1995 Gary Fisher Paragon

August 17th 2014

Another garage rescue, this lovely old Paragon (with a Huffy branded saddle) was advertised for sale as ‘Huffy Gary Fisher model’. Go figure. The shop sticker on the down tube is from Wheel World in Seattle.

I bought it from Carl, who had taken possession of it from his dad, who had bought it used. Carl had moved on to motorcycles, and the Fisher had been overlooked for some time.

Like most bikes of this age, it has chips and scratches, the occasional gouge, and quite a few mis-matched parts. One of these is the seat post, which is way too small for the frame (small enough for the clamp to bend the metal around the seat collar when tightened). The right hand Gripshift has been replaced with a trigger shifter, and that RockShox Quadra 21 fork feels like it’s seized (but I won’t know for sure until I open it up).

Looking past the faults, the Deore XT/LX drivetrain is all there. The wheels are in good shape – the Bontrager rims spin true, and the LX hub bearings are remarkably smooth. The old bottom bracket seems OK, and even the headset turns freely. Even the paint comes up OK with a little patience and know-how.

This bike is far from finished (in fact, I haven’t even started it yet) but here it is with the correct size seat post and the correct Bontrager saddle.