1990's Gary Fisher Gravel Bike

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

The hardest part of the whole project was getting Winamp to work on that Windows 98 tablet.

[@akissparaskevopoulos]

Hahaha when I saw Winamp I thought what the heck when was this video filmed ? Hahaah

[@ghostthean7552]

The hardest part was found a nice condition gary fisher or other branded frame next to dustbin

[@kareloh]

😂nostalgia! Love your vid’s and music choice. Winamp’s the icing on the cake

[@danielsotelo3942]

Dear Robert, I personally knew Gary back when I had onZa in the 90s. Knowing him he would love to give you a call and pay you a visit and find a way to produce a Retro-Mod based off your beautiful bike, paint decals and all. I would not doubt it would be the best selling Gravel bike for two years in a row. Everything on your beautiful restoration screams! ""BITCH... YOU WANT ME, YOU BUY ME, YOU RIDE ME"" Amazing, when I first saw your photo on the cover of your KZbin vid, I thought WOW TREK & Gary are actually coming out with this amazing new retro Fisher bike. But was blown away when I saw it was a rescue bike... Utterly Fantastic Master Piece!

[@tomaszcichawa6332]

That bike looks epic❤

[@FantaconeBoxWorksCBG]

The thru axle conversation is brilliant!

[@SurpriseMeJT]

But 142 and 135mm hubs are still the same from locknut to locknut as I understand it. I would have just found an old mtb fork and built up wheels with 100/135mm hubs.

[@joshgross8741]

its an abomination

[@chrisallen2005]

@@SurpriseMeJT No, one is 135 mm and the other is 142 mm. Not difficult to understand at all.

[@44Paulbowman]

I cringe when I hear someone say, "bike build", which usually means they've changed out some functional parts for fancy parts, but this is genius and absolutely amazing! Well, done sir.

[@brettkilian9855]

There’s a certain level of irony in saying “new parts are too expensive”, but using machining a single nut and brake mount with thousands of dollars of tools😂! Great work, very cool bike and insightful build!

[@josebibriescas4365]

Im with you

[@_MrSnrub]

Wow. Honestly the thru axle conversion blew my mind. That is such a good idea. I knew about cold setting, but I hadn't seen anyone do that thru axle stuff. Too bad you need some pretty crazy tooling to do this, what an amazing build. As a Gary Fisher owner, I love this build.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Awesome! Thank you.

[@jeliano]

doset surly got something like this on its midnight special. but nevertheless pretty nice build!

[@jollyandwaylo]

You don't need to use a mill. You could all that with a grinder and file. It would take more time is all.

[@jasonkroll2735]

I use 10x 135 thru axile conversion on my dt swiss for aluminum full suspension mtb. And cut 142 endcaps to 135 on a aluminum hardtail and drilled the dropouts from 10mm to12mm . In case u don't have steel or ti , there's great options.. and 1° slacker headsets are available for 1 1/8. Not sure about 1" head tubes .

[@roncooke2188]

Had to switch off in the end pissed off with the music

[@ryanmvickerman]

Robert is like the Bob Ross of bike videos....love him!

[@SergeKulyk]

eh more Bob Vila, @OldShovel is Bob Ross.

[@Josukegaming]

This is absolutely incredible. This is the most detailed and creative vintage bike conversion builds I've EVER SEEN. Usually most people just put on a new drivetrain, tires and bars and call it a day.

[@truthrevealved]

greatest bike conversion video ive ever seen. i am in awe.

[@Gribbo9999]

I have a Gary Fisher L' Aquila mountain bike. I bought it new in 1999 in Sydney. So it's now 25 years old! The front suspension forks gave up a couple of years ago and I replaced them with rigid forks. I've been running it on narrow road tyres for many years and predominantly using it on sealed roads, basically as a road bike. The bike has seen life in Vietnam for two years, Laos, Indonesia for several years, and Malawi, as well as here in New South Wales. It's still in nearly daily use, though I do alternate it with my full suspension bike depending on the ride. Still a lovely bike to ride. At 73, I now think my legs will retire before the bike!

[@Lord_Sneetus]

This is one of the best looking bikes I've ever seen.

[@somyar.mohanty5853]

Man you just did the entire project a way way way better than anyone online here on youtube, So much precise on the measurement , then the disc mount and finding the used parts with the the frame stretching to fit the through axle, it was amazing.

[@TrekSLDuraAce]

Robert, good video! As a cyclist of 35 years, and a Machinist/Engineer of 45 years, I can appreciate what you've accomplished. I have an old Stumpjumper with 26" wheels, disc brakes, and Quick Release hubs. I converted the 26ers to thru axles in a similar fashion. I had to custom make the axles, modify the hubs, and modify the dropouts. Having machine tools is great!

[@AK-oz4ew]

Jeez, what a brilliant upgrade. Steel frames go a long way to allow whatever you want

[@R0bertP]

Wow, what a brilliant video! I was born in 1973, raced as a teenager on these type of frames in Poland in the late 1980s. I was shocked how easy this conversion went for you. And the Winamp part was great. Unforgettable times.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

That sounds amazing. I'm a 1978 model, myself. These bikes were big for me in my late teens. I was in college dorms with a T1 line in 1998 and winamp was all the rage then. We would share files over the university network and make our own Winamp skins. I remember it fondly.

[@R0bertP]

@@RobertAdairWorkshop and those visualizations were priceless. So trippy sometimes :)

[@thedownunderverse]

@@RobertAdairWorkshopit really whips the Llamas ass…

[@fortunesk89]

Probably the most impressive 90s mtb to gravel conversion on KZbin. Great ideas for anyone that’s handy too. Would’ve been cool to see those adapters brazed on but the flux core welder is a great budget solution

[@oJAK3yy]

One of the best bike builds I have watched. Cheers

[@Calatriste54]

I've abandoned any idea of paying what Gravel Bikes are going for these days. Rediculous! NO MORE!! This is real inspiration. "Necessity is the mother of invention", all you bike Manufacturers..

[@whateverbikes]

Props for this. For myself, I am perfectly happy with the way I typically 'gravelize' nineties mountain bikes: put faster rolling tires on it, swap the handlebars for a drop bar or a Surly Corner Bar type of handlebar, find a high and short stem to get the position right, and that's it. I like the snappy acceleration and the nimble steering of 26" wheels (and their strength), and well adjusted V-brakes work perfectly fine for me.. That said, I do like the concept and realization of this bike very much. Props also for the calm editing and talking us thru the build, including the mistakes. That's a breath of fresh air compared to most bike build video's here. Good job!

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Really appreciate this. Thank you. I had a gravelized Hardrock in the late 90's with bull bars. It was a neat bike. Would be a fun build, for sure.

[@Gregory_tottie]

As soon as I saw those cantilever brake mounts on the frame I knew I was gonna watch some welding. That whole video was riveting!

[@henderthing]

Riveting was only a small part of the video.

[@JorisBokkerink]

How nice to be so honest about a few little mistakes, al lot to learn here. Well done conversion!

[@redacted2763]

Absolutely beautiful! The gold makes it pop. Great build.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thanks!

[@peteransel2715]

Amazing and inspirational. And hats off for showing people that paint solvents are no joke (Full skin coverage, and full face respirator with fresh air supply.) The only way to do it properly . Central nervous system damage is not to be taken lightly... ask anyone who's experienced it.

[@jarosawkamirski4718]

this is real ecology - giving life for old products - and in fact high quality painting on this is far better than in new bikes :)

[@JesusMartinez-bi7sb]

You are one smart guy , I am car painter by trade , I'm very impressed, my friend Chip Foose has to see your channel!!!😊

[@interceptor7905]

I was and actually still am huge Gary Fisher I was devastated when Gary Fisher went under Trek name and slowly dissapeared!Had a Big Sur from 1998 and sold it to but Hoo Koo E Koo from 2000.I wish I kept a Big Sur.Over the years I got other bikes and end up restoring Hoo Koo E Koo and glad I did!Gar Fisher fan forever!!Probably you could join forces with Old Shovel channel.He likes restoring old mtbs.

[@irgendwer3610]

man, there is nothing more satisfying than engineering your own bike solutions, it's surprising how many problems you can avoid

[@sonny5614]

Prob the best bike build I’ve seen in a while!

[@DarinMiller]

Major thumbs up for the WinAmp player 😄

[@caseypleasant1922]

I've never seen someone on KZbin make something that's absolutely incredible and hard to do look so easy .... you got a new subscriber bro

[@stephensjer]

Did the same thing with my early-90's Gary Fisher Cronus (didn't go thru axle though, that's great!). Have disc brake boss welded on, carbon fork. It's a dream to ride. Bottom bracket/crankset took some creativity, but now that it's all sorted it's become one of my favorite bikes to ride.

[@dcorica79]

Thank you for saving a Gary Fisher bike from the scrap yard.. as a collector of vintage Gary Fisher bikes I appreciate this video.. from the way the Gary Fisher logo is on the frame and head tube it looks like a 1999 - 2000 model.. my aquila 26er has the same writing. ❤

[@bradleyschmidt2075]

This is the content I’ve been looking for all day! A restomod bike, truly modded to make it work with modern standards. Many may say it’s shameful to “destroy” another classic frame, but I say it’s better to do this and create a revised version of a bike that will get ridden a lot.

[@AndrewSmyk]

Gitche Gumee bikes are a lot of fun to ride. As a teen, I would go blasting through all the farmers fields and abandoned railway paths around my house. Spent my summer riding everywhere on that bike. Great conversion.

[@lokerola]

Wow - that through axle conversion requires some serious machine shop skills and tools!

[@raykleiner3151]

Amazing video, your skills bringing an old bike back to life is incredible. What a pleasure!

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thank you.

[@phillipwatters3752]

I love all those old Gary Fisher's. They had such cool names and paint jobs. My first real mtb was a GF Kaitai and it had this awesome sparkly yellow paint job.

[@interceptor7905]

I remember those

[@macksoneh]

14:16 Winamp, indeed! It totally goes with a 90s bike re-build 😀

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

I don't think you can properly do a 90's video without it. It was so big in the 90's and my old Pentium 90 ran it well. We were on T1 line in the early days of file sharing, prior to Napster. I remember Winamp fondly. It's a shame they don't make software anymore.

[@schmarrenheimer80]

Love your work, the craftsmanship, your attention to work safety (respiratory protection)... and the original Winamp playing :)

[@steffen_a]

What an outstanding build! By far the best and most dedicated 90s MTB gravel conversion I’ve seen.

[@liamb322]

In 2013 I thought I was a visionary when I slapped a carbon fork, drop bars, CX tires, and a single speed drivetrain on a 90s GF Mamba frame my dad had in the garage. That thing absolutely ripped across my college campus for like a month before it was stolen off a rack. If I had the same frame today, this is what I would want.

[@danielsotelo3942]

I personally knew Gary back when I had onZa in the 90s. Knowing him he would love to give you a call and pay you a visit and find a way to produce a Retro-Mod based off your beautiful bike, paint decals and all. I would not doubt it would be the best selling Gravel bike for two years in a row. Everything on your beautiful restoration screams! ""BITCH... YOU WANT ME, YOU BUY ME, YOU RIDE ME"" Amazing, when I first saw your photo on the cover of your KZbin vid, I thought WOW TREK & Gary are actually coming out with this amazing new retro Fisher bike. But was blown away when I saw it was a rescue bike... Utterly Fantastic Master Piece!

[@MikesBikes2020]

Excellent workmanship and an awesome end result. This exercise shows how long the modern mountain bikes have gone. Love your workshop!

[@glenjo0]

Nice! Gary would approve (especially the grabbing it out of the trash bit.)

[@matthewfrostmedia3286]

Mind blowing the thru axle problem solving - Simply brilliant conversion and a 'proper' change from old to new 🙂

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thank you.

[@oneupmanship]

The nostalgia part of your video made me kinda sad and long for the early days of mtb's. How we used to geek out at all the new tech at the time. Got my first mtb in 85 and still have it. Remember buddies showing up with Fisher's and thinking, gotta get one of those. Those were the days. Now I'm officially old and just bought my first e-mtb. It has renewed my love of the sport. Now I'm looking at all the old bikes in my barn and wondering, which one will make a good gravel bike. Never say die.

[@Keithygeorge]

I need a little commuter bike, so ive atarted a similar but less detailed build on my old 2009 alloy Gary Fisher, excalibre. Imagine my surprise to have a Gary Fisher gravel bike build pop up in my algorithm. Job very well done sir. Very nice. I hope mine turns out half as nice.

[@DSBSB]

Everyone else - "Let's build a gravel bike" - proceeds to clean the frame and put a brand new groupset and drop bar on. This guy - "Let's build a gravel bike" - proceeds to make his own thru-axles and disc mounts! You have a new subscriber.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thanks for joining. Appreciate it.

[@p.l.diablo9864]

That heat sink trick is old school. Kudos to you for using 100% of your brain. Cheers bro.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Appreciate it!

[@jamesgiddrey4892]

Fantastic job, man. The heat sink on the dropout was a great idea.

[@normawingo5116]

And I’ve got a Gary Fisher out in he garage. Woohoo! Nice job

[@POLO8072]

This is magnificent. The reason why I'm in love with bikes in just one video.

[@tom_tom_k98]

This is unbelievable. I have never seen a rebuild like this before. Well done.

[@MJennifer]

The freaking urge I have to find an old 90s frame and build my own bike now. Amazing video, keep them coming

[@Breaddc2]

what a setup! This is exactly what I'd love to do and convert old steel MTB frames to 700c gravel bikes. Surely I'm not the only one, and this is a business opportunity for you. Wish I was state side!

[@shakhayathossain1873]

This is my first watch amongst your video's, it was amazing. I have seen lots of conversation video's so far this one is the best. End part you says about the wrong/mistakes/things that goes imperfect was something very much new, and those are the learning that helps a lot. I'm an amature cyclist, I made a gravel from a 90's trek singletrack. Those 90's frames are perfect for gravel/touring bike build. Apprciate your video's. nice works

[@leehirst8081]

Absolutely stunning bike, i loves steel frame.

[@uniworkhorse]

Thank you for sharing your mistakes too, it's cool to see it all! There's so many stories to tell in these projects 🙏

[@LGF1290]

I don't normally leave comments on videos but the alterations you made were awesome and the bike looks great. Thanks for sharing.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Appreciate it. Thank you. And thanks too for subscribing.

[@FromPolandWithROAAAAR]

Stretching frame for 142mm blew my mind :D :D :D Fantastic job you did with this bike, looks amazing!

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thanks a lot!

[@chamonetv9454]

Best conversion i’ve seen in youtube. The cleanest TA conversion.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thank you. Appreciate it.

[@puridade1]

this modernizing process was really smart

[@AlexYaroff]

Incredible build, you're a jack of all trades!

[@Shyamal_wijesinghe]

This is it. This is it 😮 recently got an old giant rock 4000. Can fit 700wheela. Wow. Really appreciate for the video. Please don't stop making these bikes 🙏 ❤

[@highestsprings]

Could not agree more. Great to see this conversion. Beautiful bike.

[@jaymitra8531]

Wow, sick build! Gary would be proud.

[@Coastal_Cruzer]

He's still alive though?

[@jaymitra8531]

​@@Coastal_Cruzer Yep, and would still be proud I reckon.

[@tongalizia3175]

Gongratulations Sr. It’s so beautiful to modernize an old frame. The true axles and the brakes are a work of art. Job well done….

[@madderdog214]

Nice work. Good honest debrief and lessons learnt at the end was refreshing.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

I appreciate that!

[@Luigi13]

Great workmanship? The bike looks like those antics restored cars I see in the Summer restored and shiny. Good job Robert Adair. 👌👌

[@rasoul786]

Wow! Love the milling a chunk o steel into a rear disc brake mount. Serious skills(and tools!) Im just gonna throw drop bars on my old Tange tubed Nishiki and call it a day😂

[@serhiirudenko6183]

Super awesome build. And that's the 1st time I saw a thru-axle convertion.

[@2hiperkemanci]

Wow, and wow, about thru axle! You even made your own brackets for disc brakes. 90's soul is still alive with black and green stuff on Winamp. Well done sir!

[@RichZaverack]

Thanks!

[@uhJrad]

Those custom drop outs are amazing 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thank you!

[@soloist777]

Well done, the conversion was totally captivating and your finished bike is gorgeous! You've finished with a very beautiful bike! Something to cherish and be proud to ride!

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thank you very much!

[@scottsprojects658]

Best Gravel Bike I have seen so far!

[@tylajonsie]

Machining your thru axle assembly was so good

[@Mickmeister63]

Wow! Awesome build! The patience of a madman. Well done!

[@sethchapman8001]

Good looking build. I really enjoy building a bike from the frame up, and converting the type of bike as well. Great job with the frame modifications, and the through axle conversion.

[@chuffa1130]

Thank you for sharing, these old Gary Fisher chromoly frames are my go-to they're so highly versatile for modifications, The geometry setup on most of these frames are incredible I should not be thrown out

[@JavierGonzalez-sj4mc]

Oh yes that THRU AXLE was freaking brilliant

[@Ronin_Texas]

Awesome combertion, the true axel blew my mind 🤯

[@madrabbit64]

Excellent video….i just did this with an older all carbon 2011 Ridley x-Fire CX bike. Found it dirty and neglected in a pawn shop. I added a SRAM 1X drivetrain, Fulcrum Racing wheels, Ritchey seat post and pedals. Came with Avid shorty ultimate cantilever brakes and Swisstop pads. Great gravel rider/ fun ride coffee stop bike that turns heads.

[@dontsplatmatt]

Excellent build! I have a mid 90s Gary Fisher that I turned into an Omnium Minimax cargo bike last year. Such a great frame for a fun build!

[@matthewsmith6486]

Great video! I think it's super cool you saved an old 90s mountain bike frame. And the best part is you ended up with a contemporary gravel bicycle. Maybe not the lightest but then again it didn't set you back 12k. I say well done!

[@brianfarrelly7151]

The finished bike looks amazing and your various skills show on your work. I love the orange paint and have an F900 Cannondale MTB in a similar colour so I’m somewhat biased. Congrats.

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thank you very much!

[@jeffkolodny]

You are the most genius improviser I’ve ever seen! Amazing video

[@toddmason5]

What a great video! So much can-do creativity. Hopefully the bike itself gets some proper miles on in its second life. Well done!

[@aj69420]

I love my Gary Fisher Tiburon. 28lbs and 700c x 35. Glides down the road so easy.

[@jonathondille8408]

Great build! Thru axle conversion was brilliant. Would recommend adding a brace between chain stay and seat stay to bolster that rear disk brake.

[@marcoangeletti_]

I'm working on a project to give a second life to an italian Columbus steel MTB frame and this video was very inspiring. Thanks for this :)

[@wrs2316]

This was the best old school build I've ever seen. Awesome work.

[@CarlLaberfeld]

Wow, the dropout thru axle conversion is really genius, first time seeing this solution, hats of!!! pleasant to watch, beautiful build, always great to see old frames being repurposed, love it

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Thank you very much!

[@pike_spade]

I accidentally stumbled upon this video via KZbin's recommendation algorithm, and 20 minutes just flew by. Sadly, I have none of the skills showcased here, but I love the video format, and the end results speak for themselves. Liked and subscribed!

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

That's awesome. Thank you.

[@mickvangelderen3745]

You're a wizard! Loved every minute of this video

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Wow, thanks!

[@ChrisAcheson]

For your next one, you might do a gravel bike with inverted front shocks, adding one of your wicked paint schemes and bringing it to market. You possess a great innovative talent for building these bikes.

[@christianjohndeguzman6278]

you are so great. giving new life for that old frame

[@RichZaverack]

I really enjoyed watching this. I converted my c.2009 Gary Fisher Ferrous into my main gravel rig and never looked back. Thru axle conversion was awesome. Nice work. Thanks!

[@RobertAdairWorkshop]

Right on! Thank you.

[@reiniermensink4920]

Wow, good stuff, modifying it to disc. You are way to modest. You did a absolute great job!

[@detacheddad3396]

I got a complete Gary Fischer out of the trash. It’s the coolest bike I’ve ever owned.

[@mikehaney6512]

What a find. I have a 1987 Fisher Tisdale fillet brazed.