Submitted by
Bunky
a Weekend Warrior
from Washington DC
Date Reviewed: September 22, 2003
Strengths: Smooth on rocky descents. Climbs like a goat on steroids.
Weaknesses: weight-- but not bad for a FS bike.
Bottom Line:
Was recently debating going with a newer bike, and decided to put some TLC into the F1. Replaced Judy SL (1997) with Marzocchi MX Comp w/ ETA. Great feel. The bonus is you can dampen the rear shock and lock out the front. Climbs like a slightly heavier than normal hardtail with just enough travel up front and in back to track wonderfully--no pogoing, yet takes techy climbs smooth. In the downhill/ fast sections she rides like a 1976 Cadillac Coupe De Ville. Smoove.
Strengths: Light frame, single pivot, on the fly lockout, eye catching design
Weaknesses: bottle location
Bottom Line:
This is a great XC racing/singletrack bike. I regularly beat a friend of mine who is 10 years younger and 40 pounds lighter than me on singletrack rides. Unlocking the rear shock lets me fly down rough sections that he can only pick his way through. I have had several opportunities to buy a newer bike and I always decide not to. No trouble with the pivot or any frame weaknesses mentioned by other riders. I weigh 215 pounds and ride hard although I don't do any dropoffs. Hard for me to put a price on it since I bought the frame only with the SID rear shock and built it up with components of my own choosing. I highly recommend it if you can find one anymore.
Submitted by
Tripp
a Downhiller
from Fort Collins, CO
Date Reviewed: June 20, 2001
Strengths: Frame geometry, rear dampening system, king wheelset, color(baby blue)
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
Reading these other reviews makes me wonder if their really riding the same bike. We are talking about the F1, right?!? I've beat this bike on tech trails, singletrack and downhill, from CA to NC with NO PROBLEMS! This must be the best full suspension climber ever; dampens on the fly. After two years, my only add on has been a hydrolic rear disc.
Similar Products Used: many, including the GT LTS 1000 DH, VooDoo TI
Bike Setup: rockshox SID SLT1, XT Rapidfire, XT/XTR brake/derailleur, Time clipless, Chris King Bontrager Race Lite Wheelset, WTB OS headset
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Matt
a Downhiller
from Denver, CO USA
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2001
Strengths: You can do a really good wheelie with it. Thats about all.
Weaknesses: Frame sucks. No real good components.
Bottom Line:
I'm only 14 years old and I cracked the frame in half right behind the head tube weld. If you think you'll ever be doing any drops at all, don't get this bike. The lack of metal on the frame makes it prone to easy dents and cracks or in my case breaking in two. Also, Gary Fisher isn't the best at warranties. It took fisher 2 months to get me just a frame.
Strengths: light weight plush rear Great finish warranty
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
I got the frame as a replacement because i snapped my old one (Joshua Z2). At the moment it has five and a bit inches travel on the rear. this is one of the lightest frames that i have ridden. Since i got the frame for free, what value. This is a fantastic bike.
Strengths: warranty,geometry and low stand over clearance.
Weaknesses: could be lighter(frame),color.
Bottom Line:
the bike is fine .for all you people posting about how bad the bike is,remember that its mostly the rider!i know one guy that has a 98 zo with a fully unlocked rear shock(bouncy) that can out run the top 20 experts in the tech trails.so far all i can say about my bike is that fisher replaced my 97 xo frame with the 99 f1 frame and shock.warranty.if the frame was a pound lighter and had a bit more peddle to ground clearance and i could put a stratos pro rear shock on the back without the oil leaking out of it in a 2 month period,then i would have one hell of a ride.
Bike works as expected, nothing too unusual. Problem:... The single pivot point is great as it is the only place on the FS frame that will need attention when it starts to wear. However, this was poorly designed. The bushings wear as expected in about 6 months...no problem with that. The pivot point is however, weak. The bolt/washer combination used to connect the URT to the main frame is crap. The bolt (even with teflon tape and loctite) can come loose while riding and cause the washer to eat into the soft aluminum URT. Tightening becomes necessary, and you ride some more. The bushings wear and more tightening becomes necessary. Soon you have started a cut into the URT which causes lots of headaches. Your rear tire begins to swim along with you like a fish as you pedal. More tightening.... All this started happening within 2 months of riding. I only weigh 170 lbs, and am not that hard on the thing. I would not recommend this bike to anyone who likes to ride with lots of bumps in the trail, you may hurt bike if you do this too much. The first 2 months were GREAT!!! Replace the bushings every month or so for best results.
Bike Setup: Gary Fisher FS FRAME components $2500...
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
bigjay
a Cross-Country Rider
from Charlotte NC
Date Reviewed: June 6, 1999
Strengths: light, great full suspension climber, geometry is perfect
Weaknesses: availability, price
Bottom Line:
I've been riding a Specialized FSR Comp for some time, and like it. I recently traded bikes with a friend who owns an F1. Spent an entire day at Tsali on the F1 and must say that I'm very impressed!. The F1 is light, responsive, it sprints well, and climbs much better than my Specialized. The URT grumbles are simply not all true. The 'on the fly' dampening adjustment works well located on the bars, and I like that the shock still works even with the dampening cranked up, and that there is a range of remote dampening. It isn't just on/off.Gary Fisher's geometry (longer front center / short rear end) work incredibly well. It took me about 10 minutes to adjust to it, and then the advantages really shined. The bike tracks well, and handles better in technical terrain, where you must be able to shift your weight up or back to clean tough sections.Look for my slightly used FSR in the marketplace. I plan to make the switch.
Submitted by
Correction
a Cross-Country Rider
from Miami
Date Reviewed: April 5, 1999
Bottom Line:
The F1 does not ride like the F3 at all. I have a F2 and it does not ride like the F3 at all. Nor would I expect the F1 to ride like the F2. Do not believe the comment below is MY bottom line. If you don't believe me go to the store and ride them both. And please don't post if you haven't ridden the bike EVER!!
Submitted by
John
a weekend warrior
from Scarborough, Ontario
Date Reviewed: January 4, 1999
Bottom Line:
This entry is more of a comment than a review, however I did ride a Joshua X0 in Maui for 2 weeks and became very familiar with the Joshua's riding characteristics. The X0 is last year's F3 which is comprised of heavier, lesser quality components than the F1, none-the-less the ride must be very similar.Firstly, without launching into a URT versus linkage/sweetspot/etc. diatribe, this is an excellent bike for ALL ROUND riding and I have shortlisted it for purchase in '99 along with the Rocky Mountain Element TO or Instinct, Kona King Kikapu, Marin Mount Vision Pro,Specialized FSR XC S-Works, and Cannondale Raven 1000 or 900.As positive as I am on the Joshua, I would NOT consider this bike if I was planning to race. It is heavy and slow, perhaps the slowness is due to the inefficiency of the URT design and the Fisher URT design -- the Trek carbon fibre Y series bikes (last year's Y-33 or this YSL 300/200) is much more suited to racing as it is much lighter and more effective URT. Further to the point, the January '99 issue of Mountain Bike magazine (pg 36) makes a preference to the Trek YSL over the Specialed FSR XC for racing purposes. Even sister company Klein's Mantra is a faster bike & more suited to tight single track than the Fisher Joshua; just be careful going downhill with it - the Joshua is much more forgiving and controllable.The Joshua F3 must have a curb weight of at least 25 (or more likely 26 pounds) -- judging from the X0's 28.5 lbs, 23.5 for the F3 just seems highly improbable ... especially if it was a Fisher/Trek/Klein rep that stated this. From the bikes that I have TESTED, the Rocky Mountain Element Race (the T.O. is 3lbs lighter), the Trek Y-33 (although at 5'6, the medium did not provide me with any clearance & the small's cockpit was too cramped), the Specialized FSR XC Pro, and the Cannondale Raven are better RACING candidates.
Finally, to fellow Canadian & Torontonian Tristan, as at the time of this posting there aren't any '99 Joshuas in Toronto -- I am confident that our local bike shops (Silent Sports, Trail blazers, Sporting Life, etc.) would apply your deposit to a different bike that would be more suited to racing - please accept my criticism as constructive.
Submitted by
Tristan
a racer
from Toronto, Ontario
Date Reviewed: November 22, 1998
Bottom Line:
I just ordered an F1 a few weeks ago and it should be arriving any day now. I plan to race on this bike next year. The point of my submission is to clear up the mistake in weight that is listed on this page for this bike. The 99' Gary Fisher Joshua F1 weighs 23.5 pounds.....not 27 pounds. I would not purchase a bike for that price if it was not under 24 pounds. That would be insane!
