# Gary Fisher Big Sur Genesister geometry



## fanzy38 (Aug 27, 2004)

Hi !
My girl-friend is just starting mountain biking. We've done some small rides with her crappy commuting mtb, but it's really too big, too heavy for her, with too much shifting problems...
So I'm considering buying a good hardtail frame for her, that I could build with the parts from my old sub-24lb FS bike + some specificaly sized parts. 
I have the opportunity to get a 2004 gary fisher big sur GS (seems to be a team issue), in 15"5 size, but it seems to have a very long top-tube, due to Genesis(ter) geometry.
My girl-friend is 5'7", so I was wondering if any of you had any experience with a genesister bike this size ? How tall are you, how do you feel on it ? 

Thanks in advance !
Francois


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## Goldengatecanyonrider (Jun 25, 2004)

I currently ride a 17.5" Medium Fisher Cake 2 Genesister. I'm 5' 5" and have a 31" inseam. This bike fits me perfectly except for the standover, but the Cake is just a tall bike...shoulda ridden this bike on the trail before I bought it but I didn't. I used to ride a Small 15.5" Fisher Tassahara GS. This was my first mountain bike. I got it probably 3 years ago. When I was looking at this bike at the LBS, they told me my size was between the 15.5 and 17.5(they just went off my height) so I just went with feel between the two. I got the small because at the time the small seemed like it would be easier to control with my beginner skills. I thought it fit me at first but when I started riding more and more my knees started hurting. The seat was just in the wrong position for me. I had to buy a new longer seat post to get the seat to where my legs were extending to the correct position and I pushed the seat as far back as it would go. I was still getting knee pain and I live in Golden, CO where many of the trails are a loooong climb and zoom back down to the bottom-Climbing and knee pain are no fun so I went to a different bike shop to have a real bike fit done. They put me on the Medium Cake and now my knees don't hurt anymore. It is much more comfortable for me while riding...dismounting is another story because of the standover issue. As far as the long top tube goes, I don't really know any different than the Genesisters geometry so to me it is fine. At first I felt a tiny bit too stretched out on the Medium 17.5 but after 2 months now I'm used to it. 
I would take her to a dealer and have them do all the fit measurements to see what size she should ride or just have her test ride a small big sur or other genesisters bike at the shop to see how it feels.
Hope that helps!


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## triscuit (Apr 26, 2004)

I have a 2003 Tassajara GS, 15.5". I am 5'4" with a 29" inseam. The top tube is long, but the bike came with a 70 mm stem, so it works for me. It is the only mtb I have ridden with suspension (I commute on a '95 Specialized Hardrock, rigid), so I honestly don't have much to compare, but when I was looking for a bike, I test rode the men's Tassajara 15.5, and noticed a huge difference (I test rode other stuff too, but really like the GF). In reality, this bike is probably a tad too big for me. But I am happy with it, and a 13.5 would have been too small.


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## screampint (Dec 10, 2001)

Sounds like it would be too small. But maybe your gf has short legs...

I would focus on buying her a bike that fits properly. The better it fits, the more she will ride it.

Here's a "success story" on finding a bike based on fit. http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=56509


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

what Screampint said. Plus, women' specific design is great, IF you have the type of body it's made for.... short torso, long legs. An "average" female if you want to call it that. They change out a few other parts (saddle and maybe handlebars) and call it a women's bike. You are better off going for an over all excellent frame fit, and then changing out saddles if needed. Also, in some price ranges the wsd bike have a much crappier component set than a similar priced "mans" bike. 

formica


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## fanzy38 (Aug 27, 2004)

I completely agree with you and screamprint on the importance of frame fit. Unfortunately, Gary Fisher is nearly inexistant here in France, which makes it hard to go to our lbs for a test ride... 
We will probably try to test a Trek WSD which seem very close to the GF geometry.

Regarding the "crappier component set" of female specific bikes, this is not an issue here, as we only plan to buy a frameset.

Francois



formica said:


> what Screampint said. Plus, women' specific design is great, IF you have the type of body it's made for.... short torso, long legs. An "average" female if you want to call it that. They change out a few other parts (saddle and maybe handlebars) and call it a women's bike. You are better off going for an over all excellent frame fit, and then changing out saddles if needed. Also, in some price ranges the wsd bike have a much crappier component set than a similar priced "mans" bike.
> 
> formica


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## fanzy38 (Aug 27, 2004)

Thanks for your feedback !



triscuit said:


> I have a 2003 Tassajara GS, 15.5". I am 5'4" with a 29" inseam. The top tube is long, but the bike came with a 70 mm stem, so it works for me. It is the only mtb I have ridden with suspension (I commute on a '95 Specialized Hardrock, rigid), so I honestly don't have much to compare, but when I was looking for a bike, I test rode the men's Tassajara 15.5, and noticed a huge difference (I test rode other stuff too, but really like the GF). In reality, this bike is probably a tad too big for me. But I am happy with it, and a 13.5 would have been too small.


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## fanzy38 (Aug 27, 2004)

Hi Anne, 

Thanks for your offer, but you're a little bit too far for a test-ride: we live in the French Alps... ;-)
In fact we just received a Cube frame (made in Germany, Easton Elite) that I bought on eBay. It's a 16" frame, 21"25 top-tube. We'll see how it fits her. 
If it doesn't, I think we can sell it for approximately the same price we got it... 

Cheers,
Francois


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