1992 Gary Fisher SuperCaliber

Just purchased this 1992 Gary Fisher SuperCaliber. Most likely paid way more than what it was worth but loved the bike and want to learn how to work on it. The frame is pretty solid and has no cracks, well that I can see anyway. Paint is good as well and just has some scratches and missing chunks of paint. Most of the bike is original but the seat and post and possibly the pedals.

So far I've realized that the front brakes rub on the wheel and the wheel makes a ping sound when I ride it. No idea, might just replace the tire. I cannot switch into third gear with the front derailleur and have no idea how to adjust it, messed with the screws and saw no difference at all.

Well just want to put it out there and see what everyone else thinks. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Here are some pictures. They're too big to upload directly.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGmcQXJ

cool love the old Fishers. Check the spokes on the front wheel.

Nice! You've got to love flouro paint.

Pinging, creaking spokes probably mean that some are lose and the rubbing means that the wheel needs truing. It's not difficult to do, but if you don't fancy having a go yourself a decent bike shop should be able to do for you and it shouldn't cost much, maybe £10 a wheel, although I'm not too sure about that, I haven't taken a bike to a bike shop for decades. :?

There is plenty of info on the web about truing wheels: http://www.google.co.uk/search?newwindo ... p;bih=1084

You don't need a wheel truing stand, you can do it on the bike, turn it upside-down and use the brake blocks as a guide.

Here are some more general maintenance and "how-to" sites:

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help
http://www.madegood.org/

Nice original bike, not many early Supercals around, I have one too, but in pieces!

The front derailleur problem may be just too much slack in the cable.

Not sure how well the Suntour rear mech/shifters will work with a Shimano cassette, I guess the wheels have been changed at some point.

Whereabouts are you?

Cheers,
Andrew

Turns out I'm going to have to do a good amount of work to get this bike in rideable form. Any recommendations on a repair stand and tools? Relatively inexpensive, it's tough financially as a student.

Did some research and will have have to get the rear sorted. Either I drop some big bucks on a 7 speed suntour cassette and hubs or switch the rear derailleur to a shimano, which requires changing the suntour thumb shifter as well. The latter is probably more in my price range. I would rather keep it all suntour seeing as it's much better quality and original to the bikes specs. Hopefully I can find some lightly used parts.

To answer your question Andrew, I am actually across the Atlantic in the US. Hope I am welcome here anyways, this is the only active retro I could find. It's been a lot of help so far.

AlejoM94":3hpuigbn said:

Turns out I'm going to have to do a good amount of work to get this bike in rideable form. Any recommendations on a repair stand and tools? Relatively inexpensive, it's tough financially as a student.

Did some research and will have have to get the rear sorted. Either I drop some big bucks on a 7 speed suntour cassette and hubs or switch the rear derailleur to a shimano, which requires changing the suntour thumb shifter as well. The latter is probably more in my price range. I would rather keep it all suntour seeing as it's much better quality and original to the bikes specs. Hopefully I can find some lightly used parts.

To answer your question Andrew, I am actually across the Atlantic in the US. Hope I am welcome here anyways, this is the only active retro I could find. It's been a lot of help so far.

Click to expand...

We have shops like Aldi and Lidl in Europe, who sell cheap bike repair stands. A US member might be in a better position to recommend a local supplier. Park stands are very good, but there are many others.

Would be nice to keep it Suntour. Wheels and cassettes come up on this site often enough, an advert in the wanted section is probably a good idea.

We have loads of members here from the US so you are in good company, including some very well known guys from the early days of mountain biking. There is even a for sale section just for US members.

andyz":4xb07ve4 said:

AlejoM94":4xb07ve4 said:

Turns out I'm going to have to do a good amount of work to get this bike in rideable form. Any recommendations on a repair stand and tools? Relatively inexpensive, it's tough financially as a student.

Did some research and will have have to get the rear sorted. Either I drop some big bucks on a 7 speed suntour cassette and hubs or switch the rear derailleur to a shimano, which requires changing the suntour thumb shifter as well. The latter is probably more in my price range. I would rather keep it all suntour seeing as it's much better quality and original to the bikes specs. Hopefully I can find some lightly used parts.

To answer your question Andrew, I am actually across the Atlantic in the US. Hope I am welcome here anyways, this is the only active retro I could find. It's been a lot of help so far.

Click to expand...

We have shops like Aldi and Lidl in Europe, who sell cheap bike repair stands. A US member might be in a better position to recommend a local supplier. Park stands are very good, but there are many others.

Would be nice to keep it Suntour. Wheels and cassettes come up on this site often enough, an advert in the wanted section is probably a good idea.

We have loads of members here from the US so you are in good company, including some very well known guys from the early days of mountain biking. There is even a for sale section just for US members.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome. The wanted ad is a great idea.

There are Aldis here in the US but they specialize in food more than anything. They bring in other seasonal items too. I will look for repair stands in the future.