2008 Gary Fisher Superfly, first look

July 26th, 2007 by Tim Grahl

Below you’ll find the most info available and first real pictures of the 2008 Gary Fisher Superfly.

The bike is aimed at serious cross country racers that like their frames light and extremely stiff and is the lightest frame that Gary Fisher has ever produced (in both 26 inch and 29 inch platforms).

The frame is Co-Molded Monocoque Carbon and weighs in at just 1250 grams. That’s 2.75 pounds.

The bike pictured below is the RockShox Reba made custom for the G2 geometry with a 51mm offset and 100mm of travel, however the Superfly will be sold with the G2 Fox F80 RLC.

The pictures below were taken when Nat Ross showed up with his mechanic, Myron Billy, to pick up the Superfly and get it dialed in for racing the upcoming 24 Hour Nationals. So everything you see in the picture is not necessarily what you’ll see on the stock version, notably the paint job. The paint shown below matches the Fisher team colors. The stock will be more of a nude carbon fiber color.

The stock bike will be sold with the below specs:

Fork - Fox F 80 RLC 29 w/air pressure, rebound, compression, lockout, alloy steerer, 80mm travel, G2 offset
Wheels - Bontrager Race X Lite 29
Tires - Bontrager Jones ACX, 29×2.2″, folding, Tubeless Ready
Drivetrain - SRAM X.0
Crankset - Bontrager Race X Lite 44/32/22, carbon
Saddle - Bontrager Race Lite
Seatpost - Bontrager Race X Lite ACC carbon
Stem - Bontrager Race X Lite, 31.8mm, 7 degree
Handlebars - Bontrager Race Lite Big Sweep, 31.8mm, 12 degree
Headset - Cane Creek ZS-6 w/cartridge bearings, sealed
Brakes - Avid Juicy Ultimate, hydraulic disc, 160mm rotors

I couldn’t get an MSRP for the bike yet.

There’s more info below captioned with some of the pictures so read it all to get all the info. Pay special attention to the last picture…

And as always, click to see the pictures bigger.

Nat’s bikes are getting prep’d by Trek’s Vance McCaw and Nat’s mechanic. His two race bikes are currently the new HiFi Pro 29er and the Superfly.

Brace between the stays on the non-driveside to resist any braking twisting forces.

Notice the shaped downtube… the underside of the downtube is flattened to improve stiffness and performance.

Notice the front end… the front junction is built up for increased front end stiffness. In addition, this area is proportionate to the frame size. The XL frame has a larger proportionate area than a SM frame because the larger XL rider needs that extra material and on the flipside, the smaller rider doesn’t need that extra material and weight. End result is that the ride quality among frame sizes remains the same.

The seatmast cluster is a highly shaped affair that ties in the top tube to the seatstays to increase overall stiffness. And check out that rear wheel clearance on the Bontrager Dry X Tubeless Ready tires.

Wide 73mm bottom bracket with a wide downtube feeding into it. Again, very heavily shaped for maximum stiffness.

Asymmetric chainstays. Tall driveside chainstay. Wide non-driveside chainstay balances the drivetrain forces. Also worth noting: there is loads of clearance between the stays. 10mm on each side w/ a 2.5�? tire.

The next few pics are of Nat Ross dialing his bike into the Wobble Naught system that he uses.

Here’s the picture I wanted to point out. That is Chris Eatough with Nat. He showed up to pick up his new racing bike… a geared Trek 69er.

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30 Responses to “2008 Gary Fisher Superfly, first look”

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1 Jake on Jul 26th, 2007 at 1:43 pm

that is such a hot paint job, I would love to see that on the new Fishers. These bikes are both insanely hot…

man’s best friend indeed….
2 Jake on Jul 26th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

ugh……nude carbon fiber is so ugly, come on Fisher just paint the darn thing…
3 Cloxxki on Jul 26th, 2007 at 2:02 pm

Incredibly cool frame.

I’ve never been SO turned off by the lack of V-mounts on a frame.
By the time I’ve put on the lightest disc brakes money can buy, it’s still not lighter than a simple Sc frame with less expensive V’s
To me at least, V’s suffice for XC racing. Especially on the rear.

I’m sure it’s going to ride awesome. And I want one, of course, but still…
4 spudpatch on Jul 26th, 2007 at 6:54 pm

Did you obtain the weight of the bike built? Please don’t weigh Nat’s, I know he has more Ti bolts than he knows what to do with… oh heck weigh it, at least that will be something to shoot for! Thanks!
5 carno on Jul 26th, 2007 at 7:04 pm

7/8/07 Frame - probably in production model color:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=/photos/2007/tech/features/trek_mtb_launch07/gary_fisher_superfly_frame

7/19/07 Here (2/3rds down page) is a pic of a built-up Superfly with the Fox fork (again, most likely in production model color). The caption (in error) calls it the “Supercaliber�?. It you click on the pic and make it large, you can clearly see “Superfly�? on the top bar.

http://www.greggscycles.com/blog/labels/Trek.html
6 oliver on Jul 26th, 2007 at 7:06 pm

Maybe it was the camera angle, but that Reba looked like it had lots of offset. As for V-mounts, they are the thing of the past, no matter how light you can make a bike, Disc are here to stay.
7 carno on Jul 26th, 2007 at 7:11 pm

Wait…the first pic (frame only) looks more like Nat’s bike than the second pic which is more likely production (nude carbon). Sorry.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=/photos/2007/tech/features/trek_mtb_launch07/gary_fisher_superfly_frame

http://www.greggscycles.com/blog/labels/Trek.html
8 Cloxxki on Jul 27th, 2007 at 2:21 am

Disc mounts are welcome as an option.
I have a XC racer with heavy-ish frame and light V’s. I could spend $$$$ and have a light frame with discs, but it wouldn’t help the weight game a bit.
9 Guitar Ted on Jul 27th, 2007 at 7:14 am

oliver: I agree that the crown looks suspiciously more offset than a standard Reba. It is a well known fact that proto type Rebas with off sets compatible with G2 geometry exist. Perhaps this is a pre-production sample? I would hope that SRAM/Rock Shox would be wise enough not be left behind in this developement that Fox and others are pursuing.
10 Tim Grahl on Jul 27th, 2007 at 8:08 am

That Reba is the custom offset at 51mm (i believe) and is Nat’s personal fork. Other ‘08 Fishers will be sporting the new custom G2 offset Reba RockShox…. however the Fox will be spec’d for the Superfly.
11 Mr. 24 on Jul 27th, 2007 at 8:41 am

OMG!!!!! It’s Vance McCaw!!!!
12 Chris on Jul 27th, 2007 at 2:18 pm

Does anybody have geometry specs as of yet, thanks.
13 Guitar Ted on Jul 27th, 2007 at 7:57 pm

Update: Fisher is saying that the G2 specific Reba will be showing up on some of the Hi Fi Plus 29″er bikes.
14 Guitar Ted on Jul 27th, 2007 at 8:00 pm

Oh yeah……..the stock color on the Superfly will be the nude carbon and not the Team Issue Blue shown here. White saddle, white decals too. The fork will be the white Fox F-80 RLC. The bikes should be available come October or so. No pricing or geo specs yet, sorry!
15 carno on Jul 28th, 2007 at 1:21 am

I wonder how the Superfly compares with the Orbea Alma 29er that Jay Petervary rode to win the GDR this year? Maybe we’ll see both bikes in the race next year.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/gdrgallery2007/gallery04.cfm

http://www.orbea-usa.com/fly.aspx?mid=a400&layout=viewproduct&taxid=471
16 carno on Jul 28th, 2007 at 1:43 am

Here’s one comparison:

Orbea Alma 29er (18) frame 1298 grams. (bike 23.1 lbs.)

Fisher Superfly (size ?) frame 1250 grams. (bike ? lbs.)

Orbea frame is 3.84% heavier.
17 Chris on Jul 28th, 2007 at 10:47 am

Bummer, nude carbon instead of this cool metallic cobalt blue. Hopefully the blue is an option.
18 Chris on Jul 28th, 2007 at 10:54 am

imagine how light it will be as a single speed, whoopie!
19 Cloxxki on Jul 29th, 2007 at 4:41 am

It’s apparently about 300g (2/3lb) lighter than the alu geared Fishers, so not too hard to guess a singlespeed weight for it

My race bike was a SS at time, but with V’s, so the weight difference overall wouldn’t be too much.
20 michael on Jul 29th, 2007 at 1:08 pm

Not really relating to this bike, but does anyone know any more about the specs for the lower-end Gary Fisher hardtails, like the Cobia yet–particularly what suspension fork it’ll be using with the G2 geometry?
21 Axeman on Jul 29th, 2007 at 3:57 pm

is that right?… Chris Eatough racing a 69er??? Tim Whats the story???
Nice bike by the fish man though
22 TooTallUK on Jul 30th, 2007 at 6:37 am

Guys - have you seen:

http://www.singletrackworld.com/article.php?sid=2514

a rather good review of the HiFi 29er there - from non-believers too!
23 carno on Jul 30th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

See Superfly pics here, (along with other 2008 GF and Trek bikes):

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2007/features/trekmtb_launch07
24 carno on Jul 30th, 2007 at 12:13 pm

apples/apples comparison for medium size frames:

Orbea Alma 29er (18) frame 1298 grams. (bike 23.1 lbs.)

Fisher Superfly (size medium) frame 1229 grams. (bike ? lbs.)

Orbea frame is 5.61% heavier.
25 Stevo on Jul 30th, 2007 at 9:42 pm

Axeman - According to cyclingnews.com, Eatough rode a 69er in the Lumberjack 100 and Mohician 100, winning both - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2007/features/trekmtb_launch07
26 Vic on Aug 1st, 2007 at 5:35 pm

This is off topic, but I thought people might like to see it:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=323807
27 DML on Aug 20th, 2007 at 11:32 am

I’ve been riding my Paragon 29er with a Pace Carbon fork (completely ridgid bike) and love it. No slowing me down too much on rocky descents. Imagine the SuperFly with V-brakes and the Pace Carbon fork. I vote bring back V-brake mounts!
28 Tim on Dec 28th, 2007 at 5:00 pm

.im deciding between one of these and a salsa mamasita 29er…probably go with the salsa but nothing agains the fish….and carbon bikes are just like chicks…look better nude!!!!
Tim
The Bicycle Shop
29 Guitar Ted on Dec 28th, 2007 at 9:44 pm

Tim: Thanks for the comment, but leave out the vulgarities next time, okay?