After finally finishing my retro fisher build I have decided to start a thread explaining how I did it, how much it cost me and what problems I had. The key theme to this build was cost. Because I got the frame, forks, stem, and wheels from a karma on here I decided it was going to be an exercise in budget building. Patience is king here, I got the frame in august but it has taken me this long to amass the parts and finally it is complete.
so the background to this build was a karma fisher montare was offered in august along with a kona and a dawes (rojo I haven't forgotten). As Im a big fisher fan and desperate for a procaliber from 87 I thought I could build a tribute so I drove over to Gloucestershire and was given the three frames, a pair of ritchey wheels, tange prestige bars, forks and headset for the 1 1/4 fischer and a set of new bearings but a knackered axle.
so that was the first problem, where to get a unique to fisher, only made for a few years axle? well I found one in Holland for 18 delivered
next was the paint, spend loads and get a argos job or Halfords rattlecan and hope for the best? Halfords it was 5 cans ( 3 paint 2 primer) plus extras 25 quid
Then a friend mentioned he had "some bits" I could have and a week later a xt front mech, xt thumbies and a nos xt cassette :shock: arrive in the post :xmas-big-grin: Now I appreciate I got lucky here but had I not of got these bits I would have aimed my build at deore or stx-rc level due to cost.
I want to use this off road and as I have canti's on my commuter I wanted something that's going to work so I opted for a set of deore v brakes and levers from the for sale section for 20 quid
I sold a Raleigh that was sat in my shed for a couple of years and realized it was fitted with some nos wildgrippers so they were swapped out for some regular tyres. tubes were from ebay 5 quid a pair.
The supplied headset was fooked, shame really as it was a stronglight needle jobbie so a zoom one 12 quid from the wanted section was found.
chainset was from the for sale section, stx rc 15 quid. I was holding out for a mt60 but nothing and this was a big stall so stx it is.
Jagwire cable set from ebay. 6 quid for the full set, stainless inners, lined outers ferrules and ends. that seller is added to favorites for sure.
peaty grips from the for sale section along with a headset for the dawes mentioned above. 4 quid iirc
The rear mech came off my lts when I changed all the bits to deore so I paid 8 quid for the deore mech I fitted to the lts
Chain was from crc shimano hg40 6 quid
Pedals 5 quid from the for sale section
seat and post I had in the shed.
Total spend 124 pounds. probably not the most budget of builds but as a sum of its parts that's most economical. Its been said many times before about buying a 250 quid bike from a bike shop or spending 250 quid on a bike that was probably over a grand 15 or so years ago but spending 124 quid on a bike I think is a bargain, especially as it is a cromo double butted high end fisher with xt and other goodies.
So on with the build. The frame was in a primer so a rub down and primer then paint was the order, the forks and stem were painted the same colour to keep the procaliber theme then it was put in the loft to cure while I sourced the bits. fast forward 5 months and I was getting my lowrider painted and the painter offered to clearcoatthe fisher for free. I got the bits back and started the build this morning. first up there was so much paint and other crap in the bb that the c clips would stay in so I took the bearings back out, cleaned the grooves out and refitted the bb. much better now. then the headset cups need pressing in with my home made press (threaded bar with some machined drift washers) forks on and stem and bars.
cranks on (no grease on the tapers) will report if they fail torqued to 44lb then pedals. front mech and rear mech fitted. rear dropout was bent so that was straightened with the wheel in place to sight up the top jockey, cage and small sprocket using some big grips and a cloth to protect the paint/mech.
looking at the rims the front ritchey is toast so I had a spare mavic 220 on a kona hub. axle out and regreased on both wheels, rims cleaned and tyres fitted. no dramas here (note, buy some cone spanners 6 quid from evans for a pair, they make the job so much easier).
cain, cables and brakes fitted. again no dramas but I cant rate these cables enough. they are really good quality stainless not galvanized lined inners buttery smooth and 6 quid for a set, yes a set that's a full bikes worth of inner and outer for 6 effin quid :shock:.
I went to the lbs to treat it to some new brake pads, I could have used the old ones but I wanted to treat it Im not including this in the build price as I only bought them as I got carried away in the shop and have only fitted 1 set.
slight problem with the seatpost being too small but this is in hand
so that's my tale heres some pics (fully build pics when I get the post sorted) I have had a ride with no post and it brings back so many memories.
so the background to this build was a karma fisher montare was offered in august along with a kona and a dawes (rojo I haven't forgotten). As Im a big fisher fan and desperate for a procaliber from 87 I thought I could build a tribute so I drove over to Gloucestershire and was given the three frames, a pair of ritchey wheels, tange prestige bars, forks and headset for the 1 1/4 fischer and a set of new bearings but a knackered axle.
so that was the first problem, where to get a unique to fisher, only made for a few years axle? well I found one in Holland for 18 delivered
next was the paint, spend loads and get a argos job or Halfords rattlecan and hope for the best? Halfords it was 5 cans ( 3 paint 2 primer) plus extras 25 quid
Then a friend mentioned he had "some bits" I could have and a week later a xt front mech, xt thumbies and a nos xt cassette :shock: arrive in the post :xmas-big-grin: Now I appreciate I got lucky here but had I not of got these bits I would have aimed my build at deore or stx-rc level due to cost.
I want to use this off road and as I have canti's on my commuter I wanted something that's going to work so I opted for a set of deore v brakes and levers from the for sale section for 20 quid
I sold a Raleigh that was sat in my shed for a couple of years and realized it was fitted with some nos wildgrippers so they were swapped out for some regular tyres. tubes were from ebay 5 quid a pair.
The supplied headset was fooked, shame really as it was a stronglight needle jobbie so a zoom one 12 quid from the wanted section was found.
chainset was from the for sale section, stx rc 15 quid. I was holding out for a mt60 but nothing and this was a big stall so stx it is.
Jagwire cable set from ebay. 6 quid for the full set, stainless inners, lined outers ferrules and ends. that seller is added to favorites for sure.
peaty grips from the for sale section along with a headset for the dawes mentioned above. 4 quid iirc
The rear mech came off my lts when I changed all the bits to deore so I paid 8 quid for the deore mech I fitted to the lts
Chain was from crc shimano hg40 6 quid
Pedals 5 quid from the for sale section
seat and post I had in the shed.
Total spend 124 pounds. probably not the most budget of builds but as a sum of its parts that's most economical. Its been said many times before about buying a 250 quid bike from a bike shop or spending 250 quid on a bike that was probably over a grand 15 or so years ago but spending 124 quid on a bike I think is a bargain, especially as it is a cromo double butted high end fisher with xt and other goodies.
So on with the build. The frame was in a primer so a rub down and primer then paint was the order, the forks and stem were painted the same colour to keep the procaliber theme then it was put in the loft to cure while I sourced the bits. fast forward 5 months and I was getting my lowrider painted and the painter offered to clearcoatthe fisher for free. I got the bits back and started the build this morning. first up there was so much paint and other crap in the bb that the c clips would stay in so I took the bearings back out, cleaned the grooves out and refitted the bb. much better now. then the headset cups need pressing in with my home made press (threaded bar with some machined drift washers) forks on and stem and bars.
cranks on (no grease on the tapers) will report if they fail
torqued to 44lb then pedals. front mech and rear mech fitted. rear dropout was bent so that was straightened with the wheel in place to sight up the top jockey, cage and small sprocket using some big grips and a cloth to protect the paint/mech.looking at the rims the front ritchey is toast so I had a spare mavic 220 on a kona hub. axle out and regreased on both wheels, rims cleaned and tyres fitted. no dramas here (note, buy some cone spanners 6 quid from evans for a pair, they make the job so much easier).
cain, cables and brakes fitted. again no dramas but I cant rate these cables enough. they are really good quality stainless not galvanized lined inners buttery smooth and 6 quid for a set, yes a set that's a full bikes worth of inner and outer for 6 effin quid :shock:.
I went to the lbs to treat it to some new brake pads, I could have used the old ones but I wanted to treat it Im not including this in the build price as I only bought them as I got carried away in the shop and have only fitted 1 set.
slight problem with the seatpost being too small but this is in hand
so that's my tale heres some pics (fully build pics when I get the post sorted) I have had a ride with no post and it brings back so many memories.
