tourism and advocacy group responsible for cycling within Victoria’s North East region. We thank them for their support in being able to produce this series. - Спорт
![FUJI Jari 2021 ( NEW ) gravel bike concept [ENG SUBS]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3QoEC4isdAg/mqdefault.jpg)
"Jari" is "Gravel" in Japanese!
how is it pronounced in Japanese?
Love the reminder of summertime in this series during the depths of winter
Whether you like the ride of the Jari (I have a '19 1.3 that I put a 2x on, swapped out the stem, bars, seatpost, and saddle), is going to depend on how 'aggressive' you like your bike to ride. Mine rides pretty much exactly like my 'cross bikes, which I just love. It does demand your input on long descents but I think any really good bike does. It tackles anything you throw at it. I love mine and wouldn't trade it for anything.
Great to finally see a proper review of the Jari Carbon! I got a Jari 1.3 2020 model (same frame) in last year's end of season sale at a decent price and have ridden it since September now. I agree with pretty much everything you say in this review (almost seems you read my weight-weenie and Wiggle posts about it and just repeated everything in this video...just kidding ;)
First thing I removed was the handlebar, it's a monstrosity. I put 42cm road bars on it and now it actually feels like sitting on a road bike. Geometry-wise the Jari really feels like a mix between an endurance road- and CX-bike which is something I quite like. I use it for long gravel rides with some road sections inbetween and even if you ride a bit longer on the road it always feels like you're moving at decent speed. At the same time you can take it to more windy CX-like terrain and have fun with it. I think with skinnier tires you could actually race CX on this without any issues.
As you say, the 15mm claimed suspension can't really be felt. I've only ridden gravel before on an old-school aluminum CX bike and the Jari definitely feels softer and smoother than that, but not exactly like a magic carpet ride. However, I use it with 43mm Gravelking SK, so you can lower the pressure enough to still be comfortable after a few hours on dirt roads.
Weight was very much a disappointment considering the sub-1kg frame weight I have to say. My size 61 Jari 1.3 weighed almost 10kg out of the box without pedals, so ended up well over 10kg with pedals, bottle cages and Wahoo mount. I did some weighing of parts and calculations and my only conclusion is that the stated frame weight has to be for the unpainted (smallest size) frame without any hardware and pads, otherwise things just don't add up and even then I am not 100% sure....
Some of the stock components were definitely on the heavy side as well, especially the aluminum seatpost, the FSA Omega cranks and the Formula/WTB wheels (seems the 1.1 luckily comes with slightly better components in those departments...still not that much lighter though looking at your numbers....).
This said, given I got the bike at sale price, I had set some budget aside for modifications. I also had a couple of nice(ish) parts lying around and now have brought the weight down to around 8.6kg (incl pedals). I've fitted a carbon seatpost and handlebars, swapped the cranks for a used SRAM Red unit and crucially replaced the wheels with Farsports Carbon wheels (which saved almost 700g on its own). Also replaced all the unused bolts with nylon screws.
I made a couple of other more minor changes and there's more potential for weight savings but overall the bike feels really nice now. It rolls fast on tarmac when going to gravel areas that are a bit further away and it feels fast and reactive on short steep climbs if I stay close to home on a shortish dirt loop. Overall I think the Jari Carbon is a great allrounder but it definitely benefits from some modifications and upgrades.
I'm shopping gravel bikes -- currently a 2010 Fuji Cross Comp CX serves as my gravel machine...a tank but is my Old Faithful, so I'm intrigued by this Jari. I like the mods you listed, they all make great sense and sounds like you shaved at least a kg (?) off it. On a scale of 1-10, how comfortable would you rate it for 3-5+ hours in the saddle? That evening or next day, are you thinking about how sore you are from getting jarred, or about that awesome climb up that beautiful ridge? Thanks.
@@Steve-uw5bf definitely not thinking about getting jarred but the adventure, ridge whatever it was :) It's not an easy question to answer for me though because the only other off-road bike I have ridden in the past is my aluminum CX-bike with 35mm tires and that was a lot harsher. I do long (4+ hour rides) pretty much every weekend on this bike, with the largest proportion of the rides on non-paved surfaces. When I did that on the alu bike I definitely got home with an uncomfortable feeling in my wrists and a battered lower back . With the Fuji this is much less the case. I still feel my lower back but a lot less and at some point my lower back starts to hurt on any bike, my road bikes as well. I guess it's more to do with the position rather than harshness. I am pretty tall, so even on the XXL Fuji frame I still have a 10cm or so saddle-to-handlebar drop. Tyre pressure really makes the biggest difference. I am roughly sticking to 2 bar on the 43mm Gravel Kings which gives a reasonably plush ride and no danger of damaging the rim. I think that's officially the lowest recommended pressure for these tires but I could definitely go lower without any issue if I wanted to.
I met the person who designed this bike and got to see it before it was released! Very cool to see it in Australia.
"Where is all this weight?" - seat post and saddle, easy upgrade.
Are there always so many flies in Australia?
Great discussion, without a lot of marketing speak.
I bought the Jari Carbon 1.3 last year. All my other bikes are 58 cm bikes, so naturally that's what I purchased this time. After a year of messing around with the bike fit, and swapping out components in an attempt to make the bike more comfortable, I'm finally realizing that I should have went with the 56 cm. The geometry on this bike is just a little different and everything feels a little oversized. The handlebars seem wide. The shifter levers seem incredibly far away. It's a great bike but I would advise anyone looking to get it to spend extra time finding the right fit.
Hi. Whats your hight ?
@@jjzuk1 5'-11 1/2"
@@tboneuw thanks. So I'm 6.0 (183cm) so i guess 56 will be spot on.
@@jjzuk1 that would be my recommendation. 6'0" is right in-between sizes. All depends on your inseam and your arm length. I'd make sure to test them both out before you buy
@@tboneuw i like smaller frames generally. Can i ask are you happy with the bike ? Any issues with frame ?
Beautiful bike
Fond of my first mountain bike, branded Fuji.. Very interesting.
Same
Those flies🪰
Cudos to Fuji on the fork-crown light mount -equipped, full size mudguard & front panniers -compatible fork, as well as rear mudguard & pannier compatibility! I wish, all gravel and endurance road bikes came with these essential features.
A handsome bike, although I'm not particularly keen on the seat stay design: I much prefer Salsa's implementation in the beautiful 2019 and newer WarBird & the 2020 and newer CutThroat. I also prefer a more sloping top tube (i.e., Salsa WarBird, Genesis Datum, Accent Feral, Norco Search XR C, etc.): to Me, a compact frame looks slightly better than a near-horizontal top tube design.
It's actually 67mm for the bb drop on Size L. I like this bike, but the geometry is a tad wonky. Personally, I feel the reach is a tad short for each size and the seat tube angle too slack. 700x42 with 67mm bottom bracket brings up the bike kind of tall due to this, making it a bit cumbersome to mount I would expect. That BB height is probably better for 650b wheels.
cool bike.
From what I can see on the Fuji website the Jari 1.1 is US$2199
Alu @ 2199. Carbon 1.1 @ $2899
I did not read that title as "fence-sitter" the first time I read it 🤣
Lords of the flies.
This looks so pretty. Much better than the aethos.
I couldn't stop staring at all the flies...
Does the bike like going fast 💨?
Too many flies in the bar, or he just smells. Lol!
Was this filmed in 2020?
Is this a 2020 edition or 2021 edition?
Soma made a light gravel bike called the Wolverine and a few rocket scientists loaded it with gear and went off-road touring on them. They cried and cried when the frames cracked.
Do people realize that Fuji is not going to sell a pro-weight racing carbon frame to Joe Crybaby?
If you want a 780gm frame buy something without a warranty and shut up.
Sounds like Fuji sub optimized this bike by trying to optimize it for too many disciplines. Wondering how it might ride and handle with a bike packing rig of around 40 pounds. Also if there were 45 mm tires mounted would that give a significantly more supple ride?
I think the control tires they used (40mm) are smaller than comes stock on the bike (42mm)
Fuji actually says it has clearance for 47 mm. I have 48 mm on mine
Seems like they made a decent frame then crippled it. Sounds like solutions are: start with smaller frame size, a setback carbon seatpost to add ride comfort, add better quality 650b rims to lower weight and height further and increase responsiveness, wider supple tires at lower pressure, lower weight cranks and new handlebars. That’s all. ;)
@@jakenevin2875 True, I have 43mm Gravel Kings on mine but on the wide rims I have mounted they measure out as 46mm...and there is some room to spare...
@@e.con0210 I've got my Jari Carbon 1.1 down to 8.6kg now, with quite a few modifications. Some of the components were very heavy but I am not sure about the claimed frame weight either...it is a very nicely made frame though, lots of attention to detail and it also just looks nice.
I love how they pronounce Jari wrong and it’s their own bike.
What’s with all the flies at this brewery
Australia is the fly capital of the world. There a trillions upon trillions of the b*stards.
INEED ONE
Getting tired of guys like you only reviewing the carbon version - or just carbon bikes in general. Guess I'll wait for a bikepacking.com review of the Jari 1.1 instead!
There are plenty of reviews of the aluminum Jari models. This is the first one I have seen (at least in video form) of the Jari Carbon, so from that point of view I think it's definitely useful.
Sounds like its a touring bike in gravel bike clothes
So much expensive in Europe. 3179€
A Norco Search XR, a Genesis Datum (discontinued since a few months), the beautiful Salsa WarBird, the Ghost Road Rage -series (if you are a lightweight) - are excellent alternatives. The Ghost Road Rage -series are more affordable; the Norco Search XR C and the Genesis Datum (if you can find one) can be had for a discount. Also, check out the Accent Feral and the Accent Freak - beautiful bikes and a good value at ca. €2.000.
note to self ... do not go to this brewery. 🪰
Indeed, that's quite a lot of flies! But it could be worse: on a continental bike tour with the girlfriend a few years back, we stopped by a rustic shithole of a café in Maienfeld (Café Rathaus, to be exact), a Swiss Alpine village, for a refreshments, but the place was so off-putting I'd much, much rather eat at a café teeming with live flies instead, or - better yet - just starve to death: the table and the placemat weaves were full of squashed fly remains (yikes!): clearly, the proprietors of the café were very keen on fly swatters and believed that, like themselves, the visitors would not object to sitting on squashed flies, eating on placemats and tables with squashed flies, enjoying food cooked and served by folksy folks whose hobby is swatting flies into a disgusting mess.