The Gary Fisher Wahoo boasts the feathery Gold Series butted-aluminum frame and a 100mm-travel RockShox fork for top-notch handling and solid control on every trail. Plus, the 24-speed Shimano drivetrain shifts like a champ and the disc brakes stop on a dime. And, this fine machine boasts a quality Bontrager handlebar, stem and saddle.
| From Dirt Bikes to Mountain Bike RacingGary Fisher started competing in road and track races at the age of 12. He was suspended from the sport in 1968 because race organizers felt his hair was too long, and cited a rule that agreed with them. But by 1972 this rule had been repealed and Fisher's cycling career continued. In more recent decades, Gary has won the difficult TransAlp race in Europe and a Masters XC national title.
Perhaps inspired by a bicycle he saw that had been built by Russ Mahon, Fisher went to work on his 1930's era Schwinn Excelsior X bicycle in 1975. His innovations to the model included drum brakes, motorcycle brake levers and cables (to improve stopping power for mountain use, thumb shifters and derailleurs (so that it could climb up the mountain), and triple front chain rings, all taken from "junkers" that Fisher and friends found at local bike shops.
The next year, Fisher participated in the "Repack" downhill race, promoted by his then-roommate Charlie Kelly. This race and the road it took place on were named "Repack" because the tortuous downhill route on Pine Mountain near Fairfax, California, just north of San Francisco, made the riders use their coaster brakes so much that it was necessary for them to repack the smoking hubs with grease after every run. Fisher still holds the record time on the Repack course at 4:22.
It was Kelly who coined the term "mountain bike" in 1979, after a phrase he had heard used by a mechanic. That same year, Fisher and Kelly founded MountainBikes, the first company to specialize in the manufacture of this type of bicycle. Frames for the bikes were built by Tom Ritchey, who went on to found a company famous in its own right. The first model sold for $US 1300; 160 were manufactured in the first year.
Fisher founded his well known company Fisher MountainBikes in 1983. Eventually this company was purchased by Trek in 1993. Fisher remains involved with the bikes' design and marketing, along with being the scout and mentor to innumerable racers who've been sponsored by the team through the years. Perhaps the best known of these was the gold-medal winner in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics women's mountain biking: Paola Pezzo.
Fisher was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1988. Outside magazine named him one of the "50 who left their mark" in the sport in 2000, and Smithsonian magazine honored him in 1994 as the "Founding Father of Mountain Bikes." In 1998, Gary Fisher was recognized by Popular Mechanics for his innovations in sports.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Fisher
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