While at the Fisher Press camp, we were told that Fisher is about to celebrate ten years of 29″er bikes. That fact is pretty amazing when you look at it. Ten years! It means no one has had more experience selling 29″ers to the public than Gary Fisher Bikes. I thought it might be an interesting thing for some folks to check out the history behind the offering of 29″ers to the public for the first time by an established bicycle company.
Gary explores a design for a 29″er in 1999.
To begin the story, we were handed plans and copies of e-mails from WTB’s Mark Slate and Gary Fisher. For those who don’t know, WTB was the first to make a tire that measured 2 inches with knobs for off roading in a 700c format. Gary Fisher was one of the proponents of “The Tire”, (WTB’s Nanoraptor), and now that it was being made, he needed a bicycle to ride that fit them. Gary explained that the concept was to use a tire available in both 26 and 29 inch size that could be compared on two different bikes- one 26 and one 29″er- that were as identical as possible. As Gary himself said, he needed to be convinced that the idea had actual merit in the field.
Gary wanted chain stays that would match his current 26″er trail bike, so this caused some consternation amongst the principals- Gary, Mark, and Steve Potts, who was to build the first two frames for Gary. After several iterations on paper- all of which we received to peruse- the final version was produced with an offset seat tube to accommodate the shortened stays. This made a bike that was as close to Gary’s 26″er in dimensions as possible, but it created problems with the front derailluer. Essentially, a custom made one off had to be fabbed from a stock Shimano derailluer and the bike was finally complete.
Former Trek Brand Manager, Zap Espinoza, with Gary’s first 29″er.
Gary needed a suspension fork, so he had a Manitou Mars modified to accept 29″er wheels with a whopping 50mm of travel. Gary said that if you hit a big bump, the tire would graze the bottom of the fork crown! But this didn’t deter Gary, and he was off to figure out if the wagon wheeler concept was going to be plausible or not for mountain biking, and more importantly, for sale to average trail riders. Ever the tinkerer, Gary didn’t leave the bike this way for long.
This is the same bike with a new paint job and a modified Look Fournales fork.
Still in 1999, Gary had the bike repainted in a scheme his daughter designed and fitted with a Look Fournales fork with the anti-dive, constant trail linkage. The fork, originally a 26 inch wheeled fork, was modified for Gary by Gary Klein by extending the legs with bonded on aluminum inserts. The fork travel was the same, but at least it didn’t hit the crown now! The bike went through two more re-paints by designer Paul Smith before being retired by 2000. By this time Gary had a Marzocchi fork prototyped to test out with it.
A prototype from 2000 in titanium.
By 2000 Gary was convinced it was a good enough idea to pursue and Trek allowed some prototypes for possible production. Still using technology that was based on other standards, (forks designed with 26 inch wheels in mind and converted Rolf road wheels), Gary could still see merit in the idea and forged ahead with the idea that these big wheeled rigs could be a part of the Fisher mountain bike offerings. These prototypes used Genesis geometry on big wheels for the first time. Also, interestingly enough, a 69er prototype was made to help solve front end geometry issues. The stage was now set to launch the first production 29″er the following year.
A young Ryder Hesjedal on Gary Fisher’s first production 29″er.
In 2001 Gary Fisher Bikes introduced 29″ers to an unsuspecting world. Using specially constructed Marzocchi suspension forks, the idea was slow to take root with riders and especially dealers who were slow to warm up to what was at the time considered to be nothing more than a passing fancy. More models were introduced in 2002, including a full suspension model, but by 2003 things were looking pretty dire for the future of big wheels in the Fisher camp. In that year, models were cut, and a new “Dual Sport” model was introduced.
The Dual Sport models, which were pitched as do it all hybrid bikes, helped turn the tide in the sales department. Things started to turn around dramatically in 2004, when Gary Fisher Bikes introduced newly designed, externally butted frames in aluminum with better stand over clearances. They also cut a deal with Rock Shox to make the now classic Reba 29″er fork. Fisher Bikes fronted all the money for the tooling to make these purpose built 29″er forks. Fisher Bikes also introduced the Rig, a purple bombshell that propelled sales for Fisher 29″ers into unknown territory. Finally, Bontrager was making ground up 29″er wheel designs that were disc specific and stiffer and tougher than previous offerings.
In 2005 Cam Chambers won the National Championship 24 Hr race aboard a Gary Fisher 29″er. Then Jesse LaLonde almost won the Single Speed World Championships by dominating the actual race, but losing out in the go-kart finale required to win the title that year. Sales were increasing too, and Gary Fisher Bikes was becoming more of a big wheeled company all the time.
In the following two years, sales of 29″ers at Gary Fisher bikes doubled each year. Then in 2007 Genesis 2, or “G2 Geometry” was introduced for 29″ers and Fox Shox was persuaded to build specially offset forks for 29″ers. These were the first Fox forks for 29″ers ever produced. Rock Shox also had a new offset fork and all of this was done with the influence of Gary Fisher Bikes. On the racing side, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski becomes the first athlete to ride a 29″er at the World Championships.
Now Gary Fisher Bikes is one of the biggest 29″er companies out there and the big wheelers are the mainstay of the line up for 2010. Hard to believe after the low point in 2003 that it would work out the way it did. The race team keeps pace as well, as I have detailed in the previous post. Results on the racing circuit are unprecedented. The offerings on the table for 2010 represent a decade of refinement, also an unprecedented thing in the world of 29″ers.
That’s a wrap on the reports from the Gary Fisher Bikes Press Camp. I hope the coverage was informative and entertaining. I would like to thank Gary Fisher Bikes, Gary Fisher, Travis Ott, all the athletes and product engineers, and the other media folk there who made this camp a great time for me.
Look for a long term review of a Gary Fisher Rumblefish coming soon!
thanks Gary!
Great story!
To be fair though…
I was at Eurobike in 2001. Not only Fisher had 29″ers. Nishiki had some models with their own carbon forks, including a full suspension with a claimed 125mm travel. Nishiki sold the 29″ers like warm cones in Scandinavia, but lost so much credibility in the rest of Europe, that the brand, also known for excellent sporty trekking bikes, went belly-up.
Fisher naturally is the ultimate MTB brand, but to not call Nishiki (it has some vintage fame) would be unfair. Yes, the Nishiki’s were just 26″ers with bigger wheels, but the cheapo frame WAS ridden to the 2004 Dutch national U23 champs gold. Not the weakest U23 starting field to win, trust me. Short 26″ rigid carbon Pace fork to spice up the handling, fresh folding Nanoraptor tires with Maxxis stickers, on a pretty world-cup like course.
It’s important to realize that most suspension forks that people are riding on their 29″ers, were first introduced on a Fisher bike. Fisher DID pay for the specific tooling, fork companies certainly didn’t see any money in making them just per Fisher’s request.
@Cloxxki: Thanks!! I knew of the Nishiki deal through your various posts on the forums. Yes- they were there, and should gain some credit for early adoption- but……this story was about Gary Fisher Bike’s history with 29″ers. 😉
That said, I found much of this information new to my ears, and felt it worthwhile to share at least this piece of the “historical puzzle” that is where 29″ers came from.
definite X2 to the “thanks Gary” sentiment! I just retired my 2002 Mt. Tam 29 and still have the frame, a beauty for sure with looks that are still eye-catching and not at all dated.
Nice article, GT.
Cloxxi- Why is not calling Nishiki for an article about Fisher bikes unfair?
“…the history behind the offering of 29?ers to the public for the first time by an established bicycle company.”
Only that really, sortof. No hard feelings, Gary is a good friend and inspiration.
Great Story, love my Fisher
I work for Fisher. To both Cloxxi’s and Meltingfeather’s points, our intent was to give the assembled press an inside look at Fisher’s history with 29ers. We’ll be the first to tell you, Fisher did not invent 29ers. 29er’s current success is a story that involves a LOT of players. It’s one of mountain biking’s better feel good stories. A real grassroots movement spurred on as much by the riders as the industry.
Having been doing 29ers now for 10 years, we wanted to share some of our highlights over the past decade as we rolled out our latest batch of full-suspension 29ers.
Thanks for the additional comments Fisher Guy! Sure good to have this recollection listed, with drawings and all, from the horse’s mouth.
We do seem to have come a long way. I remember that I only got the news in like 2000 or 2001. All of one little website with 3 pages was to be found online singing their praise. Very few forum messages at all. It had to come from the passive me to get the 2nd or so website going, which didn’t live long as it was a temprarily free hosting service thing.
I am bookmarking this post so I can refer to it often. Thanks, GT, and thanks, GF. It is inarguable that Fisher has been intrumental in getting us on 29ers – and, in my case keeping me in mountain biking. I was not happy on a 26, even a GF 26. My 29ers are a big part of my life now (well, at least in six weeks, when my broken leg heals up, dammit).
It has never been my impression that GF was claiming sole credit. But it would be petty to say he didn’t do a lot for 29ers – or commuters, or, now, road and cross bikes. I doubt there would be a Niner without GF to make the market.
Would love to ride some of the earlier 29ers just to see where the engineering has taken us.
The whole argument over who gets credit for the 29er is pointless. Diamond Back and Bianchi both had 700c “mountain” bikes in the early 90’s, and Bruce Gordon was playing with 700X35 Hakkapelittas before that, and Tom Ritchey was always a proponent of road bikes off road, ad infinitum. Fisher has not claimed to be the father of the 29er, and if he did it would be wrong.
Gary Fisher deserves huge props for promoting 29ers when they were universally disregarded/dismissed. And especially for sticking with it through some bleak years! Mark Slate deserves big props for taking a chance on the 29 Nano tire. Wes Willits deserves big props too, but then so do several small builders who were turning 29ers out.
Finally the 700C wheel deserves credit for being generally awesome. Now we all get to ride the rewards.
@t0m: Well, no one is arguing the point that several influences came together to produce the “modern 29″er”, as I like to call it. What came before 1999 was more prelude than the actual show. But be that as it may, Gary Fisher himself was adamant that several folks were to be credied, and that he himself is very aware that he did not necessarily “Invent” anything regarding 29″ers. (By the way, he personally holds the same to be true of mountain bikes proper)
The marketing and legendary tales that sprang up around that are just that. Marketing and Legend. If folks could just take it for what it is and see beyond it, they would see a very important contributor to what we have as off road machines be they 26 or 29 inch wheeled contraptions. That’s what Gary Fisher is to the bicycle world.
In the end, it is only of historical importance to trace roots, and for us to learn the lessons of those history makers that had successes and failures. If we fail to know our history, we fail to make a better future today.
So, that leaves us with these big wheeled bikes. And I for one am grateful to all involved in that long and storied history.
X2.
If I came across as anything but thankful to those who got us to where we are today then I should have rewritten it. Here we are with 29ers being widely accepted, loved, and even winning Nationals -and there’s a real DH tire on the way for several real DH frames- 3 years ago I’d have said no way could 29ers blow up this fast.
Fisher deserves all the credit he gets, and even more for not claiming any “fatherhood”. Fisher also has been a key player to 35 years of evolution of all MTBs. GT, you have my real appreciation for running an intelligent and interesting blog of all things 29″- you’ve done this for a while now.
I was living in Crested Butte, CO from 1999-2001. At that time there was a guy named Wes that made custom Ti bikes at his shop, Willits. It was there that I first got to ride a 29er mountain bike.
I did a quick search and found his site: http://www.willitsbikes.com/Willits.html
We just got to remember that it takes both the small fabricators and the big brands to our industry / lifestyle alive.
to “keep” our industry / lifestyle alive.