Gary Fisher

Artwork for The Soldier

Biography

Fisher started competing in road and track races at age 12. He was suspended in 1968 because race organizers cited a rule that his hair was too long. By 1972 this rule had been repealed and Fisher's career continued. He won the TransAlp race in Europe and a Masters XC national title.

Fisher went to work in 1975 on his 1930s Schwinn Excelsior X bicycle. His innovations to the model included drum brakes, motorcycle brake levers and cables, and triple chainrings, all taken from "junkers" Fisher found at bike shops. The next year, Fisher participated in the Repack downhill race, promoted by his roommate Charlie Kelly. This used a tortuous downhill route on Pine Mountain near Fairfax, California, just north of San Francisco, in which riders used their coaster brakes so much that they had to repack the smoking hubs with grease after every run. Fisher holds the record time on the Repack course at 4:22.

Timeline

2026Aged 76

  • Poster for No Hands: The Wild Ride of the Schwinn Bicycle Company

    Self

2024Aged 74

  • Poster for Camera Corner: Wende Cragg Documents the Birth of Mountain Biking

    Self

2015Aged 65

  • Poster for The Search for Freedom

    (Unknown)

2009Aged 59

  • Poster for Hungry Hills

    Screenplay

2006Aged 56

  • Poster for Klunkerz

    Himself

1982Aged 32

  • Poster for The Soldier

    Central Control Officer #2