1986 Fisher Montare Mountain Bike

[shawn57187]

I found this very affordable vintage mountain bike on Craigslist last week. The original paint is in great shape and I saw lots of potential. Here it is after I took off the fenders and gave it a de-greasing and wash.

Looks like someone did some upgrading on this bike over the years, and tried to make it into a commuter. The rear derailleur is Shimano Deore, but a much newer generation. The shifters, grips, and seat have also been changed. Over this summer, I will be trying to get it closer to original.

Fortunately, I already had a set of these:

And I bought a NOS "deer head" derailleur on eBay to match the existing front deer head derailleur.

I also ordered a set skin wall tries and NOS grip-on foam grips from MOMBAT. The seat will have to wait until a later date... unless someone happens to have a good or better condition Avocet Touring II they'd like to sell me

 

[deorman]

Who told you you could post a real bicycle on here? JK, that's a beauty. 8)

 

[jaydub]

What kind of fenders were on it..Do you have a befor picture with the fens on it..Everybody hates fenders untill you ride in the rain..LOL oh nice bike..

 

[shawn57187]

The fenders it had were not terribly great -- kinda cheap looking. Since the bike isn't going to be a commuter, I just dumped them!

I did see on eBay that some of these bikes are quite expensive. Well.. they are listed for a lot, but that doesn't mean they will sell. Who's going to spend $2600 for a vintage mountain bike? I think I'm going to fix this one up and just keep it for some summer riding

 

[fastmunny]

I just picked this up. It appears to be nearly identical. I see yours has dual braze-ons for 2 bottles, where as mine has 1. Mine did not come with bullmoose bars. Mine is in pretty nice original condition with the exception of seat, missing bull moose bars and the ritchey tires being dry rotted. It even has the cover for the roller cam brake in the rear (do not have a pic of it yet).

 

[shawn57187]

Very cool! If you want to find out what is correct / not correct for your bike, here is the original catalogue for the 1986 year.

Mine didn't have the correct seat either. I doubt there are many of those Fisher seats floating around. My solution was to grab a Avocet Touring seat, which seems pretty correct for the year. I also found that my brake levers were swapped for some newer Suntour XC ones, that were spray painted black to look like the originals. Luckily I was able to get get the correct shimano bl-m700s.

From the looks of it, someone left it outside and it got pretty rusty and then someone else tried to restore it or convert it into a commuter. My paint has some pretty significant chipping on the handlebars and the bars / seat post tube have a decent amount of rust in them. The fact this bike was saved once makes me want to save it again.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Nice find, wish my Trek was that clean, unfortunately mine had a hard life. Still rides great though.

 

[Michaels]

Both nice finds, I still have my Ross mt. Hood from the early '80s (got it for x-mas new) I like the simplicity of the early mt. bikes.

 

[Georgeediii]

I have got a couple sets of Bullmoose bars in chrome if you want to get it close. Not sure how you would match the paint but....

 

[shawn57187]

I think his Montare might be a 87 or 88? I was looking at some of the older catalogues and it looks like after 86 they dropped the Bullmoose bars and went to the black ones that he has. Hard to tell, though! If he has the deer head components it is definitely 86 or older.

Here are the catalogue archives for Fisher bikes:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/v/Manu ... atalogues/

Both nice finds, I still have my Ross mt. Hood from the early '80s (got it for x-mas new) I like the simplicity of the early mt. bikes.

The all chrome look of those bikes is awesome I was originally looking for a Mt Hood (because its a local landmark heh :wink but found the Montare instead!

 

[fastmunny]

Hey Shawn, whats your serial number? ***
non original GT stem

deerhead front derailleur looks correct per '86 ad

shimano light action rear derailleur - looks correct per '86 ad

shifter - looks correct per 86 ad

 

[shawn57187]

It looks like your rear derailleur might have been swapped at some point. Your bike would have came with a Deore XT component, but the Light Action is a slightly lower quality derailleur according to the MOMBAT Shimano history. I'll try and get a serial number today!

http://mombat.org/Shimano.htm

My components were switched to these sometime in the early 90s:

Recently I stripped the bike down to the frame:

And now built it back up:

I'm taking it by the Bike Gallery to have new cables put on and to have everything tuned up. My goal is to get it finished soon, so I can do the vintage mountain bike ride for Portland's Pedalpalooza

Here's the link for those who are interested!
http://forums.mtbr.com/vintage-retro-cl ... 76815.html

 

[Montare1986]

Hey everyone, for all those who appreciate this bicycle and want one, I'm offering mine for sale. I am the first owner and paid $850.00 in 1987 for this 1986 Fisher Montare Green bike with bullmoose handlebars. All original equipment is here. The only modification I made was made at the bike shop at the time of purchase. I requested an adjustable aluminum seat post with a "Hite Rite seat adjuster." This bike was bought in Harbor Springs, MI from Bill Prall to use while I worked on Mackinac Island, MI. I later used the bike when I joined a tall ship and sailed all around the USA, Great Lakes, East Coast, Gulf and West Coast. It has been around, but cared for. http://i.ebayimg.com/t/1986-Fisher-...Aw/$T2eC16dHJHoE9n3KgIc(BQTQs0y5hw~~60_57.JPG Currently offered on Ebay here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170907986763

 

[Montare1986]

I'm notifying this forum here, because my much loved, kept original Fisher needs a good home.

 

[Montare1986]

The stats, to answer any questions:
Gary Fisher 1986, bullmoose
Green Montare,
All original plus added Hite Rite seat adjuster,
$800.00 new

Measurements:
19" Seat Tube (crank to seat)
21.5" Top Tube (seat to steering)

Specifications:
Chromoly Chain, flared, DH “L” 50
Cunningham design Suntour rear brake
Adjustable aluminum Seatpost
“Hite-Rite” seat adjuster
Specialized original leather saddle
Bullmoose painted original Handlebar
Sealed Shimano bearings on handlbar
Shimano black Brake Levers
Grab on handlebar pads
Suntour “Bear Paw” pedals with mountain toe clips
Blackburn water bottle holder (I have the yellow Fisher water bottle)
Shimano Aluminum Cantilever Front Brake
Shimano Deore SIS Light Action 6 speed Thumb Shifters
Shimano Deore Front Derailleur
Shimano Light Action Rear Derailleur
Shimano Deore Crankset(48/38/28 Biopace Gearing with 170mm crank arm length)
SuntourCyclone sealed Hubs Laced to Araya RM-20 26" Wheels
Specialized Pro Tires, barely used
6 speed Shimano Cassette

 

[Montare1986]

The adjustable aluminum machined seat post and "Hite-Rite" seat hieght adjuster added another $80+ to the bike back in the summer of '87.

 

[scrumblero]

those suntour XC pedals are probably worth what you paid for the bike... :shock:

 

[deorman]

You can get more for that bike than I am willing to pay. :|