ScooterPie
Dirt Disciple
I purchased a 1991 Gary Fisher Mt Tam this week. The bike is in relatively good condition and includes most of the original hardware. I purchased the bike from the original owner who bought the bike at Fisher in Marin. This was the first production mountain bike to come with a suspension fork; the Rock Shox RS1 (Yes, the latest RS fork has the same name). The original owner used the bike mostly for triathlons, so she hasn't seen much trail abuse. It has scratches, some rust, but the components are in very good to excellent condition with little wear. There are no dents and the drop outs are perfect.
The wheels are in pretty good shape but the original alloy nipples are cracked and brittle and seized on some spokes. I replaced the single broken spoke in front, and two broken on the rear to see if the wheels are OK; they are. They need a rebuild but I can build with the original Araya RM-17 rims. The original spokes are 14/15 double butted, Wheelsmith. While I want to keep it all original, I'll go with 14 gauge straight Wheelsmith spokes on the rear.
The original XT Group is intact with the exception of the shift levers. The original shift levers have been removed from the brake lever mounts, and Shimano Altus 7 speed window levers installed - ugh! Not sure if the original shifters broke or the original owner may have wanted the visual feedback of the gear indicators. I'll need to get a new pair off Ebay. I may go with XT brake levers, and the Deore XT thumb shifters if I can find a good deal on those. The first generation of these 1991 Mt Tams came with thumb shifters; as can be seen in the 1991 Fisher catalog.
The 1991 Mt Tam utilized a few other parts outside of the Shimano XT Group. The seat post is a Nitto 67, and Fisher used his own Evolution headset and BB. This bike has all of these items in great condition.
The elephant in the room: The RS1 Rock Shox are in great physical shape but you can no longer get rebuild kits or special tools required for regular folks to work on the forks. Luckily, the folks at Risse Racing can rebuild for me to better than factory specs! This was the big piece of the puzzle for this restoration... with the 1 1/4" Evolution headset, it makes fork replacement difficult at best. There really is no other fork for this bike, it being the first production MTB to come with suspension fork is really a big point of the build.
Odds n Ends: The saddle that came on this bike is so ugly! It's such a city bike with the sprung gel saddle and skinny tires. I need to find a Fisher saddle from the period or I may stray from factory specs and use an old Selle Italia if I can find the right one at a good price. Original tires will be hard to find too, but that's something I don't mind changing out. The Deore XT pedals are perfect, but the Fisher toe clips and lizard foot straps are MIA. I don't think I'll be able to find those but they would really be a nice detail. If you have some, let me know.
I'm not going to paint, as I like the worn look, but I am going to completely clean, restore and rebuild every part.
The wheels are in pretty good shape but the original alloy nipples are cracked and brittle and seized on some spokes. I replaced the single broken spoke in front, and two broken on the rear to see if the wheels are OK; they are. They need a rebuild but I can build with the original Araya RM-17 rims. The original spokes are 14/15 double butted, Wheelsmith. While I want to keep it all original, I'll go with 14 gauge straight Wheelsmith spokes on the rear.
The original XT Group is intact with the exception of the shift levers. The original shift levers have been removed from the brake lever mounts, and Shimano Altus 7 speed window levers installed - ugh! Not sure if the original shifters broke or the original owner may have wanted the visual feedback of the gear indicators. I'll need to get a new pair off Ebay. I may go with XT brake levers, and the Deore XT thumb shifters if I can find a good deal on those. The first generation of these 1991 Mt Tams came with thumb shifters; as can be seen in the 1991 Fisher catalog.
The 1991 Mt Tam utilized a few other parts outside of the Shimano XT Group. The seat post is a Nitto 67, and Fisher used his own Evolution headset and BB. This bike has all of these items in great condition.
The elephant in the room: The RS1 Rock Shox are in great physical shape but you can no longer get rebuild kits or special tools required for regular folks to work on the forks. Luckily, the folks at Risse Racing can rebuild for me to better than factory specs! This was the big piece of the puzzle for this restoration... with the 1 1/4" Evolution headset, it makes fork replacement difficult at best. There really is no other fork for this bike, it being the first production MTB to come with suspension fork is really a big point of the build.
Odds n Ends: The saddle that came on this bike is so ugly! It's such a city bike with the sprung gel saddle and skinny tires. I need to find a Fisher saddle from the period or I may stray from factory specs and use an old Selle Italia if I can find the right one at a good price. Original tires will be hard to find too, but that's something I don't mind changing out. The Deore XT pedals are perfect, but the Fisher toe clips and lizard foot straps are MIA. I don't think I'll be able to find those but they would really be a nice detail. If you have some, let me know.
I'm not going to paint, as I like the worn look, but I am going to completely clean, restore and rebuild every part.
