# Gary Fisher Alembic



## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

Someone inquired about our Alembic this week, which is @ MOMBAT: 1993 Fisher Alembic










We have also had a second one that we have had for a long time and it is pretty much in "as found" condition. We broke it out to take a few quick pictures and figured we would share them here. Supposedly, only 7 of the were ever made and the project was axed when Trek bought out Fisher.




























Interesting "Campy" hub:thumbsup:









Bottle cages are just sitting in there and aren't attached (we stuck those in there)









Unfortunately, it came to us damaged. I've talked to Trek about restoring it without much success. Thought it might make a neat project for them. 


















When was the last time 2 of these were in the same photo??\


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## Guest (Feb 7, 2012)

Hey Jeff,

Is the red one the one you got from me?

I still have some of the original design drawings and I think even a copy of an article out of Playboy magazine or something like that which featured the Alembic as one of 50 things or whatever to get in that given year.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

I'm not sure what "Alembic" means, but it's not a very appealing name for a bicycle (or anything really).


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## FairfaxPat (Jan 29, 2008)

I used to own one. They spent 80K on the mold and only built seven frames-Toray was the Japanese company that made the mold. I bought my frame from GF at his annual yard sale in the late 90's and restored it. In 2002 I sold it to a buyer in Europe. It was supposed to be the high end counterpart to the aluminum Fisher RS-1, both designed by Mert Lawwill.


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## ssulljm (Sep 3, 2006)

Had to be there I guess, The name holds sway within the SF music community: 

Alembic History - Long Version



laffeaux said:


> I'm not sure what "Alembic" means, but it's not a very appealing name for a bicycle (or anything really).


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## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

laffeaux said:


> I'm not sure what "Alembic" means, but it's not a very appealing name for a bicycle (or anything really).


1.	an obsolete type of retort used for distillation
2.	anything that distils or purifies


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## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

mkozaczek said:


> Hey Jeff,
> 
> Is the red one the one you got from me?
> 
> I still have some of the original design drawings and I think even a copy of an article out of Playboy magazine or something like that which featured the Alembic as one of 50 things or whatever to get in that given year.


Yep, same one. I have pictures of the other red one in this thread but that is the only 3 I have seen (so far at least)


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## AWDfreak (Jan 28, 2007)

Saw this on twitter via Gary Fisher's official twitter account...

Can anybody elaborate on the rear "suspension" design? Or is this a hardtail (which i doubt)


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## FairfaxPat (Jan 29, 2008)

The rear suspension had about 2 1/2" travel. You can see the elastomers in one of the pics. The elastomers were the shocks. These came in three colors-red, blue, and black, and were soft, medium, and hard compounds. The idea being the heavier you were, the stiffer a compound you would need. The geometry was designed to make the wheel travel up and down through it's range of motion with the least amount of arc and be less prone to bob under load. It didn't quite work out that way, but was a good early try.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

ssulljm said:


> Had to be there I guess, The name holds sway within the SF music community:
> 
> Alembic History - Long Version


Funny, must be the musician in me. First thing I thought of was sweet guitars in all their naked wooden glory... 

Cool bike too, and frankly I'm shocked, no, stunned, that Trek won't help out with the repairs on that (not).


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## misterdangerpants (Oct 10, 2007)

First Flight said:


> Unfortunately, it came to us damaged. I've talked to Trek about restoring it without much success. Thought it might make a neat project for them.


Contact PolyTube Cycles. He has done quite a bit of vintage MTB carbon (and road bikes, too). You can see some of his work here or here. Yeah, he's in Germany (he's an expat, I believe), but his work is very, very good.


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## FairfaxPat (Jan 29, 2008)

You could also send it to Calfee in Santa Cruz-they repaired a carbon frame for me last year and did a fantastic job.


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## truth-rider (Oct 18, 2009)

What colors were the Alembics made in? Just red and black?


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## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

truth-rider said:


> What colors were the Alembics made in? Just red and black?


I think the black one was originally red. I have only seen red.


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