Paragon

I received my 2009 Gary Fisher Paragon 2 weeks ago and I have been holding out on passing any judgment until I had enough saddle time to give an honest evaluation. That time is now.

First off the color…I have had a thing for white bikes I believed them to be plain and generic but wow the white has a iridescencent bass boat coating to it that when the sunlight hits it looks amazing.



After racing and ridding a Niner Air9 last season I was not expecting to notice much in the difference between the Air9 and the Paragon. Fortunately I was wrong wayyy wrong!

The 29’er platform offers many advantages with their larger wheels giving more surface contact, ease in rolling over small roots and rocks and carrying more speed and momentum. But there were always two things that I wish would go away. Those same larger wheels made it harder to maneuver around tight switchbacks and acceleration was poor.

Gary Fisher has taken care of the issue of maneuverability through employing his G2 Technology. Gary's proprietary G2 Geometry with a custom offset Fox F80RL 29 and the use of Bontrager Race Lite Big Sweep handlebars that have 12 degrees of back-sweep improve slow speed handling giving the impression that I am flicking a smaller 26 inch wheel through rock gardens and around tight single-track.

As for acceleration I am not sure how this has been accomplished. The Paragon is about pound and half heavier then my Air9 but for some reason I have noticed the ability to use less power to climb up steep climbs and more speed coming out the corners. The two frames measure up to be about the same dimensions but when I am ridding the Paragon it feels like I am ridding a 26’er. I don’t feel like I am hovering over the ground and trail.

Having never been a supporter of SRAM Components it was a hard sell for me to see the benefit of X9 versus Shimano XT while also having to relearn how to use my shifters. The X9 derailleur/shifter combination does have an almost metal/mechanical engagement that is quicker and more precise then the XT’s. I still need to remember which lever is which though. I ended up on a low gear during a few short steep climbs.

The only change I would have liked would have been to scrap the Custom Crank Brothers Candy pedals for an upgrade from the Shimano FC-M543-SK crank to a true LX or SLX level.

After several rides I am looking forward to this year on the Paragon. The bike is spec’ed well except for the crank and rides much lighter the scale would have you believe