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Gary Fisher Bikes
Gary Fisher certainly has had a tremendous influence on the sport of cycling. In the 60’s he began working on a prototype of the modern off-road or mountain bicycle. He created a bike that was able to travel on off-road terrains and stop even though it was speeding down a mountainside. On his second attempt at starting a bicycle company he started Fisher Mountain Bikes, which became quite successful. In 1993, Trek bought the company with Gary remaining an integral part of the business and known as Gary Fisher bikes.
Trek has in recent years steadily been rolling a number of small companies they bought under the Trek label. Bontrager has become the company's component, wheels and accessory name and the Gary Fisher sub-brand has ceased to exist and has become the 'Gary Fisher Collection' under the Trek label.
Now though the way they are named and distributed and advertized has changed these bikes are still top of the line bikes both in their design and in their construction. Not only that but Trek says that this is a good thing as they will now be sold through a far broader distribution network and says it will expand their exposure nearly ten-fold. Even Gary Fisher himself is very upbeat about it.
Gary Fisher is considered by many to be the founder of mountain biking. He has also invented some of the best innovations related to mountain bikes because of his passion for biking. Some of them are the oversized headsets and front wheel suspensions as well as the 29” suspension bikes. In fact he has given the cycling world in general a lot of new ideas.
One of the things about his mountain bikes is, they are built with a G2 or Genesis 2 geometry. This G2 geometry has an increased offset of the front suspension fork which brings the handlebars closer to the rider at the same time it maintains the an optimal wheel base. This gives the rider greater steering control.
Gary Fisher bikes aim at having high quality components. They also have a on the edge design style and just simply outstanding handling. These selling features are pointed out clearly but not in an overstated way as far as I’m concerned. They are built for people who want their actions and the look of the bike to do the talking rather than their words.
The Gary Fisher Paragon 29er has an alloy body with Fox forks and is up for any ride you want to take it on. It is great whether you are speeding downhill or hitting an uphill section and handle great over the rocky sections as well. It comes with hydraulic disc brakes which give you delicate yet very positive stopping power with only your fingertips. The speed gearing components it comes with make it a whole lot easier to control your power yet maintain your momentum. And as you might expect the wheels and tires are from Bontrager are made to enhance your efficiency.
Gary was a pioneer in the field and he has made sure that all Gary Fisher bikes have that same pioneering flare and quality. They truly are bikes ahead of their time.