My builder spotted my bikes, and noted that I own a Gary Fisher; the red Tassajara that I built up as a parts special. He has threatened for ages to bring his Fisher over for a fettle. He was doing a job on a posh house ages ago and pestered the owner to give him a bike he'd seen unloved in a corner. Turns out to be an ancient Gary Fisher Montare in rather excellent condition. Indeed it looks like it has never been ridden off road, and I'd be surprised if it had been ridden more than a few miles in total. No idea how old the bike is, but it must be a mid to late 1990's model given the Aheadset? But this seems an odd thing to me; Aheadset tech on a bike with basic calliper brakes and a rigid fork?
Anyway, he brought it over today and this is it.
Anyway, he brought it over today and this is it.
As you can see it is pretty much unused, a real cracker of a bike. The foam grips are as new, as is the cassette. It sports a Blackburn 46t outer ring, but is otherwise full Shimano STX. The brakes took me about two minutes to get working as nature intended - thanks to hours of experience getting rim brakes to work back in the day. The only pity being a gash in the rear skinwall. My builder said he'd pop down to Halfords and get a replacement, but really it needs another skinwall doesn't it?
Not sure as to the value of the bike; not exactly a top spec model when new, but as an historic artefact it has interest. Way too big for me at 19", especially with the horizontal top tube, and the 46t outer ring hints at road use. Indeed that's a real oddity and I'm surprised it all works as it must be outside the range of the rear shifter unit. But what a cracker of a machine to find. I guess the original owner would have skipped it eventually so hats off to my builder for giving it a new home.
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