IMO the only worthy fork (quality and weight-wise) is the German Answer linkage fork. However, its geometry may work out less than perfect, as it’s an 80mm unit with the heigh of a 100mm telescopic fork.

“The news I have now states that Fox forks will be found on the following Fisher 29″ers for ‘08: The Hi Fi Pro and Deluxe full suspension models, the Rig, the Paragon, the X-Cal, and the Superfly hardtails. The crown on these Fox forks is the identical crown to the G2 26″er models with the rest of the offset for the 29″ers found in the sliders. So, it’s a “customâ€? set up just for Fisher bikes.”

What about that all carbon Fisher “Superfly” I saw on cyclingnews. What fork is in store for this light weight racer?

“Regarding the 5″ vs. 4″ thing - When we were developing this [HiFi 29er] platform, the 4″ platform was preferred hands down. The rider feedback on the 4″ bike was that it was the closest thing to the feeling of the 5″ travel 26″ platform. We try to develop bikes with the user in mind and not the travel. We understand the desire to see a number on paper, but in this case, we feel we have the best 29er trail bike we have ever ridden! As with anything, I would hope that you guys spend some time on the bikes and make your own trail-informed evaluation. …

Cheers
garyfisherguy”

100 mm = 3.93701 inches

I was hoping for 5 inches also…but this won’t stop me from buying one…and the garyfisherguy (who surveyed persons who rode both) says 4 inches is actually better…who am I to argue?

but i was wondering if somehow guitar ted, you were given misinformation?

for some reason i assumed that the hifi 29er was only going to have one model. now its three? as bjdbike pointed out for the 26ers: the plus was lower end, then the deluxe, and the pro was the high end version. now its reversed for 29ers? something doesnt sound right.

the current hifi pro is specd with mixed lx, xt, and xtr drivetrain and juicy 7s. what’s more, early glimpses last year of the 26er hifi was always the pro model–their highest end, which would make me think that the pro we have been seeing would be their highend again.

up until now i kept hearing that the hifi 29er was going to have 100mm. which would make sense with the observation that if f80 = 80mm, then f100 should = 100mm.

like i said, i wonder if you got some mistaken info, guitar ted. still, having three models to choose from and 120mm sounds good to me.

The same mentality that leads to the stupid Cake also brought us a lineup of hard tail and double squishy 29ers with a bunch of 69ers on the way. Trek fisher is the only mass producing bike company that has pushed the 29er forward. I for one have a hard time paying an extra 1-2k for a similarly equipped bike from a small builder, and would probably not be loving a 29er right now if it were not for Fisher. It has taken years for other large manufacturers to get on board because they are the opposite of Trek/Fisher and take no risks ever.

So, while I understand the frustration, I wonder if retailers would have been better off and sold more product if Fisher/Trek had been conservative like Specialized and left you with a lineup of never changing Sugars and Fuels and no 29ers on the floor.