Saturday, July 18, 2009

Meet "Fetch" the Workhorse

Meet one of the world's great bikes. Fetch is a 1987 Gary Fisher HooKooEKoo, a sweet assemblage of True Temper AT tubes joined in a geometry that is fast and comfortable on all surfaces. These old rigid bikes were never intended for huge hits and big jumps but they opened up the forests and trails to cyclists in a way nothing else had before. I've ridden this one on all but the most extreme trails around and it handled itself better than I could.

The standard kit was Shimano Deore; cantilever brake up front, U-brake under the chainstay bridge, four-finger levers, and thumbshifters that are selectable for friction or six-speed indexing. Biopace chainrings in 48, 38, 28 feel just like any normal crank and are well suited to a wide range of riding environments. Mostly this bike lives in the middle ring.


Right now she's set up with fenders and a rack. The Kenda K-Rad tires are smooth and fast for road riding and not so bad off road. I never got the point of running skinny tires on an MTB for the road, why? Rolling resistance is the least thing holding you back and the fat tire is the great advantage of these frames. Enjoy it.

Right now I'm riding in friction mode with a 7s cassette on the back. The original rear wheel has developed a pretty serious case of the spokesies. About every hundred miles or so another one breaks. So there's a replacement wheel while I decide whether to build up with the original hub or just lace up a modern LX hub I've got waiting to go to work and put that on there. I don't need the extra gears, but they exist and I'm happy to use them when I can.

In present dress with that crap, heavy rack she weighs 31 pounds. Great fun bike, good for just about anything you'd want a bike for.

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