OLD Gary Fisher MTB questions - Page 3 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

01-06-2005, 12:48 PM

I used to ride a Fisher Celerity of about that vintage. Fisher made some
good bikes--the HooKooEKoo is a better bike than the Celerity. The brake
location had some advantages, which I am not still clear on--neater cable
routing, and possibly more rigid. But the enemy was mud, and the idea went
away. For your intended use, it should be fine.

BTW, I have ridden the HooKooEKoo trail on Mt. Tamalpais, after which the
bike was named. The trail was named after an indian tribe.

01-06-2005, 03:49 PM

Thanks for the info guys.

Picked up more here than in the near hour browsing and googling before I posted.

Yeah, this should be a fun one. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Ron

01-06-2005, 03:49 PM

Thanks for the info guys.

Picked up more here than in the near hour browsing and googling before I posted.

Yeah, this should be a fun one. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Ron

01-06-2005, 03:49 PM

Thanks for the info guys.

Picked up more here than in the near hour browsing and googling before I posted.

Yeah, this should be a fun one. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Ron

01-06-2005, 03:49 PM

Thanks for the info guys.

Picked up more here than in the near hour browsing and googling before I posted.

Yeah, this should be a fun one. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Ron

01-06-2005, 03:50 PM

> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
> says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
> brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
> meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?

The brake is what was called a "U" brake, with the location chosen because
the chainstays don't flex as much as seatstays (and they hadn't yet figured
out how to deal with that by changing wall thicknesses). Not a bad idea, but
perhaps not a good idea to put a brake in a location where it's going to get
heavily fouled with mud.

As for the bike overall, the main Fishers to avoid were the ones with the
snaking seat tubes (bent, not straight). Those tended to fail even when not
subject to a whole lot of abuse.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

"RonSonic" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
>
> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
> says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
> brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
> meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?
>
> About how old is this bike - I'll be able to look at date codes later -
> but for
> now can anyone place it within a few years?
>
> Any disagreement that this'll make a cool errand runner and occasional
> trail
> rider for a big old guy?
>
> Thanks
>
> Ron
>

01-06-2005, 03:50 PM

> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
> says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
> brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
> meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?

The brake is what was called a "U" brake, with the location chosen because
the chainstays don't flex as much as seatstays (and they hadn't yet figured
out how to deal with that by changing wall thicknesses). Not a bad idea, but
perhaps not a good idea to put a brake in a location where it's going to get
heavily fouled with mud.

As for the bike overall, the main Fishers to avoid were the ones with the
snaking seat tubes (bent, not straight). Those tended to fail even when not
subject to a whole lot of abuse.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

"RonSonic" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
>
> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
> says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
> brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
> meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?
>
> About how old is this bike - I'll be able to look at date codes later -
> but for
> now can anyone place it within a few years?
>
> Any disagreement that this'll make a cool errand runner and occasional
> trail
> rider for a big old guy?
>
> Thanks
>
> Ron
>

01-06-2005, 03:50 PM

> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
> says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
> brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
> meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?

The brake is what was called a "U" brake, with the location chosen because
the chainstays don't flex as much as seatstays (and they hadn't yet figured
out how to deal with that by changing wall thicknesses). Not a bad idea, but
perhaps not a good idea to put a brake in a location where it's going to get
heavily fouled with mud.

As for the bike overall, the main Fishers to avoid were the ones with the
snaking seat tubes (bent, not straight). Those tended to fail even when not
subject to a whole lot of abuse.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

"RonSonic" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
>
> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
> says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
> brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
> meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?
>
> About how old is this bike - I'll be able to look at date codes later -
> but for
> now can anyone place it within a few years?
>
> Any disagreement that this'll make a cool errand runner and occasional
> trail
> rider for a big old guy?
>
> Thanks
>
> Ron
>

01-06-2005, 03:50 PM

> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
> says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
> brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
> meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?

The brake is what was called a "U" brake, with the location chosen because
the chainstays don't flex as much as seatstays (and they hadn't yet figured
out how to deal with that by changing wall thicknesses). Not a bad idea, but
perhaps not a good idea to put a brake in a location where it's going to get
heavily fouled with mud.

As for the bike overall, the main Fishers to avoid were the ones with the
snaking seat tubes (bent, not straight). Those tended to fail even when not
subject to a whole lot of abuse.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

"RonSonic" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
>
> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
> says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
> brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
> meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?
>
> About how old is this bike - I'll be able to look at date codes later -
> but for
> now can anyone place it within a few years?
>
> Any disagreement that this'll make a cool errand runner and occasional
> trail
> rider for a big old guy?
>
> Thanks
>
> Ron
>

01-06-2005, 11:55 PM

"RonSonic" wrote...
>
>
> So there's this ancient rigid Hoo Koo E Koo for sale in my price range,
says
> made in Taiwan right on the head tube. All Deore stuff on it with the back
brake
> under the chainstay. I'll get a better look at it soon, but in the
meanwhile can
> anyone tell me.....
>
> Is this brake location as silly as I think it is?

Even sillier than you ever thought possible. I've got a similar arrangement
on the '86 Stumpjumper that I commute on in winter and MTB on in summer. I
basically don't use the rear brake. U-brakes are apparently useful for BMX
bikes, so you can still buy pads and whole brake assemblies.
>
> About how old is this bike - I'll be able to look at date codes later -
but for
> now can anyone place it within a few years?

I remember seeing U-brakes on bikes in 1986, something that stupid couldn't
have lasted more than a year or two.

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