Gary Fisher may be a new name to the performance road bike market, but his is not a new name to either the sport of cycling at large, or more specifically, road cycling...and he has the photo album of him as a '70's era, hairnet wearing, USCF roadie to prove it. As the (advertised) man who invented the mountain bike (close, but not entirely true), Gary is nonetheless a lifelong cyclist and cycling enthusiast. Check that. He's a cycling zealot. Check that. He's a cycling freak (emphasis on the freak). As for the brand of mountain bikes that bear his name, they have been winning National, Olympic and World titles for over two decades. 

So what's the story behind a storied off-road name making a late hour appearance on the road scene? The M.O. of the new Gary Fisher road bike has been known for about a year...basically, ever since Trek ended their relationship with Greg LeMond they needed to find/create a new brand to help keep their huge supply chain filled.

In reality, Trek Bicycles (which has owned the GF name since the early 90's) did have a few options. They could've started a new bike brand from scratch or they could've used one of the other in-house brand names from the past - Klein & Bontrager - that they also control.

While the Klein brand was once a premier name on the road, it had lost most (really all) of it's brand equity in the modern world due to both the ravages of time and carbon fiber. So getting a new Klein road bike line up & going would present a myriad of challenges.

Though really a mountain and 'cross bike brand from the late 80's, Trek had long ago re-branded the Bontrager name away from bike production to instead focus on components and accessories. Again, like Klein, not impossible, but not the best option either.

What the Gary Fisher name brought was far better, albeit dirt oriented, name recognition and a dealer base already flush with GF schwag and eager to sell Gary Fisher bicycles. Oh yeah, and here's the kicker, they also had the man himself, Gary Fisher. And in Gary you not only have a guy with incredible enthusiasm for cycling, but also, given his 40 plus years of being involved in both the sport and industry, a guy who can recall the merits of a Sugino crank from 1982 as well as he can his days as a roadie with the Grateful Dead. Best thing of all, Gary still dresses like a dapper Dan goof-ball.

And so it is...with the almost unrivaled enthusiasm & experience found in Gary, plus with a building in Wisconsin full of crack designers and engineers just waiting to get their hands on a new line of bikes (that didn't have Trek on the downtube), the die was set for the Gary Fisher road bike line to enter the world of skinny tires.

OFF TO KALISPELL

To say that Trek was intent on crafting a different kind of brand message with the Gary Fisher launch to help distinguish it from the Trek mothership would probably be an understatement.

When Trek introduced the newest version of the four year old Madone in early July, they flew a handful of journos to France and helicoptered them in from Nice to Monaco. Cocktails flowed from the garden patio with a view of the Mediterranean and famous Casino below.

To launch a wholly new bike division as well as a new era in the well known brand's storied history, a very select group of journos were flown to Kalispell, Montana before being loaded in a van and driven three hours in to St. Mary, Montana. Moose Drool beer flowed as we looked out on the intersection of Highway 89 and the exit road from the Glacier National Park outside. Something different from the Madone ethos to be sure and really fitting for the always off-beat mindset that is the Gary Fisher brand.  

YES, ANOTHER ACRONYM
All any of us knew about the GF lineup came from a previously seen print ad for the bike which touted something called the Fisher Control Column. Since no modern performance oriented bicycle is allowed to be sold without some proprietary technology that can be reduced to a handy acronym, we got a crash course in what the FCC referred to.

And within minutes of the presentation, we realized that FCC was not just another corny, ad firm coined acronym. It really was a new design, a new system intended to enhance the bike's performance. Okay, so even if it was derived by some witty, acronym blessed writer at an ad agency, at first glance it looked like it could be for real.

What is the FCC? In simple terms, what the GF boys did differently was to increase the interface between the front hub and fork with oversized 25mm (versus standard 19mm) end caps, wider spaced and taller hub flanges and a “wide-stance” fork. All that, plus the now ubiquitous 1½ to 1/1/8” tapered head tube combined to provide a front end that, according to GF's laboratory test results, is 27% stiffer than the competition. While the front hub retains standard hub spacing and any front wheel can fit the GF fork, the GF'ers cautioned on how easily the GF front wheel could fit into any other fork due to the flange shape.

As much as Gary has the capacity to be a performance/weight geek, for as long as I have known him (20 years) he has also always been a fierce advocate of the utilitarian side of cycling. Sure, bicycles can win races, but they can also make the world a better place and that is a function of the bicycle that Gary has long championed. Though the high-end GF Cronus (the model we rode) is a race oriented bike, it is probably one of the few race worthy entries designed with fender mounts and frame clearance to run 28c tires (25c with fenders). Gary calls it "Race-Utility". Of course since no self-respecting roadie would ever be seen on bike with fender mounts, the GF squad did a good job making them invisible to the passing eye – no tabs!

AS FOR THE RIDE

Gary said one reason they spec'd a smallish 27.2 seatpost was for ease of replaceability and the level of “suspension” or increased comfort it offered versus the more rigid 32 mm plus sizes. This last attribute was apparent as I rode behind GF product manager Aaron Mock and watched the post deflect over the rough stuff.

We rode through the beautiful Montana and Canadian environs for two days (Trek Travel offers guided trips through the area). Did some monster climbs and some fast descents. While I could go on about how the bike performed, unfortunately, we never got into anything too twisty which really would've been a good test for the front end. Still, the bike felt like a race bike – big wide carbon tubes have a way of making that happen.

One thing that did arise early on was the slippery carbon to carbon interface between the stem and handlebars – the latter could use a dose of clear coated grit to avoid slipping.

The essence of FCC was made most clear in concept by Gary himself, “That patch of rubber on the road....that's your destiny!” And that's what FCC is meant to deal with. Improved handling. Increased stability. On paper it makes sense and nothing I rode in the two days of riding dispelled it. The bike was stiff, but honest injun, I would prefer to withhold further judgment until our official test bike shows up and I can do some hot laps on my daily course.

Dirt history notwithstanding, the Gary Fisher brand can be welcomed to the road world with some real innovation and creativity. It will be intersting to watch how GF's innovation and technology continues to evolve as it finds itself fighting for an edge just a cubicle away from the 900lb gorilla that sits under the same roof.

Look for the complete test in an upcoming issue of Road Bike Action. For more immediate info, head over to Gary Fisher.

Here's a photo gallery brought to you by the local makers of huckleberry jam....