Several of my friends have met him out of the blue at Sea Otter or what not, they've all said he was super cool.

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I've met him (and raced against him) at Iceman twice. Seems like a good guy. Pretty low key.

 

I saw that film, it was cool, i don't recall getting that impression of Gary.

 

By nearly all accounts, Gary Fisher is not a jerkface.

Quite the contrary.

 

Good to know. It just seemed like he was a stereo-typical roadie (if you know what I'm sayin ) ...and the other guys were stoners...on bikes.

Glad to hear he's a cool guy.

Seriously though: it's a cool flick...check it out.

 

Gary is really cool, pretty easy going guy.

 

I have interacted with Gary quite a lot over the years. Definitely not a jerkface.

 

I just watched the show, it was pretty interesting. Didn't get that impression of Gary Fisher. But the show did make me want to buy a Ritchey frame

 

That movie definitely made me want to buy a Ritchey frame.

 

Not to me.

I met him at a bike shop in NJ a few years ago and he was pretty nice and in no way did he act like a jerk.

 

Heard a long podcast with him, and he seemed super chill and cool. He seemed more interested in getting everyone to have a good time on bikes than on making money or dominating business. The fact that he sold to Trek so early suggests to me that he cared more about his leisure time than about spending his time building a business. That strikes me as very much not Type A.

 

I watched it last night, and I didn't get the impression he was a jerk at all. Definitely more of a type A personality compared to others, but so are most overachievers. He associated with a laid-back counter culture, and yet was a highly competitive dude about cycling things. He had some ambitions.

I could sense some passive-aggressive animosity toward Richey and the dude who created Specialized, but from his point of view, I can definitely see where he is coming from.

I still have a Gary Fisher frame from early 90s... sadly, just gathering dust.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the flick. I will watch it this evening.

As an aside, one of the owners of the LBS I support has a VAST collection of vintage Ritchey bikes, all pristine.

 

IIRC, Charlie Kelley is an MTBR member. Goes by the screen name Repack Rider.

Edit: If you read his old posts here, Charlie obviously knows Gary quite well (lol). He's got a lot to say on the subject of OG mountain bikers and its roots. It's an interesting read- hearing it from a guy who "was there".


Looks like RR was last online in early July this year.

 

IIRC, Charlie Kelley is an MTBR member. Goes by the screen name Repack Rider.

Edit: If you read his old posts here, Charlie obviously knows Gary quite well (lol). He's got a lot to say on the subject of OG mountain bikers and its roots. It's an interesting read- hearing it from a guy who "was there".

Looks like RR was last online in early July this year.

wrote a book about it. https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Tire-Flyer-Repack-Mountain/dp/1937715167

 

I didn't have time to read this thread. So is the consensus that he is a jerk face?

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Not so much. He was cool-for-school with me the time I met him and was a total fanboy.

It was pretty surreal meeting the guy who "invented/commercialized" the sport you love.

 

In the vintage mountain bike circles, Fisher frames aren't sought after. In all the years racing at Keyesville, sometimes racing the vintage class and always hanging with MTBR vintage forum members (who no longer post here) I've never seen a Fisher frame although every other Marin pioneer builder's bikes are heavily represented and fawned over

 

That's because virtually every single one cracked and broke at some point...

 

I remember GF pushing 29ers and doing a pretty good job with hardtails...but I also remember many, many broken FS frames. It seemed you couldn't turn around without seeing cracked 29er FS and they were the poster-child for poor geometry on the FS bikes (while at the same time pioneering more progressive geometry on the hardtails). They gained a quick foothold, but were also a warning to me to wait it out before buying a FS 29er, at least until the design of said FS 29ers wasn't an afterthought (like simply stretching chainstays to fit the front derailleur and 29er wheel). Still, you can't deny what he contributed to mtb in the early days and launching 29ers in general.

 

There was also his pioneering Genesis geometry with the longer frame and short stem. That seems to have really caught on.

I remember back in the day thinking Genesis was worthless because the longer frame wouldn't work well on our extremely twisty trails (trials?). When you're slowly twisting your way around and between and over (fallen) trees, a shorter frame works better. Of course trails have changed a whole lot since those days.

 

appears to not be available on Netflix.....

 

I watched it on Prime.

 

Like any documentary, it's has a specific narrative and point of view. I don't think they were trying to mislead or anything, but the film underplays other important history, like completely ignoring BMX's influence on early MTBs.

And minimizing other areas it was happening (like Britain and Crested Butte.) It's like, oh by the way, after all this build up about Mt. Tam being the sole origin, people were already doing it in Colorado.

Before anyone goes jumping down my throat, I'm not at all dismissing Mt Tam's importance, just saying it's not the whole story.

 

Like any documentary, it's has a specific narrative and point of view. I don't think they were trying to mislead or anything, but the film underplays other important history, like completely ignoring BMX's influence on early MTBs.

And minimizing other areas it was happening (like Britain and Crested Butte.) It's like, oh by the way, after all this build up about Mt. Tam being the sole origin, people were already doing it in Colorado.

Before anyone goes jumping down my throat, I'm not at all dismissing Mt Tam's importance, just saying it's not the whole story.

I don't think it underplayed at all. They discussed and gave credit to others for their contributions that were doing the same modifying of things elsewhere.

What separates them is - the Mt. Tam group (to my understanding) built the first purposefully designed mountain bike frames. They took it beyond bastardizing old Klunker frames, to a new thing. They were the ones that launched mountain bikes as a new commodity.

 

The documentary left out VV of A.

 

Fisher the brand was bought by Trek around 91 ,anything with the Gary Fisher brand was made by Trek. I met Gary for a minute at one of the appetite seminar's around 94 ,he was measuring something bikes ,I think it was at the top of repack.

 

Which brings to mind Repack Rider. He hasn't posted here since April. Hope he's ok.

Here's his book he wrote.

The Retrogrouch: Recommended Read: Fat Tire Flyer

 

You've been skimming again, DJ. See post #16 and post #17...

 

I have not heard anything pertaining to whether Gary Fisher has or hasn’t jerked on or around anyone’s face or had a similar act performed on or around his face.

 

Marin County the origin of MTB? Please

Marin County the origin of MTB? Please

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_infantry

 

Marin County the origin of MTB? Please

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_infantry

Having mountains in the background doesn't qualify riders on the dirt in the foreground as mountain bikers, IMO.

 

I watched it twice over the weekend. In the past magazines like MBA portrayed him as the sole inventor of the mountain bike and always showed him dressed flamboyantly at Interbike. The message was that he was too cool for school but that didn't come across in the movie. To me at least.

I used to lust after a Fisher Supercaliber back in 1989 with the baseball bat sized downtube and Suntour XC 9000 components. I was just out of high school so that was a no go.

 

I watched that several months ago and had the same reaction.