The end of an era?

[mountainsoul]

A sad day for mtbing:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=627409

Makes complete sense from a corporate standpoint but it's still shocking, and a little sad, to see the brand start to dissolve. I'm pretty sure Gary was unhappy about this move from Trek never mind the public response he is required to portray. But I'm sure he cheers up a bit though when he checks his next bank statement.

Thanks for the memories GF!

 

[elmo_4_vt]

Darn... That does stink. I've been loyal to GF since my first mountain bike in '92 up to my current soft tail. What a shame...

Don

-

 

[Andrew Walcker]

First Keith Bontrager, now GF...

 

[Cackalak Han]

Bought my first GF back in 98. Loved that bike. However, the latest iteration of bikes were bland and plagued with frame cracking problems. Always hate to see a brand die (Klein, Bonty, etc), but I don't think I'll miss GF too much. Might have been the conceited attitude of "I invented mt bikes and 29ers". Anyway, I'm sure Gary will stay busy with Trek for a while.

 

[FreeManDan]

Its not all doom and gloom, you see there is a difference between a bike MAKER and a bike DESIGNER. It was already a given that trek was going to start marketing 29ers, but owning gary fisher, how do they not compete with themselves??? It's gona be just like chevy and gmc, its all part of the master plan to sell 29ers by the bushel! You do know that this year was a fudge up on the production of gf 29ers right? Or lack there of...oh trek is gona sell you a gary fisher 29er, of this I am sure.

 

[FreeManDan]

You can fallow Gary Fisher on that twit **** at http://twitter.com/Gary_Fisher
quote
"@Gary_Fisher: You will see more of me not less. I am so not dead. The Fisher brand is getting a BIG boost! Thanks!"

also check his blog at
http://trekmountain.typepad.com/king/2010/06/trek-29ers-thank-you-gary.html

 

[Christophe Noel]

My first Fisher, not Gary Fisher, was a filet brazed Mt. Tam I bought when I worked in a shop in 1988. Loved that bike. Later I had a '91 Super Cal, '92 Montara, and a few others. When Trek took over, and Fisher became Gary Fisher, the brand was pretty much dead to me.

Everyone has mentioned Gary Fisher and Bontrager. No one has mentioned Gary Klein or Greg LeMond. Klein's bikes were aging designs, but once Trek got them, they became boring and stale. Trek only gave Greg LeMond....excuse me...LeMond bikes about two years of support before they bailed on it.

So, this isn't really a big deal. It's more relative to distribution and marketing strategies than anything.

 

[tacollie]

Gary Fisher killed Fisher bikes when he sold them to Trek. I worked at a shop from 2000 to 05 that sold GF and we saw a lot of broken frames.

 

[Christophe Noel]

To be fair, many of the legendary names of early mountain biking are only phantom-like shadows of what they once were. Salsa is really no longer Salsa. Even Ibis is just a name compared to what it was. Tinker no longer rips it on a Klein Top Gun. Seen a Fat Chance around lately?

Part of the evolution, I guess.

 

[tacollie]

We still have Rock Lobster and Sycip. Jeremy Sycip learned from Chris Chance.

 

[RHINO]

bout 15 yrs ago i bought a sticker that reads "100% TREK free" and still stand behind the statement.

 

[fisher205]

In 1988, I bought my "Fisher" Montare XT. Still have it and use it for round town bike. Bought a Mt Tam 29 in 2001. Probably gets my most miles and 2006 finally went full supension w/ a 293. I was looking at a new Fisher Friday night. Will be sad to see the brand go. I always thought they it was a good seperate identity from Trek.
-Brad

 

[DaveInDenver]

Seen a Fat Chance around lately?

Actually, I did. They spelled the name on the down tube wrong, though.

For all the old brands who have sold out, there are still lots of guys new and old who have not and deserve our support. Erickson, Black Sheep, Wojcik, Moots, Henry James, Dean, Sycip, Inglis, etc.

Even then, who cares if they sold out, nothing wrong with cashing out and making some money. They worked hard and sacrificed to build a brand or company, so if they want to leverage that and just work 40 hour weeks and punch a time card for a while, then good for them.

Bontrager may have ruined his frame building brand but with the security and resources available at Trek there are probably times he was happier as a tinkerer. I think all of us go back and forth between liking to be left alone messing around in the basement on a shoestring budget to having access to the things a corporation provides. I know I like having someone else pay for things like the CSA7408 and RSA3303, even if I have to do my side stuff on the weekends... If I had to get my own spec analyzer no way I would be able to get anything near this, since these level of tools cost easily north of $40,000 each, used. And we're not a big company by any means. Up at HP we had access to really nice stuff.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Excellent points, Dave. I think for me, it boils down to what these brands were and what they are now. I agree with you that a Trek produced Gary Fisher is a fine bike, it's just not a true Fisher as it was in the beginning. Same for Salsa, et all. Doesn't make them lesser steeds, just not the same DNA that made the name what it is.

The road sector is even more of a fright. On the road side, names like Motobecane, Masi, and others carry zero heritage to what they once were. I bought a Kestrel 4000 in 1987 and it was revolutionary. Then they sold to Schwinn, then it went downhill so far as to become a Martek made Bikes Direct brand.

 

[tacollie]

I would argue the guy in the garage has the resources to build a better bike because he is not building every bike the same. He can make a bike specifically for me and my riding style. I never rode Fishers because they never fit me.