Superfly 100

The most eyecatching new Gary Fisher is the Superfly 100, a bike that sets out to remove most of the available excuses for not buying a 29er. The most obvious of those is weight. Claimed weight for the Superfly 100 frame is 2.2kg (4.85lb), which would be pretty light for a 26in frame and lighter than the 5lb that Santa Cruz is claiming for its Tallboy 29er – a fact that we mention as these are, as far as we’re aware, the only two carbon fibre 29er FS bikes on the market.

Fisher has also worked on the overall length of the bike, mostly by shortening the chainstays considerably. By moving the seat tube forwards and using a direct-mount front derailleur, enough extra clearance has been produced to pull the back end in to an impressive 451mm – that’s 11mm shorter than Fisher’s 2009 FS bikes. 29ers are often considered to be a good choice for taller riders, and the Superfly will be available in an XXL (23in) size that should accommodate those statistical outliers.

Despite the name, rear travel is listed as 110mm, with a 100mm fork. There’ll be just one model, kitted out with Truvativ Noir cranks, SRAM X.0 transmission, Avid Elixir CR brakes and a bunch of lightweight Bontrager kit including tyres that are definitely in the “best for dry conditions” category.

There will be another bike with the Superfly name, an identically-equipped hardtail with a 1,250g frame. It’s also apparently the stiffest hardtail frame that Fisher has ever made, and despite its clear XC intentions there’s ample room for 2.25in tyres. There’ll also be a new three-bike HiFi 29 range, implementing the Superfly geometry in a more fiscally-accessible aluminium package.

Rumblefish

Fisher’s other new bike is the Rumblefish. It’s pitched as a trail bike rather than a race bike, with definite hints of the popular 26in-wheeled, 140mm travel Roscoe about it. Although described to us as a “120mm” bike, in fact the rear travel is the same 110mm travel as the Superfly and HiFi but with a 120mm Fox QR15 fork.

That travel is delivered by a dual-chamber DRCV shock rather than the standard RP23 found on the Superfly, which should make it behave more linearly and give a distinctly different feel. With more fork, slacker angles, considerably more tyre volume and an altogether burlier demeanour, the Rumblefish should prove to be a pretty capable bike. And it’s got a great name.

Elsewhere in the Fisher range, all of the hardtails will now come with increased-fork-offset G2 geometry. There’s also a new range of road bikes, if you’re interested by such things.

We’ve now ridden both of these bikes – first impressions soon. In the meantime, you can find more details at www.fisherbikes.com.