Tassaraja - Rhapsody in Blue
On our 10th anniversary I somehow felt the urge to do something with what I had. Since I bought the bike the Garry Fisher brand faded in to the Garry Fisher collection under the Trek brand name and for me that is very sad. Fisher bikes always had something special, like the "Work and no play is no good at all" steerer cap and the "mans best friend" logo at the bottom of the seat-post tube. But the best part was the feeling that you ride something that has its roots at the very beginning of mountain biking.
Enough of my blabbing! I started with a stripped down frame.
As it was my plan to use disc brakes I pulled out my trusty Dremel and removed the V-brake mounts. Trying hard not to cut into the frame tubing.
The cable guides were laid out for three bare wires on the top tube so I had to make space for a thicker disc brake cable. Again with the Dremel.
After all that I brought the frame to a local powder coat shop that sanded the frame and covered it in a nice new blue coat. All for 40 Euros. Most of the needed components I got from Ebay. But one that was hard to get at a normal price was a disc brake mount adapter. Since at the time I bought the bike Fisher was already a brand under Trek, it used the same weird weight lowering idea where they did not weld a rear disc break mount to a disc ready frame. They just left three holes through which you could mount an adapter that then fits a disc brake caliper.
As the original headset was crap I bought a new one. It was not an expensive one, but based on Internet reviews a sturdy one. FSA The Pig is meant to take a lot of beating for a low price.
The next step was the new fork. As I can say now the Rock Shox Reba that I bought is from a different galaxy than the Jett. Quite unbelievable that it is made by the same firm. Before assembly I also sprayed the Bontrager crowbar steerer to a mate black and bought new lock-on grips.
The most challenging part of this build were the wheels. Since I needed new hubs for the disc brakes I decided I want to keep the spokes and rims I had to save money and at the same time to learn how to build wheels. I got front and rear Shimano SLX hubs and painted the rims mate black. After some Internet tutorials and some trial and error I managed to build some nice wheels. Not the lightest pair around but still under 2 kilos for the pair.
The other new components were Shimano XT disc brakes with XT rotors (160mm back 180mm front) and a fizik saddle (a steal on Ebay). The sram 7 cassette, the Shimano crank-set, the seat post and the Deore shifters and derailleurers stayed stock since they work great. The final touch was the gf logo up front. I am still deciding if I want to spray a Garry Fisher text on the bottom tube. The idea was to use this design, but the jury is still out. The most important part is, that the bike rides and handles unbelievably well and I can't wait to put it trough its paces.
And for the end some pictures of the finished bike.
Any comments can be made on the reddit thread.