Submitted by
Sugar 4 feak
a Weekend Warrior
from Denmark
Date Reviewed: June 27, 2011
Strengths: Light but tough as nails.
Weaknesses: A lot of drag with full suspension when riding on the road but then I am possible out of shape, or is that the norm with full suspension bikes.
Bottom Line:
I am new to the cross country vibe, loving every minute of it. Bike handles very well with a little slip on the gears at the back. The stock seat hurts my crack, but then that take some getting used too. Interested in upgrading the front forks, any body got some advice for me as to what would be best for my bike. Thanx.
Submitted by
l7chedda
a Cross Country Rider
from san antonio, tx, bexar
Date Reviewed: May 16, 2009
Strengths: Very Light, Solid Frame, Great Handling, Great response on sharp trails and hills.
Weaknesses: Chain suck, Almost every time I ride chain falls off. Swithing big gears 2 to 3 is when the chain falls off. Bought a new chain and it still falls off.
Bottom Line:
Overall great buy, money well spent. Nothing has broke. The only purchase I have made is a new chain. As soon as I saw it I knew it was going to be mine. Still is and no substitutes.
Bike Setup: Stock no changes. Always had it on 2.8 recently changed to 4.1 much better.
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Submitted by
jerthebike
a Racer
from Manorville,New York
Date Reviewed: January 3, 2009
Strengths: The frame feels incredible when you are sitting on the bike. I guess the body placement over the frame is perfect for me. The bike overall is incredibly easy ride.
Weaknesses: Chain shifting on rear derailler is a little tricky as it misses the gears at times of grest stress, on a uphil where there extreem push to move the bike, it will jump amd miss. This may also be due to the age of the bike 4years old and may need a new chain. Overall the rear shifting is the only weakness.
Bottom Line:
The overall bike is well worth it at $450.00 used it was a steal as the bike was in excellent condition with minor schratches and wear and tear. A great ride. I plan n keeping this bike and hammering it to the ground. I was out in the snow riding the trails and the bike did exceptionally well.
Similar Products Used: GT Avalanche, Rocky Mountain, Ross Mt St Helen
Bike Setup: Stock.
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Submitted by
d16gt
a Cross Country Rider
from Amarillo, Texas, USA
Date Reviewed: July 22, 2008
Strengths: Bike is tough and rides smooth. With the right components can get within "race" weight. Phenomenal geometry. A true workhorse.
Weaknesses: Weak, weak, weak stock components.
Bottom Line:
Overall, this bike has been a 7 year workhorse with almost no problems - and I have given this bike plenty of abuse. This a great XC bike, with the potential to be a race bike easy. Fisher has virtually stood by this frame design for years. I have not had the chain suck or frame weakness other Fisher owners complain about. This bike has a tremendous frame for the money, and once upgraded components were added the bike was a beast. First, get away from stock drive train and upgrade to something a little smoother and lighter. Replace shifters and derailleurs at first sign of wear - you will fight this if you don't. I will never part with this bike - a few more upgrades and this thing will be flying as light and as fast as anything comparable. Four chili's for value - stock components are junk! Overall the frame has been the best - wouldn't trade it - five chili's overall!!!
Bike Setup: X.0 Carbon RD, X.9 FD, Truvativ Noir Carbon crankset, SRAM 990 cassette/chain, King headset, Thomson Stem, Kore elite flat hb, avid sd7 brakes, mavic 717 XC on XT hubs, WTB Veloceraptor tires / Forte street tires for occasional urban assault.
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Submitted by
Scott Boye
a Weekend Warrior
from Friday Harbor, WA USA
Date Reviewed: November 23, 2006
Strengths: Great steering geometry, nice rear suspension geometry
Weaknesses: rim brakes, stock seat sucks, get chain drop during rough shifts.
Bottom Line:
Bought the bike used from a friend that is too tall for the bike. I get a kick out of the punks teasing me at the freeride park at Whistler about an "old guy riding an old skool bike" then riding past them while they walk up hills. The Fisher has been a great all-around bike for XC, mild to medium freeride, gravel paths and short pavement jaunts. I regularly get offers to buy the bike for more than I paid for it. The mechanic at the local bike shop never fails to tell me how much he admires the bike.
Similar Products Used: My friends and I swap bikes during rides, a bunch of full suspension bikes like K2, Novara, Kona. Can't remember specific models.
Bike Setup: Upgrades - disk up front, Hutchinson rock & road up front (hey, it looks whimpy but it works), Hutchinson rock & roll in back, bar ends for long, flat trails and to snag the branches while downhilling in the trees. Crank Bros. Mallet C pedals. Drivetrain changes - replaced big chainring w/ Dangerboy aluminum bashguard, replaced 32t middle ring w/ 36t ring that is now the 'big' ring. Am considering a BMX bashguard on inside of small ring to combat chain drop. Have wrapped right chainstay with foam tape covered in electrical tape to combat chain slap.
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Submitted by
Lee
a Weekend Warrior
from Cambria, Ca. USA
Date Reviewed: September 30, 2006
Strengths: Solid (like me.)
Weaknesses: A little heavy (also like me...)
Bottom Line:
Mountains, seaside, sunny, rain, asphalt, dirt, this bike runs. It is sturdy, shoots downhill with great ease, cruises like a Cadillac, and eases uphill. I have done very little in 5 years to upkeep, brakes and chains and cables exepting. People look at it with respect, and I simply enjoy it.
Submitted by
Manu Singh
a Cross Country Rider
from Vancouver, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: February 15, 2006
Strengths: Looks awesome, rides even better, very smooth and requires minimal maintenance. Comes with high quality components (mostly) and easy to upgrade.
Weaknesses: Suspension bushings start to squeak after time. I ended up disassembling the entire bike and lubricating all bushings with Permatex Anti-seize - problem solved. Stock brakes aren't great for someone who does a lot of downhill. Stock seat sucks bad.
Bottom Line:
I'm very impressed with this bike. It's as capable going downhill as it is rolling down the street as a commuter - which makes it perfect for the urban assault on downtown concrete.
Similar Products Used: Brodie 9 Ball - not that similar, but hey...
Bike Setup: Stock except for studded pedals, cut seat post for DHing, Maxis Highroller front tire.
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Submitted by
Michael
a Cross Country Rider
from Escondido, CA
Date Reviewed: December 24, 2005
Strengths: Climbs with ease, strong lightweight frame, full suspension, balance, great value.
Weaknesses: Initially, needed far too many trips to LBS for adjustments. Initially, I experienced chain drop as well as inability to up shift on occasion. In my case the problem was the cables kept stretching. However that has stopped a few months ago and now the bike continues to shift perfectly.
Bottom Line:
The 2003 Sugar 4+ is a great value. It uses the Zirconium 9000 DB Aluminum frame, for example. However, an upgrade of the rear derailleur to at least XT class is probably in order.
Submitted by
Kelvyn Panici
a Cross Country Rider
from St.Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: October 2, 2005
Strengths: This bike is great for any XC you may do. Its light and look great. I do some XC racing and this bike holds up well.
Weaknesses: Im a 150lb rider and I broke the 80mm setting on my fork (doing some moderate downhilling on the 80mm setting), so now it won't stay in 80mm mode. No Disk brakes! I will probably be getting a hydro front disk and mech rear disk. Also mabie change the tires from the stock 2.1 to 2.2-2.3 The fork bottoms out on the 100mm setting (with the spring at the max preload) on any drops higher then 2-3 feet. Fast/technical XC riding can sometimes bottom out the fork.
Bottom Line:
I paid $1500CDN NEW because the bike was almost 2 years old, so i got $500 off the regular price of $2000CDN. If you are in to XC biking and some XC racing, this is the bike for you. The bike handles all the technical stuff i can throw at it, even light highspeed downhilling (50+ KPH). The balance is great with the genesis geometry and i can wheele this thing down the street! The only thing i wish i had on this bike was disk breaks, for the stopping power and the looks.
Similar Products Used: 2004 Schwinn DSX 240, 2005 Kona Fire Mountain
Bike Setup: Stock except with all the reflectors removed and speedo added.
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Submitted by
Singletrakmind
a Weekend Warrior
from Strong Island
Date Reviewed: October 4, 2004
Strengths: Great handling on tight singletrak, climbs like a goat, accelerates with ease. Black comp fork consistently performs well. genesis geometry. convenience of Sybil suspension.
Weaknesses: stock brakes and seat suck. Had a chain slap problem but was easily fixed by replacing chain w/ SRAM powerlink chain run tight. wish it had disk brakes. Myhtos front tire not good for loose dirt. Genesis geometry not for everybody.
Bottom Line:
Great XC bike, all you have to do is keep peddling and you can tackle almost anything in this bike without leaving the saddle. Sharp handling in the twisties. Heavy, but fine if your not going to race. Had some doubts when I first bought the bike, but its really grown on me, but considering how much Ive spent on it so far, would probably have forked out the extra bucks for a comaparable bike with disc brakes.
Bike Setup: Stock except for easton seatpost, flite gel saddle, time atac pedals, SRAM powerlink chain, Fire XC front tire, and aviud single digit brakes and levers.
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Submitted by
Ray
a Cross Country Rider
from Tucson, AZ
Date Reviewed: October 3, 2004
Strengths: Light, stong wheels, good full suspension
Weaknesses: I am still trying to fix the chain suck after 18 months! I also loose the chain quite often when shifting from the middle ring to the small ring. I switched to Sram shifters and that has helped a ton since they incrementally will let you sift up and down from ring to ring. Ghost shifting was a problem, and again, the Sram setup seems to work much better.
Bottom Line:
Bike is hard on chains. I have had to remove the chain from being lodged between the small ring up front and the crank several times. My frame is really scarred up from that. Although I was going to change out the Promax brakes, I found them kind of handy. They don't throw you over the handle bars so easily. It seems like they give you a bit more control in a strange way. I like the brakes now that I have used them for 18 months. Weird. When it is all said and done, I really enjoy the bike. If the chain suck and chain falling off could be fixed, I would be even happier. For my all around riding, I recommend it.
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Dearborn, MI USA
Date Reviewed: September 7, 2004
Strengths: Excellent in climbs, responsive, takes abuse very well
Weaknesses: Chain suck - misaligned front deraileur when the travel is changed, axel super fork is awful
Bottom Line:
This bike has been in the shop for deraileur adjustments more often than it should. Once you choose the travel setting on the rear shock, several adjusments have to be made and then made again if you change back. The LX components are bad news. An upgrade to XT or XTR is imminent just so it brakes and shifts as well as my bottom of the line Marlin. I cannot overstate the deficiencies of the Manitu Axel Super fork. I weigh 175-180 and the thing is super flexy - the pitch on a big downhill is quite pronounced.
Still, the bike itself feels good and handles really well. The addition of a micro-bushing in the front derailuer set up fixes the shifting problem. An extra bushing in the back gives proper clearance for the cassett. I like the 4.1" travel setting so I won't be adjusting that in the near future.
Its a fine mid range bike, decent frame and it should last through a couple of seasons; good if you upgrade but it certainly won't be my pride and joy and I won't buy another one
Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Madison, WI
Date Reviewed: June 26, 2004
Strengths: Good Geometry, great for steep climbing. Looks awesome (is the picture wrong in this site, mine is black and silver). Cheap, for me, trek connections :). Good suspension, soaks up most bumps.
Weaknesses: Heavy! But that can be corrected. As everyone has heard, sugars have chainsuck reputation. The reason is cuz it has a bad chainline. In the 2/1 combination, the chain looks as if its gonna get pulled off the crank. Thus, resulting in chain falling off when stressed or under bumpy conditions. However, theres things that can be done. Promax brakes, common! But what do u expect for the price. Sacrifices have to be made. Fork has slight knock on high travel, barely noticable.
Bottom Line:
Overall, an excellent bike. Worth every penny! The new crank and derrailleur pretty much eliminated the chain problems. I wouldn't race with this bike, but it's perfect for the weekend trips. With some more upgrading, this will be a sweet ride.
Similar Products Used: Klein Palomino Comp, Trek Fuel 90
Bike Setup: Swapped some parts. Avid SD 3, LX crankset, XT rear derrailleur, Bontrager Select Disc Wheels, Klein Deathgrip tires
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Submitted by
Bengt
a Cross Country Rider
from Sweden
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2004
Strengths: Frame geometry, suspension, handeling then xc (very fast and fine in quick turns on smal trails)
Weaknesses: Brakes, some chain suck, pedals..
Bottom Line:
I really like this bike. When i bought it i was chosing between Specialized epic and Giant NRS 1 + the Gary Fisher bike. The GF was the bike that suited me from the very begining. The Genesis geometry suits me perfectly (i´m 177cm and weight about 75kg) So the natural choise was the Sugar 4+. It was the cheapest bike of the them!!?? but what can i say? Love at first sight or something? My style is quite hard pedaling both upp & downhill but the Fisher just keep on handling all my foolish atempts to be a xc-warrior whith great results. I whould buy this lovely bike again but maybe whith upgraded v-brakes (xt?) or discs(hayes?).
