This is the first bike I bought with my own money, and the only bike I’ve bought new. I was working at a shop with a buddy of mine that had gotten me into mountain biking. I think it’s a ’96 or ’97, I don’t remember. At the time I was gunning for the full suspension Joshua, but couldn’t come up with the scratch. I’m so glad I didn’t.

This was the first year that Fisher bikes sported the ‘Genesis’ geometry, which was a little different than your standard MTB. I don’t know if it was that, the fact that I’ve ridden it the longest over the years, the perfect sizing job my buddy did or all of the above, but to this day, when I swing a leg over this bike, it’s like an extension of me. I forget it’s even there. It’s more comfortable – all day – than the couch I watch tv on.

It originally was a gold color, with a red shock, but at some point I stripped and rattle canned it black. It has a bunch of the original components including the Avid brakes and levers, XT shifters, Bontrager stem and the Shimano cranks. The new(er) yellow fork came from the Ubaldmobile.

Since I’ve had it, it’s had an annoying creak in the frame when it rides. I’ve swapped the BB, the seat post and pretty much everything else I can think of to try and eliminate it, to no avail. I don’t really notice it so much anymore. I think it’s grown on me.