Saturday, September 20, 2008

New Bike - Gary Fisher HiFi Pro







"That's a beautiful bike Grandpa. Thanks for sharing your pictures with me" - Love Ralfee.

This is my new Gary Fisher HiFi Pro 29'er. Isn't she pretty! She's a mixed breed with parts that are old and new, just like me. I can't wait to test her out at the 24 Hours of Moab in 3 weeks and see if I can pull faster times than last year.

Parts-wise I went with an XTR front derailleur, X-9 rear, grip shifters, compression cables, 100 mm Reba Team Fork and 100 mm Rock Shox shock, Avid Juicy 7 brakes, Bontrager XXX carbon cranks and Stan's ZTR 355 rims with American Classic hubs. She weighed in at 25.9 pounds but that was with a tube in the rear tire and a heavy-ass SRAM cassette. I'm thinking closer to 25.5 when she goes on a diet.

I want to give a great big hug to Chris Holley for hooking me up with most of the parts for this bad ride. He's not a squishy bike dude so he sold me his Subarau/Gary Fisher team frame and fork, as well as other key parts that made this doable. He and KC have been my inspiration for going big, and I'm glad o have them as friends and advisors. Thanks also to MAD DOG CYCLES in Orem for their support with parts and advise. They're big on Gary Fisher, and I know why - he makes a great riding bike. Another big hug goes to Stan's NoTubes.com for the incredible wheelset they make. I raced 4 seasons on my 26 inch set and never had to true the front rim! And get aload of this, my new rear 29'er wheel is only 10 grams heavier than my Stan's Olympic setup on my old Element! WOW!!! And that's with a steel skewer instead of Ti - another diet component.

Lastly I want to thank Chris and Jared at BINGHAM'S CYCLERY on Foothill Drive in SLC. Those guys are the best mechanics in the valley and I was lucky enough to get them to put all the pieces in the right place for me. I'm not kidding, these guys can get any bike running and keep it going forever. I owe a lot of my success to them because they kept my Element in prime racing shape for years, and they'll do the same for this one too. And, they're not bike snobs.

Well, now I'm totally 29 and itching to shake her down.

2 comments:

KanyonKris said...

Nice ride - she looks fast.

Dave said...

Congrats on going BIG and putting together a sweet ride. Good move on the XTR FD. It is the best shifting FD I have ever used. That is a very respectable weight for a FS 29er. Best of luck at Moab.