Hi all,

I’ve got the opportunity to buy a used 2002 Gary Fisher Paragon hard tail through a friend of a friend and I’d be really grateful if you could advise me if it’s still a good buy or not given its age and price.

I’m a relative newbie to mountain biking in terms of knowing what I’m talking about though I do ride every day on an old muddy Fox from my youth so am in need of an upgrade.

It’s the exact model as per the following links:

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B…agon&Type=bike

http://www.bicyclebluebook.com/searc….aspx?id=37448

It also has the following upgrades according to this mutual friend who emailed me the spec:
” Shimano lx & xtr derailiers
Bontrager racelite cranks & chainwheels
Bontrager racelite wheels & Tyres
Bongrager racelite stem (upgrade)
Manitou mars elite air/oil forks (Inc. Maintenance pump)
Avid single digit 5 brakes
Easton monkeylite xc carbon bars (upgrade)
Use alien carbon seat post (upgrade)
Hope headset ( upgrade)”

Although I haven’t seen the bike in person I’ve been sent a couple of pictures and my own friend who has seen it says it’s in immaculate condition.

The seller friend of a friend is asking for £200 though I’m told he will most likely let it go for £150.

I don’t mind buying an older bike and from my own research I can see that it was the top gary fisher model at the time but what I would like advising on is if an older bike is still worth buying or could I get a newer bike with similar quality or more advanced components for the same amount of money (still used and around £250 and under)?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks, Jon.

Could always by a £150 brand new bike from halfords instead! Sounds like a nice bike.

If you budget is £150 then I doubt you’d do better for the money. Although high spec at the time some of the components are now equivalent to low spec but you’d need to spend at least £500to get anything significantly better and even then it’s likely to be a newer secondhand one.

Have a ride and see if you like it

It’s probably quite racey* so not best for riding down cliffs but I bet it’s great for XC – if in good nick

*(GFs had “weird” geometry about that time but I think they were maybe the forebears of modern geometry – long top tube, shorter stems etc)

you’ll struggle to get something comparative for the money new. Also – should you decide to sell it on you’ll not suffer depreciation to the same extent as you would with new.

I wouldn’t buy it as a main bike. It’ll be nice
but for your £250 you could get a more functional 2nd hand bike that’ll be more capable off road. Main thing for me would be suspension forks that actually work and disk brakes.

That would be a fantastic bike IMO. The limiting factor on most bikes is the rider, not this years paint scheme, latest gears and uber adjustable damping on your forks.

The Gary Fishers are light, handle well ( as mentioned, they were forerunner of short stem, long top tube, relaxed head angle geometry on bikes now) and that is well equipped.

I think the only real two things you will notice are the v-brakes won’t be brilliant in the wet ( but will work for now) and the forks will be more flexy on the limit than newer forks.

Fir £150 you can ride it until you know what you do want, and either buy new bike or upgrade that one. It is cheaper than some people on here pay for a cassette…

We have a household of ‘old’ bikes. They are brilliant.

See, an old 2000 bike

Callander House Falkirk MTB trails by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

Old, old suspension forks at work

Carron Valley ride by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

Carron Valley by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

Thanks all, that’s all really helpful info 🙂

Having spoken again to the friend in question it seems like £180 is likely to be the lowest he will go, so my dilemma is that could I be putting that £180 towards something better which I would be willing to do but am not sure at which point the cost would match the Gary Fisher.

I have been looking at something like the Voodoo Hoodoo which I know gets well reviewed and I could pick it up for around £250 used or £500 new. Would the Gary Fisher still have better components at £180 than the £250-500 I could get with the Voodoo?

Thanks all.

As long as it fits you I don’t think you can go far wrong on a Gary Fisher for £180. Ride it for a couple of years then put it in the classifieds for £200.

For 180 quid it is a bike that will get you out and about. It will get you round a trail centre or across bridlways on all day epics.
If the bug bites you will want to buy a newer(better?) bike and it will then be loved as the bike that you go to the pub on,the bike that gets you out on a ride when the new darling is broken.
If the bug does not bite you still have a fine bike for the occasional foray.

What size is it? A Paragon for that money would be of interest to quite a lot of people I suspect. The Voodoo? Less so.

Here’s a review. Want one!

http://www.mtbr.com/cat/older-categories-bikes/2002-hardtail/gary-fisher/paragon/prd_358466_1494crx.aspx