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GARY FISHER
Gary Fisher is truly one of the founding fathers of the sport of mountain biking. He began klunking his way into history by racing his modified cruiser down the rough fire roads of Marin California's Mount Tam. From this point on, Gary has led the mountain bike world down the path of innovation as he worked to make his intense personal vision a reality. From the development of the oversized headset and the first production bicycle with front suspension, to the creation of the Gary Fisher Two-Niner 29-inch wheeled mountain bikes. Gary continually toils to make mountain bikes better. He is a driven advocate for the sport, thriving to make better products to help the droves of mountain bikers around the world enjoy the wonders of two wheeled life.
Today, Gary is still riding, still racing and still pushing for technical advancements in the sport. You would be hard pressed to find a rider that puts in more miles on a bike and attends more events than Gary Fisher. Gary is always looking, listening, identifying trends, and sifting out that which makes sense. Gary's story is a totally unique adventure of one man and his vision for a sport. Reviewing what he has done for mountain bikes and riders throughout his lifetime, we can only imagine what might emerge from the treasure chest of Gary's mind next.
The Legend
In 1968, Gary Fisher was an unlikely legend. Suspended from bike racing because his hair was too long, Fisher took his sport to the hills. In the hazy daze of the '70s he and a corps of Bay Area yahoos discovered the addiction of bombing down dirt trails on beater bikes salvaged from the dump. But eventually, blasting down Mt. Tamalpais, hitchhiking back up and flying down again was not enough. Fisher wanted to ride up as well.
He began to design bikes that could do just this, selling them to friends and anyone else who was willing to fork over the dough. They were tougher than road bikes with critical changes to the outfitting, allowing the rider to maintain more control as the bike careened over rocks and roots.
Business took off. In 1979 Fisher and some partners started a company. They called it Mountain Bikes. By 1980, the company was selling more high-end bikes than anyone else. "At 29, I had the mountain bike thing in my back pocket," says Fisher. "It was a big hot secret, like a new drug. You'd turn someone on to it and they were like 'Wow I've gotta have some of that. I gotta have one of those.' It was intoxicating."
Fisher was living an intoxicating lifestyle as well, competing and winning hard-core races and sponsoring riders, while his designs and his company revolutionized the sport.
He was indeed on top of the mountain. In 1983, Fisher founded the National Off- Road Bicycle Association, which now has almost 30,000 members and acts as the governing body of mountain bike racing. Four years later, Fisher was named by Outside Magazine as one of the "50 Who Left Their Mark." Gary Fisher was no longer just a man's name; it was one of the most recognized brands in mountain bikes. Though the man behind the legend was riding a sweet single track of success, there are always bumps in the trail.
A bike bum at heart, Fisher wanted his bikes, but more importantly his sport, accessible to everyone, and began taking steps to make his high-cost two-wheelers more affordable. With innovative designs, heavy marketing and manufacturing in Japan, Fisher began to push down the cost of his bikes. He continued to race and design, calling on an energy that only a kinetic downhill racer can have. "Back then you're on a mission, you're a crusader -- it's like, 'Get out of my way.' There's a lot in that focus people admire. But sometimes you can get tunnel vision," he says.
In the late '80s, despite such innovations as the first suspension system for bikes, Fisher's company hit some ruts. "We were an odd size. We were at almost $11 million in sales. We needed to be under $5 million or over $50 million. We were leveraged out," Fisher says. Too big to be small, too small to be big, Fisher sold his company in 1991 to Taiwan's Anlen, where it tumbled head-over-handlebars for the next two years. "I was basically a puppet president," Fisher says of his time with Anlen. Out of the decision-making loop, Fisher felt at odds with the management. "It was nuts. A lot of stuff went on unbeknownst to me." Fisher does not hide his disappointment with the events at Anlen, "It was totally frustrating watching something we built for all those years just get crushed in a lot of ways."
After two excruciating years with Anlen, Trek, the well-established American bicycle manufacturer located in Waterloo, Wisconsin, came to the rescue and bought the struggling company. Trek brought to the table an established nuts-and-bolts company with exacting manufacturing standards, while Fisher brought his groundbreaking designs, creativity and name. It was a match made in heaven.
With Trek now handling the day-to-day business concerns, Fisher is back doing what he does best: innovate and inspire. "It's been sort of freeing," says Fisher, referring to his job as President of the Gary Fisher Division of Trek Bicycles. "I tell the joke. 'Now I'm not responsible for anything, but I get to meddle in everything.'" By giving up control of the company, Fisher says he can better focus on the big picture.
He readily admits he's still single-minded and focused, "But I'll step back from that focus and take a broader view with the knowledge that my focus can be better directed." The result of this partnership has been 10 years of creating and manufacturing high-performance mountain bike product that has introduced hoards of new riders to the sport.
Still racing and designing innovative cycling products, Fisher's priorities have begun to change. Fisher has come a long way since his days of hitchhiking up the mountain. "I understand better where to apply my energy," he says. "But the goals are the same: to make a difference in the world, to really enjoy life."
Gary's Official Website : http://www.fisherbikes.com/gary/
Gary Highlights :
* Founding Father of Mountain Biking
* King of Repack Mountain Bike Series
* Mountain Biking Innovator
* inductee of the inaugural Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Crested Butte.
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