Gary Fisher Restoration / Modernization
 

I have a son-in-law who needs a new bike. He's tall - so needs a large frame. They live in northern Canada, so needs a mountain bike for miles of rural roads. Last requirement is he has a weaker left arm, so I wanted to move all shifting to the right side of the cockpit.

I found a well used 1991 Gary Fisher nearby for sale.

The bike had an older Shimano 3 x 7 drivetrain with a freewheel rear hub.

As can be seen in the photo, the bike weighed in at 14kg which is about 31 pounds. The challenge was to build a bike that will operate much better, with controls on the right and hopefully shed a bit of weight.

Rear Spacing
 

First real issue to deal with was rear drop-out spacing. The frame came with 135mm spacing, but the wheels I wanted to build were using a 130mm rear hub.

A big woodworking clamp was pressed into service. Over a few attempts, I gradually brought the spacing down to 130mm.

Not shown in the photos, but this brute-force adjustment required me to get out my derailleur hanger alignment tool to reset the dropout.

Clean up the frame
 

Next up, a strip down and cleaning of the frame. A bit of a shout out to "Spindatt" on YouTube for frame paint restoration.

I started with a wash, then hit it with a rubbing compound. Next up was a polishing compound and finished off with a car wax. Results were amazing.

For a 31 year old frame, it cleaned up really well.

New wheels
 

As this is a 26" frame, choices for wheels are limited.

I made contact with Oldpotatoe here on PL for some parts. We discussed nice wheels and he sold me some Velocity A23 rims, Bitex hubs and Sapim spokes/nipples.

I built the wheels up, and put on new Gravelking tires. They look great!

Surprisingly light. Gravelking SK tread will be perfect for the riding they will be doing.

It probably doesn't matter, but you might have 130 spacing in a different plane than the one running through the rest of your frame.

Building it up
 

To get controls on the right, I purchased a Shimano Deore 1x12 drivetrain from Ebay as due to Covid, parts availability is tough. Came with a 10-50 cassette for HG freehub bodies, 32 tooth crankset, threaded BB, Shimano shifter, Deore derailleur and KMC 12-speed chain.

I reused the v-brakes, but added some fresh Kool Stop pads.

Some basic brake levers, grips and pedals from Amazon and I was pretty complete for parts.

Took an evening to put it all together. Looks great. One short test ride and all shifting/brakes working beautifully.

I have a 30km planned for later this week for a proper test ride.

Final weigh in after the build
 

After the completed build, I put the bike back on the scale and found a significant decrease - much more thank I ever anticiapted.

Original weight was 14kg or 31lbs.

New finished weight is 11.2kg or 24.7lbs. (That includes pedals, bottle cage, etc.)

A drop of 6.3 pounds. It must have come from the wheels and the 1x drivetrain.

Riding it, it feels nice and smooth. I am not a mountain biker, so can't really compare it to my road bikes, but at 11kg's it doesn't feel like a slug and kind of fun to ride.

In conclusion, great project. I think I have achieved the objective of a good bike for him to ride on some great backroads. I am really happy with the wheels and Deore drivetrain.

I thought about this. I felt as I was applying pressure at the same time to both rear triangles hopefully this wouldn't be an issue.

I have been trying to figure out a way to measure this, but is seems to be escaping me on how to test this.

However, for only changing the spacing by 5mm, as you point out, not sure it matters.

Thanks.

String around the head tube from rear drop out to rear drop out. Measure the distance from the seat tube to the string, should be the same distance on both sides.

If you moved 5 mm on one side and 0 on the other, you'd probably notice it in the alignment of your rear wheel.

You can measure chainstay-center-to-rim on either side if your chainstays are the same shape and diameter at that point. The string method works too, but you're talking about a really marginal difference in length between one side and the other.

Ok, I am interested in determining if I have a potential alignment issue.

I can't believe I didn't think of the string method - but it makes sense.

So I took a thin non-stretch sailing rope and tied it to one of the rack braze-ons and around the head tube and back to the same braze-on on other side.

Left side measured 37.5mm from the rope to the seat tube. Right side 37.4mm. I am aware that the calipers could deflect the string, but for me the measures mean I am easily close enough for this bike. Thanks for the suggestions. Good learning.

What a great new life for that old bike. Out of curiosity, if you bought new hubs and built the wheels, why did you opt for 130mm spacing?

Man you're some father in law. Have any other daughters I can introduce my son to? Really nice job, looks like a satisfying project.

Awesome job!:hello: - I'd love to have a steel hardtail from that era, wish I never sold my old Rockhopper.

Great job and good read. Glad other brought up checking the alignment as they would have been my concern too.

Thanks for sharing.