older gary fisher, is it worth putting much money into
 

I'm primarily a roadie but I've been interested in mountain bikes and I've come across an older Gary Fisher Montair. I don't have a clue what year it is, and I cant find anything on the web about it. It's got all xt components, a manitou fork and kore bars and it needs some tlc. The question is how much time and money before I should I invest before it would be better to get a new bike. My budget is limited so I wouldn't be replacing it with another Fisher. If anybody knows anything about these bikes and could let me know it would be greatly appreciated!

You came across one? For how much? The montare ( as well as utopia and kaitai ) are now known as dual sport bikes, kind of a fancy hybrid if you will. I have a couple year old kaitai that I was kind of talked into when I was looking for a bike, I will just say that it's a bike meant to dabble in road and trails, not neccessarily be good at either one of them. The montare has all xt? Well that sounds good, just see how wide of tires you can fit on there because I know my kaitai can only fit a certain width which is lower than other mtbs and it bothers me. Also the gear ratios are different than a standard mtb, of course im just speaking on behalf of the montare/kaitai of a few years, I dont know how old the one you're talking about is. If you're looking into mountain biking seriously I'd say you could start with that and see how it works, if it does, great, if it doesnt , work with it until you can save up and you'll have the knowledge of what you want. That's what happened to me atleast.

Actually, it was given to me. Originally, the guy wanted 200 and I wasn't interested but a few weeks later he bought a 70's porche and needed room in the garage. After an hour or so of cleaning, lubing and adjusting the cables, everything seems to working O.K.. Hopefully, it will hold up long enough to decide if I want to invest in a new bike. Thanks for your help.