Garry Fisher Tassaraja - Rhapsody in Blue
TomyMMX
Posts: 5
In the beginning of 2002 I was still in high school and my childhood dream of getting a mountain bike (that didn’t suck) was alive more than ever. And for the money I could afford I got a Garry Fisher Tassaraja (2001). It looked a lot like the one on Bikepedia but the components were somewhat different. Starting with the wheels. The rear hub was a cheap shimano and the front was a no name crap. The rims were Vuelta something but all in all the package held together quite well and stayed true. The gears were and still are Shimano Deore 3x9 and work quite well. Most other components were bontrager branded, except for the headset, bottom bracket and V-brakes. All of some Chinese no-name variants. All in all most of the components were quite good if not great. But the one component that was really crappy were the forks. For the Rock Shox Jett fork it would be best if I would have just bolted the suspension together to a rigid fork. I never even tried to use them on really rough terrain since one could bottom them out just riding of a sidewalk. So the original Hutchinshon tires were promptly exchanged to a more road friendly Michelin rubber. And with that the MTB genes of the bike were almost completely suppressed.
On our 10th anniversary I somehow felt the urge to do something with what I had. Since I bought the bike the Garry Fisher brand faded in to the Garry Fisher collection under the Trek brand name and for me that is very sad. Fisher bikes always had something special, like the “Work and no play is no good at all” steerer cap and the “mans best friend” logo at the bottom of the seat-post tube. But the best part was the feeling that you ride something that has its roots at the very beginning of mountain biking.
Enough of my blabbing! I started with a stripped down frame.
As it was my plan to use disc brakes I pulled out my trusty Dremel and removed the V-brake mounts. Trying hard not to cut into the frame tubing.
The cable guides were laid out for three bare wires on the top tube so I had to make space for a thicker disc brake cable. Again with the Dremel.
After all that I brought the frame to a local powder coat shop that sanded the frame and covered it in a nice new blue coat. All for 40 Euros. Most of the needed components I got from Ebay. But one that was hard to get at a normal price was a disc brake mount adapter. Since at the time I bought the bike Fisher was already a brand under Trek, it used the same weird weight lowering idea where they did not weld a rear disc break mount to a disc ready frame. They just left three holes through which you could mount an adapter that then fits a disc brake caliper.
As the original headset was crap I bought a new one. It was not an expensive one, but based on Internet reviews a sturdy one. FSA The Pig is meant to take a lot of beating for a low price.
The next step was the new fork. As I can say now the Rock Shox Reba that I bought is from a different galaxy than the Jett. Quite unbelievable that it is made by the same firm. Before assembly I also sprayed the Bontrager crowbar steerer to a mate black and bought new lock-on grips.
The most challenging part of this build were the wheels. Since I needed new hubs for the disc brakes I decided I want to keep the spokes and rims I had to save money and at the same time to learn how to build wheels. I got front and rear Shimano SLX hubs and painted the rims mate black. After some Internet tutorials and some trial and error I managed to build some nice wheels. Not the lightest pair around but still under 2 kilos for the pair.
The other new components were Shimano XT disc brakes with XT rotors (160mm back 180mm front) and a fizik saddle (a steal on Ebay). The sram 7 cassette, the Shimano crank-set, the seat post and the Deore shifters and derailleurers stayed stock since they work great. The final touch was the gf logo up front. I am still deciding if I want to spray a Garry Fisher text on the bottom tube. The idea was to use this design, but the jury is still out. The most important part is, that the bike rides and handles unbelievably well and I can’t wait to put it trough its paces.
And for the end some pictures of the finished bike.
On our 10th anniversary I somehow felt the urge to do something with what I had. Since I bought the bike the Garry Fisher brand faded in to the Garry Fisher collection under the Trek brand name and for me that is very sad. Fisher bikes always had something special, like the “Work and no play is no good at all” steerer cap and the “mans best friend” logo at the bottom of the seat-post tube. But the best part was the feeling that you ride something that has its roots at the very beginning of mountain biking.
Enough of my blabbing! I started with a stripped down frame.
As it was my plan to use disc brakes I pulled out my trusty Dremel and removed the V-brake mounts. Trying hard not to cut into the frame tubing.
The cable guides were laid out for three bare wires on the top tube so I had to make space for a thicker disc brake cable. Again with the Dremel.
After all that I brought the frame to a local powder coat shop that sanded the frame and covered it in a nice new blue coat. All for 40 Euros. Most of the needed components I got from Ebay. But one that was hard to get at a normal price was a disc brake mount adapter. Since at the time I bought the bike Fisher was already a brand under Trek, it used the same weird weight lowering idea where they did not weld a rear disc break mount to a disc ready frame. They just left three holes through which you could mount an adapter that then fits a disc brake caliper.
As the original headset was crap I bought a new one. It was not an expensive one, but based on Internet reviews a sturdy one. FSA The Pig is meant to take a lot of beating for a low price.
The next step was the new fork. As I can say now the Rock Shox Reba that I bought is from a different galaxy than the Jett. Quite unbelievable that it is made by the same firm. Before assembly I also sprayed the Bontrager crowbar steerer to a mate black and bought new lock-on grips.
The most challenging part of this build were the wheels. Since I needed new hubs for the disc brakes I decided I want to keep the spokes and rims I had to save money and at the same time to learn how to build wheels. I got front and rear Shimano SLX hubs and painted the rims mate black. After some Internet tutorials and some trial and error I managed to build some nice wheels. Not the lightest pair around but still under 2 kilos for the pair.
The other new components were Shimano XT disc brakes with XT rotors (160mm back 180mm front) and a fizik saddle (a steal on Ebay). The sram 7 cassette, the Shimano crank-set, the seat post and the Deore shifters and derailleurers stayed stock since they work great. The final touch was the gf logo up front. I am still deciding if I want to spray a Garry Fisher text on the bottom tube. The idea was to use this design, but the jury is still out. The most important part is, that the bike rides and handles unbelievably well and I can’t wait to put it trough its paces.
And for the end some pictures of the finished bike.
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Comments
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nice job.
looks very nice0 -
tidy
my better half has a tassajara from 2007, a nice bike from the start0 -
Very Clean, I'm loving the customisation of this frame. Good Work!!!0
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Huge fisher fan! Fantastic colour and really nice to see it made up! Lovely! So tempted to Pc my frame now! how much did it cost if you dont mind me asking?0
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Good effort, enjoy the riding. Nice bike
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70\'sPenguin wrote:Huge fisher fan! Fantastic colour and really nice to see it made up! Lovely! So tempted to Pc my frame now! how much did it cost if you dont mind me asking?
I don't really know:D
Ballpark I would say around 500€.. half of which was the fork.
I know I would probably get a better new bike for some more money but then it would not be my fisher:D0 -
mrmonkfinger wrote:tidy
my better half has a tassajara from 2007, a nice bike from the start
I would be interested in a photo of that bike:D0 -
TomyMMX wrote:70\'sPenguin wrote:Huge fisher fan! Fantastic colour and really nice to see it made up! Lovely! So tempted to Pc my frame now! how much did it cost if you dont mind me asking?
I don't really know:D
Ballpark I would say around 500€.. half of which was the fork.
I know I would probably get a better new bike for some more money but then it would not be my fisher:D
I meant the powder coating, not the whole bike :P0 -
70\'sPenguin wrote:I meant the powder coating, not the whole bike :P
I have to start to read whole sentences:D
It's written in the post. It was 40€ here in Slovenia:D0 -
TomyMMX wrote:
I would be interested in a photo of that bike:D
Hi Tomy, the best I can do at the moment is a stock photo, very similar colour, her frame is a bit later and has disk brake mounts.
It was a pretty good bike, although the fork failed after a couple of years (lost its lockout) otherwise its been great.0 -
