GARY FISHER BIKE BUILD

[nigzy]

Hi all,

I recently picked up a 1998 steel framed Gary Fisher MTB frame .

Which over the coming month's will be built into my all round tourer..

Apart from the respray ( beige i going for) running on 8 speed alivio throughout

Would this groupset work as a all rounder tourer?

Thanks for any advice in advance
Nigzy

[simonhill]

I would think that would do nicely.

When I had my Surly built 6 years ago, I went for Deore as a good reliable middle of the range. I wanted 8 speed, butthey had moved to 9 so I went with that. Last year, I needed to replace rear derailleur and Deore had become 10 speed. My LBS advised an Alivio as it was now pretty much the new Deore standard. Have done 4 tours on the derailleur and it works fine. I imagine the rest of the groupset will be of a similar standard. Others with more specific technical knowledge will probably know better than me.

On the Deore, one thing I liked over more expensive groupsets was a steel middle ring. A much better bet for touring, although it is considered a cheaper option, I'm guessing the Aliviro will be likewise.

Not sure how good Alivio hubs are - probably fine, but LX always get top ranking. My Deore hubs are still going strong after 6 years and 50 odd thou kms.

Finally, I opted for XT brake arms as they were only slightly more expensive and were meant to be much better.

Enjoy.

[nigzy]

Thank's for the reply ,

It's going to be my 1st proper touring bike (after doin many weekends on my Carrera hybrid), after hours ,days and months of researching, brands from Ridgeback,Dawes, to top enders Surly, Spa Thorn,

I've ended up with a steel Gary Fisher frame (which i got dirt cheap), this after reading Stephen Lord adventure cycling handbook..

Same as yourself wanted Deore , but as wanted to run my bike on 8 speed was stuck on that option, so alivio it is , thanks though you have made my mind up on goin with XT brakes was toying with them or deore but for the extra ££'s and stopping power XT get the vote.

My wheels 26" Sputnik rims, Deore hubs,DT spokes & Continental travel contact

[Jamesh]

Sounds good.
I am building up a budget 26" tourer from a free Raleigh mtb frame that a found in my dad's Aladdin cave of bikes!

Butterfly bars and 8spd gears with thumb shifters and v brakes.

Going to be a good bike for the Leeds Liverpool canal.

Found some spez nimbus 1.5" tyres to suit.

Cheers James y

[pq]

It depends a bit on what touring you'll be doing and where, but my preference is always for down tube shifters, either friction or with a friction option. That way you can run whatever you like and never have compatibility issues and you're less likely to have mechanical problems because it's less likely to go wrong. For me that was important because I used to tour is very out-of-the-way places where there was never any possibility of getting bike parts.

You have the opportunity to do this because you're having the frame resprayed. Any half decent frame builder can fit down tube shifter bosses and any cable guides necessary for you to do this and it won't cost a lot.

While you're about it you could have low-rider bosses fitted to the forks (if they're rigid steel) and resolve any other touring related issues - are the rear pannier bosses adequate for example?

[gregoryoftours]

That's what I've got! Very suitable frame for rough touring, although in my case frame size could be larger. Your components choice sounds good.
Personally for the friction option I'd get some used 7sp thumb shifters of deore/xt variety. These can also be used indexed with all 8 gears of an 8sp setup due to an unused click in the shifter.
I use a surly lht fork as the original had no low rider fittings. Also the front end was low (partly but not entirely due to frame size) and there were no spacers under the stem so the original fork steerer was cut pretty short. I would build the bike to try before you get any changes made and sprayed.

[pq]

That's a very nice, well specced bike, well done.

My thing with down tube levers was partly about using drop bars. I really can't get on with flat bars at all and I really dislike bar end shifters, so that leaves downtube for me.

My rough tourer in one of it's various guises over the years is written about here: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=65310&v=3t

It now has V brakes, a different stem, new rim on the back and a completely new wheel on the front, new rear mech.... er, I think that's it.

Unfortunately I can't really do rough touring any more, so the bike only gets used occasionally for towing a trailer.

[nigzy]

DSC00930_edited.jpeg
That's what I've got! Very suitable frame for rough touring, although in my case frame size could be larger. Your components choice sounds good.
Personally for the friction option I'd get some used 7sp thumb shifters of deore/xt variety. These can also be used indexed with all 8 gears of an 8sp setup due to an unused click in the shifter.
I use a surly lht fork as the original had no low rider fittings. Also the front end was low (partly but not entirely due to frame size) and there were no spacers under the stem so the original fork steerer was cut pretty short. I would build the bike to try before you get any changes made and sprayed.

Wow that pretty similar to how i'd like my bike to turn out like . Mines a Piranha its a 1998 frame my LBS found out after some time of researching,

Thank you for your advice i be calling in t to my LBS as he's looking forward to the build ..i we see what we come up with
Thanks again

[nigzy]

Sounds good.
I am building up a budget 26" tourer from a free Raleigh mtb frame that a found in my dad's Aladdin cave of bikes!

Butterfly bars and 8spd gears with thumb shifters and v brakes.

Going to be a good bike for the Leeds Liverpool canal.

Found some spez nimbus 1.5" tyres to suit.

Cheers James y

[nigzy]

Sounds good.
I am building up a budget 26" tourer from a free Raleigh mtb frame that a found in my dad's Aladdin cave of bikes!

Butterfly bars and 8spd gears with thumb shifters and v brakes.

Going to be a good bike for the Leeds Liverpool canal.

Found some spez nimbus 1.5" tyres to suit.

Cheers James y

That's on my bucket list along with Trans Pennine Trail , but my daydreams are of places further afield with rougher terrain
hope to see your before and after pics at some point
best of luck in your build

[nigzy]

It depends a bit on what touring you'll be doing and where, but my preference is always for down tube shifters, either friction or with a friction option. That way you can run whatever you like and never have compatibility issues and you're less likely to have mechanical problems because it's less likely to go wrong. For me that was important because I used to tour is very out-of-the-way places where there was never any possibility of getting bike parts.

You have the opportunity to do this because you're having the frame resprayed. Any half decent frame builder can fit down tube shifter bosses and any cable guides necessary for you to do this and it won't cost a lot.

While you're about it you could have low-rider bosses fitted to the forks (if they're rigid steel) and resolve any other touring related issues - are the rear pannier bosses adequate for example?

Yes the rigid forks was thinking of getting bosses fitted before respray or just fitting the tubus mounting forks set , i'm goin with thumb shifters cheers for your reply