1989 Fisher CR-7 Fusion Restoration

Great! Much appreciate your help! I sent you PM.

Parts are arriving!

refurbed Manitou stanchion from pete_mcc, thanks!


Avocet NOS touring I saddle


XT shifter, brake levers and fisher stem thanks to manitou916




7 speed freehub

Progress is a bit slow at the moment but so far I have removed most of the parts from frame except headset and BB.
Today I have removed the BB - rather unusual (for me) sealed bearing type.


And these are supposed to be the replacement rubber seal bearing (6003 2RS C3) bought in ebay.


I was warned from some of my mentors that bolts fixing the rear triangle are pain so I decided to spend 1 week, pouring plusgas everyday to undo them without damaging those small bolts.


And this is my long term best friend when I work on cars - it never failed! (well, so far!)

I have been working on the decal/sticker on the frame. I was thinking about Vinyl but I want to make it look as close as factory finish. I have found a company who can make water slide with opaque ink and willing to help me if I supply the data in photoshop. OM FLyer helped me to figure out the detail as above (thanks!!). I looked up some of other Fishers in the same era and tried to make up on Photoshop.

This one is for the down tube. I am not quite sure about the curve on top of 'F' letter though. Please let me know if it looks odd.


This one is for the head tube and seat tube. As there is no clear picture of this sticker found on the net so I made based on my imagination. Should it look like this?

apparently richard cunningham of mantis fame designed this frame
for fisher and it was supposed to be an elevated to start with
i really liked gils one at bdw last year

After a long time, finally job done

This CR7 gave me a lot of good experience - Manitou forks, water slide decals and unique Cromo/Alu hybrid frame.
To my preference, the frame colour is exactly as I wanted - it is Rover Storm Grey Metallic Halfords can spray on top of powder coat paint which was slightly different from my expectation.


Unfortunately the original cranks are heavily scored so I had to find XT cranks in better condition at discount price.
Still I have sanded all the surface to remove shallow score and scratches from #60 till #600 then polished with buffer.
Crank caps are relatively affordable one key type as it is again difficult to find original shimano in good condition at reasonable cost.
Front mech is original but needed full cleaning and service.
The Biopace rings are sourced from US in used but good condition.
Ring bolts are non genuine but light alloy type.


Rear mech was quite tired so have been stripped down and cleaned.
I couldn't resist to fill the scratch and dent on the dark blue painted part - have filled with alloy filler, sanded as little as possible, masked the logos with emulsion masking sol and painted with black then light mist of blue metallic spray paint, then 2K clear to match the finish.
Pulleys are from other shimano and may need attention soon.


I had no idea about jointing bolts on hybrid frame.
After I have finished reassembly of the painted frame with using A4 stainless bolts, I have noticed that the bolts used for the bottom bracket joint to chain stays are high tensile bolts!
I have learned that stainless steel bolts are more or less same as non HT steel bolts means they may snap under great stress.
After sleepless night, I have decided to take apart the bottom bracket with sealed bearing (c clips are p.i.t.a.) and replaced with grade 12 HT bolts for my mental health.


The seat stay bolts came with the bike were A2 stainless steel.
After the chain stay bolts horror story, I have decided to replace these with HT bolts, too.
Could find all these on ebay without problem.


Original Manitou forks were swapped with serviced stanchions from pete_mcc.
Have renewed all the bolts.
Brakes are original XT but needed deep cleaning.


This was my steepest learning curve in this project.
Due to the design of the logo with fine lines, I couldn't resist the temptation of water slide decals - vinyl are good and easy to apply but I prefer water slide for perfect finish.
I have found Simon who is willing to help me making custom water slide decals as long as I can produce exact image data.
The decals he has provided to me was perfect! but my skill wasn't :twisted:
In the end, I had to try three times but, I have to mention that Simon was super helpful trying to find out how to solve the issue. Thanks Simon, I love you!


Headset is Tange revolution size.
I was at a loss as I can't find Fisher 1 1/4 headset.
Found this set in German site, thanks to Sir pete_mcc and, after receiving it, I noticed that it is identical to Fisher original one.
to match the colour scheme, I have painted cups in matte black.
XT levers, shifters and fisher stems are from manitou916, thanks!


Not strictly original but XT pedals from same decade.
ishaw offered them to me in exact condition I wanted - in need of restoration but at great price!
Stripped down, filled, sanded then painted the cage, polished the main part, renewed the ball bearings and small bolts.
Crank side seal O rings were both missing, have improvised by slicing 1/2" translucent garden water hose into 2mm thick and it slips into the position nice and tight, works/looks fine.
Can't expect perfect waterproof but at least dust proof for sure.
Clips are Zefal, again thanks to pete_mcc


Saddle is Avocet Touring1 I bumped into NOS on ebay at bargain price.
Seat post is original but cleaned and reproduced hairline finish with sand paper and my hand.
Wheels are SUN CHINOOK 36H, original XT hubs, that needed deep cleaning and polish, with original DT SS spokes with DT Alloy nipples.
Tyres are NOS Michelin Hi-Lite HOT, they were at bargain price together with the SUN rims hence the purchase!


Finally, thank you very much for your help everyone!

I quite like that

sylus":1x3t4ppm said:

I quite like that

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Great job! That is really beautifull! Perfect detailing and perfect finish! :shock:

I have 2 little comments: it needs a flat bar and a racing type saddle. Keep your eyes open for a Fisher Bulge bar and a Fisher saddle (or Avocet Racing).

It's a real inspiration to see this kind of work!!

That is a real Beauty.. Inspiring me to get my CR7 frame out and do something with it! Like a full resto!