I'm restoring my old and first ever proper mountain bike. A 1998 Gary Fisher Supercaliber. Now while most readers(if there are any in the first place) will prolly find this boring and completely uninteresting, I don't care.
As part of some trivia, the '98 Supercaliber, ridden by Paola Pezzo, was the bike to win the first ever Olympic gold medal in women's mountain biking back in the 1996 Atlanta Games. With a shortened chainstay, lengthened top tube and a shorter stem, the geometry was a new concept and would eventually prove to be revolutionary. Gary Fisher named it the Genesis Geometry.
It climbs like no other bike I've ever ridden, then or today, and the long top tube made it feel extremely stable on decents and wide swooping singletrack. Close, technical trails was where it faltered though. Despite its short stem, the long top tube made for a longer wheelbase, resulting in steering that was a tad slow and a relatively large turning radius. But bearing in mind that this frame was built with the intent to be raced, such a characteristic was at most, a mild drawback.
Now. Back to the restoration. I figured it's as good a year to start on the restoration as any other, but with some additional, perhaps trivial reasons. Its the 10 year aniversary of my ownership, I have no where else to spend my time and money on, and soon I'll start work which will leave me little time to indulge in such complete time-wasters.
The last known incarnation :
While you probably cannot tell from the photograph, the frame was in pretty bad shape with nicks, cuts and numerous scratches, deep enough to expose the base metal.
Some I covered up with stickers, others I just couldn't without making it look worse than it was already due to their awkward positions and just left it as it was.
Truth is, I wouldn't have changed out the frame if I hadn't chanced upon a good deal on another, newer 2007 Cube LTD Comp frame which was a size smaller, and had disc tabs. The smaller frame was also more suited to the tight forest single track that I really love to ride. In a way, it does kinda look more grown up and my age dosen't it. Compare and contrast the wanna be seen, loud in your face teenager riding a electric green bike and the current jaded man in his mid twenties(tragically) riding an understated grey machine.With the parts removed from the main frame, I proceeded to clean and inspect the frame for dents or corrosion that would need repair. All in all, it was in OK shape, with only paint damage. I stripped out what stickers I could to prep it for paint stripping.
Time to strip ! But before that, I need to do some shopping :1. Paint Stripper
2. Brush
3. ALOT of sandpaper in 150, 250, 350, 450 and 600 grit.
4. Rubber gloves (technically, I didn't buy them, I OBTAINED them)
5. Eyeshield
Next update soon ! Cheers.
