1989 Fisher CR-7 Fusion Restoration

[epic1400cs]

stumpjumper1990, thanks, yeah the logo on that yellow Fisher Montare looks nice.

makster, I had a good look at your Montare XT sticker made by Gil. That is from very thin lines and if that was on this grey fisher, I can see why it wasn't clear on the brochure picture!

orange71, thanks for the info, it is good to know that Gil is Fisher sympathizer!

At the moment I am collecting parts a bits by bits (literally). I want to replace worn freehub body but I have a bit of question about shimano freehub compatibility and I can't find the answer I hope you can help me.

The freehub on my CR-7 is XT HB-M730. Will this Shimano Acera X Freehub Body fit? I ve got impression that the issue may be the diameter of the dust seal on the axle...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shimano-Acera-X-F ... 19c2829f42

These are the parts I want to collect for this project...

Shimano Deore Biopace chain rings (Alloy) 46-34-24 (or similar)
Shimano Pedal PD-M730 or PD-M731 or PD-M650 or PD-MT60 or PD-M735
Shimano XT 7s Thumb Shifter M732
Shimano XT Brake lever M732 or M733
Shimano 7s freehub body
Shimano HG90 or HG70 Chain

 

[thekid]

gotta love the "BIG TUBE" early mountain bikes

 

[bushpig]

The gray color might be clear coat.

 

[epic1400cs]

thekid, yes, it is good idea to give big diameter of head tube to increase the welding length to other two tubes isn't it. I like these many trials/experiment Fisher has done exploring the new approach.

bushpig, that's interesting point - the colour of bare aluminum is much brighter silver (as we can see with the seat post) so it might be darkish gray clear coat like tinted window! Then the thickness of the paint is one or two layers less means less weight! :idea:

 

[JeRkY]

Out of interest why do you state the grey one in the brochure is a pre-production model?

 

[epic1400cs]

JeRkY, honestly speaking I don't know the full history of the CR-7 production. Althought the info re CR-7 I can find on the net doen't cover all the detail, the picture on this brochure shows;

1) The head tube seems to be not the 1 1/4 evolution size (from the proportions in the image)
2) The selection of main components are Suntour XC (US production models are either with Shimano or CR-7s from Far East Asia I saw many CR-7 with Suntour but this type of black-out finish Suntours)
3) The frame colour Grey/Black - although a magazine article ( http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/mai ... emId=67077 ) mentions this frame colour, I haven't managed to find CR-7 with this colour on the net after looking through about image of 30 different CR-7s.
4) In the same article, it features a CR-7 in Fisher Wroks Team frame colouring (Yellow, Red and Black). It is most probably one of the first batch of production CR-7 or last part of pre-production unit. This tricolor CR-7 has canti brake at the rear on seat stays. This is the same as all the CR-7 images I ve seen on the net. However, the grey CR-7 on the brochure has U brake (or center pull I don't know what is the exact name) on chain stay, which seems to be common to other earlier Fisher models.

::EDIT:: As you see OM FLyer's post below,
(1) Grey CR-7 is actually production model.
(2) Early production model came with XC.
(3) This CR-7 is production model
(4) Eearly production model came with Ubrake on chain stay.

I am thinking and guessing based on the limited info on the net so I might be wrong, please correct me if you know the correct answer, thats would be really helpful.
I still don't know if this colour was actually in mass production or not so if anybody knows about it, please let me know, too.

As you can see, there seems to be some difference between grey CR-7 and the one I have (head tube dia., brake location, bottle cage etc). But my project is on a budget, I am not going to reproduce all of these. That's beyond the scope of my project. I just want to sniff the taste of this grey CR-7 with some manageable alternation, such as parts selection and colouring hence the word 'Fusion' in this thread title

 

[OM FLyer]

Hi all - first-time poster here. I used to own a 1988 CR-7 in the grey and black color scheme, and can uniquivocally say that it was not a pre-production color. They had two - a 17" and a 19" - in the Long Beach CA shop where I bought it. They came spec'd with Suntour XCD 6000 components throughout, a MASSIVE 31.8 mm seatpost, and IIRC, it did not have the Evolution 1.25" headset. I rode and raced that bike until 1992, when it finally broke, and I replaced it with a Grove Innovations X-frame. I still have the Fisher catalogue from that year (the same one pictured in the thread), so if there's other info I can provide, I'd be happy to help.

Added: The Fisher logo on the down tube was magenta/pink in color, and the under-chainstay U-brake was as pictured. The brake worked fine, but the cable eventually dug a little groove into the underside of the BB where it entered the screwed-on plastic cable-guide.

 

[epic1400cs]

OM Flyer, welcome to the site!

Thank you very much for taking time to provide the info about the CR-7 to correct my ignorant speculations! I am very excited to know that grey and black colour scheme model actually existed.

They came spec'd with Suntour XCD 6000 components throughout, a MASSIVE 31.8 mm seatpost, and IIRC, it did not have the Evolution 1.25" headset.

So the head wasn't evolution size with the very first batch of the CR-7 - very interesting!

The Fisher logo on the down tube was magenta/pink in color, and the under-chainstay U-brake was as pictured.

Means were they like makster's Montare XT?

I still have the Fisher catalogue from that year (the same one pictured in the thread), so if there's other info I can provide, I'd be happy to help.

That's very generous of you, thank you very much. I am wondering, would you mind to let me have scan of that CR-7 page in higher resolution so that I can see the position and size of the sticker clearly?

 

[OM FLyer]

Epic,

Yes, they are like those on that Montare. I don't have access to a scanner here, but I've taken a photo from one of the two pictures of the bike in the catalogue. It's very hard to see the decal, regardless. The outline is magenta, and the letters themselves are blue, so they fade right into the charcoal grey of the frame.

(Photo in next message, as the site won't let me post them until my third message)

 

[OM FLyer]

If you PM me an email address, I can send you a much larger photo that shows the decal more clearly.