Weaknesses: Rear swingarm broke after 6 years of service (See Strengths, was warrantied free, without hassle), stock hubs sucked for diesel riding.
Bottom Line:
This bike was purchased by myself and my parents in 2003 when I was 16 and racing the Oregon XC circuit. It carried me to many 1st place podiums as well as the overall championships points. Aside from usual wear items like chains and cassettes, the bike has been flawless and continues to perform to this day. I was out on a ride in 2009 and managed to break the rear swingarm where it meets the seat tube by the bottom bracket. I began shopping for a new steed where I originally purchased the bike (Rogue Valley Cycle Sport) and they informed me that Fisher/Trek would warranty it for free. So aside from the new swinger not matching the paint of the frame, it's as good as new and still thrashes the trails as well as it did 9 years ago. I don't see a new bike any time soon, and that's fine by me. I'd gladly buy another one just for a backup.
Similar Products Used: Trek Fuel 90 (dreaded rear brake chatter)
Bike Setup: Marzocchi Marathon 100mm forks, raceface next xc carbon/aluminum cranks with ISIS, thompson seat post and stem, ODI lock on grips, Selle Italia saddle, Time ATAC pedals, Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1 tires, sintered and organic pads (one on each side, modulates and stops fast)
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Submitted by
mrraven
a Weekend Warrior
from Ypsilanti Mi
Date Reviewed: August 29, 2010
Strengths: Light, climbs great for a full suspension. Handles well.
Weaknesses: Chain suck, mine has a grove in the bottom bracket.
Bottom Line:
I just got the bike for 400 from Craigslist and I am loving it so far, it's as light and good at climbing as my Wahoo hard tail but I much smoother more confidence inspiring ride and much better brakes. Maybe too much confidence inspiring as a went over the handlebars when I hit an eroded downhill curving section of trail with loose gravel waaaaay too fast. That was strictly rider error though. These bikes seem to be available on CL and Ebay for 400 to 600 and are a sleeper IMO. I am giving it as a used bike a 5 value rating. And thanks to the person who sold it too me nicely equipped for 400 if you see this review. A 4 overall as I am sure there are better bikes out there but not affordable by moi. :)
Similar Products Used: Gary Fisher 97 Aquila rigid Cro-Moly, Gary Fisher 2009 Wahoo.
Bike Setup: Avid juicy 7s, RokShcok Recon 327, Bontrager carbon seat post, Raceface carbon handlebars, XT rear derailer
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Submitted by
Derek Fray
a Cross Country Rider
from Thousand Oaks, Ca
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2008
Strengths: Excellent climbing bike, love the twitchy head tube angle. This bike (other than the noted weaknesses)has been rock solid for 4 seasons. I rode two sets of chain rings and one cluster right off the frame (I ride a lot). Replaced bottom bracket and three chains but everything else has been absolutely bullet proof. Improved the chain suck issue by removing 3 chain links. Quick climber, not too bad on the down hill runs. Moved on to a Santa Cruz Blur LT but, still love the Sugar 3+
Weaknesses: Chain suck, undersized rear disk caliper support..fixed with 1/2" aluminum tube from top of caliper mount to V-brake bolt. Works perfect now.. no more brake scream or vibrations. Duke shock was the weakest link... had it rebuilt twice and finally gave up.
Bottom Line:
Great all around bike, strong, good climber, not bad on the downhill runs, handles excellent and rides like it weighs five pounds less than it does. Fisher is a good company and they make some really nice bikes. Would recommend this bike to anyone looking to purchse a used version. My 18 year old son now rides my sugar 3 and he loves it.
Similar Products Used: GF/00 Kaitai, Cannondale F4000
Bike Setup: Selle' San Marcos, Easton XC carbon bar, Easton M60 stem, Lizard skins grips and chain,susp guard.
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Submitted by
Big Al
a Cross Country Rider
from New Mexico, USA
Date Reviewed: February 8, 2006
Strengths: Puts most of the rider's weight on the rear wheel, so it climbs like a goat! Sweet rear suspension, and easily adjustable.
Weaknesses: Chain suck issues early on.
Bottom Line:
I finally found a bike that fits!! I'm 6'3", 180 lbs, and need a bike with a top tube length of at least 25.5". Gary Fisher was one of the very few FS bikes available with a long top tube and definitely the most affordable. After many endo near misses with the Attack 3.0 and a final nasty one that trashed my shoulder (duh...why is my line of sight so far forward of the forks?), I had decided to quit riding completely in order to stay alive. 1 1/2 years later, after the pain went away and after researching proper bike fits, I bought the Sugar, stripped most of the parts off the K2 and slapped them on the Sugar 3+. Great ride, except for occasional visits from the Chain Suck Gremlin. Tried the zip tie fix suggested by another reviwer, and it worked for a while but eventually the zip ties ripped off under severe suck mode. Finaly replaced the old worn out chain, cassette and middle chainring and swithed to a low-goo lube - Boeshield...no more chain suck so far! Thanks Fisher for making a bike that fits the taller riders...I love this bike, and I'm riding again! 5 flaming Chilis all around!
Similar Products Used: K2 Attack 4.0 Way Big, stock setup (this frame broke after much abuse) and Attack 3.0 (free replacement frame from the kind folks at K2)
Bike Setup: Sugar 3+ XL Frame, Noleen Mega Air Forks, Avid BB7 Disc Brakes, SRAM X-Gen front derailleur, SRAM powerlink chain, Truvativ Firex Trushift Crankset, WTB almost everywhere else.
Strengths: the bike is a great bike with the float r in the back the rebound adjusment is really nice. the frame is nicely built and deseign isn't bad either
Weaknesses: the if your chain is not very well lubricated then the middle chainring will pull the chain up into the frame areathen your screwed if your somewhere on the mountain b/c the only way to get it out is to spin the wheel in reverse(so theres enough torque) and that bends the link and you cant ride home but just replace the middle chain ring and youll be fine.
Bottom Line:
Its a great bike with only a few tiny little problems that are easily fixed.
Submitted by
Andrew
a Cross Country Rider
from USA
Date Reviewed: January 12, 2006
Strengths: Great Climbing ability.
Weaknesses: Front Fork. Upgraded the springs to the hardest Rock Shox makes, but it still leaves something to be desired. Chain Suck-fixed. The stock seat needs to be replaced immediatley.
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the money. My only big complaint is the Rock Shox Duke fork-it sucks, but I would still buy this bike again over the Trek Fuel and Specialized Stump I also considered buying.
Similar Products Used: Trek Fuel Specialized Stumpjumper
Bike Setup: I'm a big rider, so after I bent the back rim I repaced the wheelset with a rhynolite/deore setup(cheap, but strong.) New specialized seat and new tires(panaracer fire pro). Ok so how i fixed the chain suck-got rid of three chain rings and replaced it with one. I'm down to nine speeds, but I never used the other ones all that much. I love the setup and haven't had one problem with it.
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Submitted by
Jared
a Cross Country Rider
from Hampton VA
Date Reviewed: October 24, 2005
Strengths: Geometry Frame Components (other than hubs)
Weaknesses: Hubs went quicker than I would have liked, I maintened them fairly well. I tend to be a heavy rider 6' 200lb and I don't take it easy to often.
Bottom Line:
I love the bike I have been riding it for 3 years and still love to ride it. It responds perfectly. The two travel setting are perfect depending on what kind of trail you will be riding (tends to be a little tight going from 2" to 4" but the other way snaps right in). No complaints, Love the bike. I'd recommend it to anyone who has found a hardtail is just too weak for their riding style. (i.e. bent rims, bent frame, etc.) not for people just looking to minimize a sore but.
Bike Setup: A few upgrades but still mostly stock.
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Submitted by
Eric
a Weekend Warrior
from Gallup, NM
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2005
Strengths: 1) Light, great acceleration, superb climber, sweet geometry 2) Terrific handling in tight, technical singletrack 3) Fox Float-R rear shock
Weaknesses: 1) Chain suck issue (solved! see below) 2) Duke XC: soft on climbs, especially in long travel mode 3) Slow rubber (why IRC backcountry 2.25's? )
Bottom Line:
1) The near-perfect all-day epic trailbike 2) Componentry is mostly solid; great value for the money 3) Chain suck: (no, it's not my technique). A huge, frustrating problem until my LBS swapped out the "V3" middle chainring for the updated "V5" on the stock Bontrager Race crankset. (Early 2003 Sugar 3+'s like mine were shipped with an incompatible middle chainring; see fisherbikes.com & check out the FAQ's for the Sugar chain suck fixes). Chain suck went from common to uncommon, but was still a maddening, occasional problem until I stumbled on the 9/2004 posting on mtbr.com for the Sugar 3+ disc and a guy from Finland had the final fix: a strategically placed (and glued) zip tie on the chainstay nearly touching the big ring completely eliminated chain suck once and for all. My Sugar has been perfect ever since. (I can e-mail you a JPEG of my set-up). 4) The Duke XC was a novelty as one of the first U-turn "infinitely adjustable" (63-108 mm) forks, but its 4.11# weight and its bobby, spongy stock springs grew old quick. Swapping the Duke for the Fox Float 80X was an absolute revelation. (I will never ride another fork). 5) Bottom line: I'd buy the Sugar 3+ again in a heartbeat now that the chain suck issue has been (finally) solved, but I'd swap the fork for a Fox Float. And I'm gonna ride this Fisher into the ground.
Strengths: suspention actoion is very smooth with little bob, weight it also ok and the general way the bike rides is very good
Weaknesses: shock bushings wore out quite quickly but were easily sorted out
Bottom Line:
buy one, i think its the best all purpose mountian bike i have ever ridden. i race road bikes so i like to have a mountian bike more for trails than to race so its not quite as light as an epic or something like that but it is very confy, handles very well and a superb trail bike thats also seems to be pretty strong and offer a decent amount of travel. i havnt had any of the chain suck problems that have been spoken about so i cant comment on them but overall if i was going to buy a general purpose mountian bike again id buy a fisher
Strengths: suspention actoion is very smooth with little bob, weight it also ok and the general way the bike rides is very good
Weaknesses: shock bushings wore out quite quickly but were easily sorted out
Bottom Line:
buy one, i think its the best all purpose mountian bike i have ever ridden. i race road bikes so i like to have a mountian bike more for trails than to race so its not quite as light as an epic or something like that but it is very confy, handles very well and a superb trail bike thats also seems to be pretty strong and offer a decent amount of travel. i havnt had any of the chain suck problems that have been spoken about so i cant comment on them but overall if i was going to buy a general purpose mountian bike again id buy a fisher
Strengths: Very good climber and very silent on downhill
Weaknesses: None (exept the chain suck problem, which seems to be solved now)
Bottom Line:
An extremely pleasant bike to ride both uphill and downhill. The no-bob suspension works perfect, also. With this bike I have forgotten the back aches I used to have with my previous FS bike. I have solved the chain suck problem (which takes place when changing from the middle chain ring to the small chain ring) by a zip tie setup (of which I have some pictures, if someone is interested).
Similar Products Used: Marin Shoreline Trail (my previous bike)
Bike Setup: I bought only the frame and the rear shock and the rest of the parts were taken from my previous bike (the frame of which got broken). So it's a combimation of Shimano XT and Sram Esc 9.0 parts, including Rock Shox Judy Race front suspension and Selle Italia Flide saddle.
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Submitted by
alex g
a Cross Country Rider
from houston
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2004
Strengths: simple effective single pivot design, genesis geometry, great customer service (if you talk to the right person)
Weaknesses: occasional chain suck, single pivot axle design
Bottom Line:
Simple and effective single pivot design. Less rear triangle flex than earlier 2000 models. Once you get used to Genesis geometry you'll love the handling. Even after tweaking the rear derailleur to perfection you get occasional shiftfunk and chaindropping from mid to granny. Still more flex in back than a Superlight but then again, you get a whole bike for the price of a SL frame. The one MAJOR prob to keep an eye on is the main pivot bolt. Retighten with medium locktite (100inchpounds) at least once a month. If that puppy loosens up on you while riding it fatigues the bolt and ends up shearing off the "bolthead" and leaves you with a very dangerous situation if you're not aware of it. An XTR derailleur up front helps a bunch with shifting. The Cloud Nine is a VAST improvement over the AD-5 that came with it. Other than that this bike is absofreekinlutely sheer sweetness on two wheels... Ride on!
Similar Products Used: Voodoo, Raleigh, GT, Santa Cruz
Bike Setup: XTR front derailleur (BIG difference) Manitou Black Elite, Cane Creek Cloud Nine, Bontrager Superstock
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Submitted by
tom roedell
a Weekend Warrior
from concord
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2004
Strengths: Good climbing,comfortable
Weaknesses: Chain suck, stock tires suck
Bottom Line:
Bought the bike in 12/03. Five weeks ago bent/dented the swingarm, have been waiting since then for Gary to ship a new one to my LBS at a cost of 500 bucks. Seems like a long time to wait and loosing a bit of faith in Gary. Bike shop says they have called Gary numerous times for the part, and "its on the way". Not sure how much longer to wait or buy a new bike-short season in NH.
