Markeologist

Zombie posts but I was looking at my old catalogs and looking at various serial numbers. 19T62 is a 1985 19 inch Chrome Yellow Mt Tam. You could have bought it at Fisher's Indian Summer sale in fall of 1985 as a bare frame for $459 (down from $609) or built out for $919 (down from $1185). Nice bike. I have a 1985 Comp (18C8) I have had since new and I also had a 1985 Montare I bought new but sold off long ago.

Now there are lots of errors in some of the posts about this bike and Fisher's in general. In 1985 (as per Fisher catalog) there were only four models available, two domestic filet brazed, the Comp and Mt. Tam (designated by a C or T in serial number) and the tig welded, Japanese-made Excalibur and Montare. Those are the only models in 1985 Fisher catalog (never seen a filet brazed Montare, no reason for one as it was the Japanese-built equivalent of Mt. Tam...just like the Excalibur was a Japanese-built Comp). Who made all the 85 Comps and Mt. Tams is a good question. Tom Teesdale comes into picture with Fisher about this time and his frames are indeed marked "TT" or "TET" which is separate from the serial number, generally off to one side of bottom bracket shell. I have seen more of his marks on 86-87 Fishers and his frames often don't have the fastback seat stays like you see on earlier Fishers. My 85 Comp lacks Teesdale's mark and it has fastback seat stays. Folks who have seen my 85 Comp tell me its one of Ritchey's though Ritchey broke from Fisher in 84. Around where I live (a few blocks from the original Kelly and Fisher shop in San Anselmo) you hear that Fisher still had Ritchey frames in 1985 which were painted and marked with new "Fisher MountainBikes" label with the silhouette of Mount Tamalpais behind the "FISHER" lettering. One line of evidence supporting this premise is that the flyer from the Indian Summer Sale (which includes a listing of bikes by model, size, serial number and year) includes several 1985 Mt. Everest models, a model not in 1985 catalog and also a model offered by Ritchey in 1985 (and when he was working with Fisher previously). The Fisher Everests I have seen all look like Ritchey's and they all had very high levels of fit and finish including custom CyclArt paint jobs (remember the Fisher Zebras, Tigers, and Camo jobs?). My 85 Comp also has a CyclArt paint job and the fit and finish equals that of my Ritchey Palo Alto tandem. Maybe Gary or Charlie can weigh in here.