Mountain Biking - GT mountain bikes

hi all,

was just wondering, are any of the (at least) high end GT mountain bikes i.e. rukus and zaskar still good like they did before? im looking at one @ebay on a GT Zaskar espert race edition and the components are not that bad. here are the specs.

Frame Butted, Kinesis Superlight 7005 alloy custom tube-set, Machined Head tube, disc compatible with intergrated seat collar
Fork RockShox Duke C, 80mm travel, with butted Alum steerer
Crankset Shimano Deore LX with hollowtech and Octalink interface
Bottom Bracket Shimano Octalink Hollow Spindle
Pedals Ritchey '03 Logic v.2 Comp Clipless pedal, with new Shimano 959 system
Front Derailleur Shimano Deore
Rear Derailleur Shimano LX
Shifters Shimano Deore 9- Speed
Freewheel Sram 7.0 nine speed
Chain HG-72 9 Speed
Rims Syncros, double wall lil snapper with CNC, and double eyelets
Tires Tioga Factory XC 1.95
Front Hub Shimano LX
Rear Hub Shimano LX
Spokes DT Champion 15 guage
Nipples DT Alloy
Front Brake Shimano Deore
Rear Brake Shimano Deore
Brake Levers Shimano Deore
Handlebar Syncros 6061 Butted Alum. flat, 6 degree bend, anatomically sized
Stem Ritchey Pro, forged 6061 with bias cut clamp and locking face plate
Grips GT Hook Up
Headset Ritchey integrated
Saddle SDG Satellite
Seat Post SL Alloy Micro adjust
Seat Clamp GT Alum QR

thanks for everyone's input in advance!

well, i have a 2004 Gt idrive. I love it.
But i wouldn't get a bike off ebay w/out trying that bike out at an LBS.
The components look ok, but w/out a price who's to say its not a rip off, or the best deal ever.

I own a GT Avalance 2.0 and I love it. Nothing wrong with GT. Actually it pisses me off when peole bash GT. When I was younger in the 80's, GT bikes rules the tracks and the trick streets. I owned 3 different GT bikes. Pro Series, Mach 1 and a Freestyle.
My GT mountain bike is nice, strong and a ton of fun to ride. There are nicer bikes on the market but I like my GT.

Forced

Wasn't GT bought out or something?

GT used to be a pretty cool brand..

I got a GT Saddleback, I love it. Nothing wrong with GT Saddleback isn't very high-end but i'm poor and it hasn't let me down yet so I say GT is really good

from what i've learned in my 3 days here, schwinn and gt were bough by pacific cycle who supplies to kmart TRS and wallmart.

Yes Gary Turner sold it a while back

2 of the guys i rode with last weekend were on GTs. one of them on a ruckus. i'm not sure which gt the other guy was on, but it was a xc-ish type fully. i thought both bikes were sweet. the finish on the fully was beautiful and the ruckus wasn't too shabby either.

I wouldn't give more than $400-$500 for the bike you described, and that's if the components are in GReAT shape.

Right now the bid price is @$430 and has 10 hrs left. The components are still ok and almost new. i also heard about that GT was bought by a company who sells MTB @ local shopping marts (walmart, k-mart, target, etc.). Thanks for all your inputs!

GT's are good bikes. People dont like them because they were are successful, same reason people hate Trek a lot and same reason while people hate Wal-Mart. People are just jealous of successful big companies.

Agree, many LBS are directly or indirectly persuading customers to buy other brands, from their initial query on GT bikes. I fully agree that GT, Mongoose, Haro, Gary are some of the major players back in those BMX days.

Perhaps it is the distributor commission / profit margin that makes the world go round. Gone are the genuine passion to sell what is good for the customers. It's really a shame!

From what i heard, when GT was going out of business, their MTB really sucked. Then a company like Pacific, that makes toy bikes bought them. This is probably where the dislike comes from. A good company that when bad, closed, bought buy a careless toy maker. So they dont realize that even the magazines have said GT is back and making good bikes. But thats my opinion.

My wife's bike is a pre-bankruptcy GT Ricochet-A hardtail. It has an all DeoreLX drivetrain and Avid brakes. The only weak spot is the RockShox JettXC fork. It's good solid bike and build quality was excellent.

However, since the 2001 bankruptcy, GT's reputation became hit&miss at least here in the US. Some people reported that production and quality did not diminish after they were bought by Pacific but others reported horrible experiences with them. It seems that reports from overseas favour GT more highly than in the States. It may be that GT is sourcing different frames between the two markets.

I have a 2001 Avalanche 1.0, solid frame. For what I use it for(trail), it's on the heavy side, but it's a good bike.

I have a 2001 Avalanche 1.0, solid frame. For what I use it for(trail), it's on the heavy side, but it's a good bike.

The 2001 frames still qualify as pre-bankruptcy. Schwinn/GT (GT was owned by Schwinn at the time) filed for bankruptcy in late summer of 2001 and subsequently purchased by Pacific on 11 Sep 2001. That means that the 2002 models were probably still built in the old GT manner. I would guess that the first post-bankruptcy frames produced under Pacific ownership were the 2003 models. In 2004, Pacific was bought by Dorel Industries, a Canadian company that makes exercise equipment and household goods.

The last post summed it up nicely.... N'uf said.

I got mine in Taiwan, which was made by Merida. I bought the bike at a Merida shop, so I don't know if that makes it better or worse. My friend got a Giant XTC se3 and although it was supposed to be a cheaper bike to begin with, we could notice the ride quality difference. GT seems to have the components all fitted nicely and smoothly, whereas the Giant has a slight sloppy feel. Of course, without direct comparasion it's impossible to tell.

I was actually going for either a trek 6700 or a giant xtc but the price (even @ ebay) are kinda too much for me and from what i read here in the forums that most of the peeps don't like trek bikes. btw, I got the final bid and it cost me $550 (w/shipping). here are some of the pics that i forgot to post awhile back.

Nice bike. For what it's worth, Bicycling Magazine gave the GT Avalanche 0.5 their editor's choice award for best beginner bike. (Any bike under $1000 for XC)

I don't know much about their frames/histroy, but it sure LOOKS like they makae nice bikes. I think you got a good deal buddy.

For fifty bucks more he could have had the Avalanche 1.0 with Avid discs and essentially the same spec, save Deore crank and regular pedals. Used bike with no warranty or dealer follow-up service certainly doesn't seem like a deal to me.

also add Sports Authority to the list GT is sold at and also Sports Authority had Iron Horse. They also carry mongoose, the one Iron Horse, i can't recall the name looked alright the compnents on it were ok price was $499.99 and one of the GT's wasn't too bad lookin either once again didn't catch which model it was, i think it was like $349 not bad prices and if their quality isn;t as lacking as some say then it really isn;t a bad deal if you're lookin for a inexpensive bike

When i was looking for a new hardtail, i was looking towards the GT Avalanche 2.0, it didn't seem all that bad, but yeah if they didn't have a Giant, i would have gone with the GT.

So "monbert" did ya get the bike? Let us know...

GT's are great bikes!

So "monbert" did ya get the bike? Let us know...

GT's are great bikes!

"btw, I got the final bid and it cost me $550 (w/shipping). here are some of the pics that i forgot to post awhile back."

Yep he won.

Thanks all! i keep missing some good points...this bike (according to the seller) was only ridden "3 times" and is a 2003 model. i don't have the bike yet but i'l keep you posted. happy good riding to all!

Nice bike man. Enjoy it. Time to spend some time in the bike shop getting a helmet,gloves, biker shorts, shirts, new water bottle holder and bottle. maybe a new seat, a bike rack for the car or hitch mount on the truck. O the list goes on and on. I love it.


Dan

hi all! i finally got my bike and rode it for the first time in pavment today. the ride is great and i feel like the bike is only under 25lbs. i might be wrong..can't find the scale yet. i went to my LBS and bought a CATEYE enduro 8 comp. and the store manager said that the bike was light when he lifted it.
Q: since i will ride my bike mostly on pavement...should i get a city tire of something...would appreciate it if someone recommends a good city tire.

thanks again!

For fifty bucks more he could have had the Avalanche 1.0 with Avid discs and essentially the same spec, save Deore crank and regular pedals. Used bike with no warranty or dealer follow-up service certainly doesn't seem like a deal to me.

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I tend to agree with you, but in his defense his bike also has a much better fork.

well, i have a 2004 Gt idrive. I love it.
But i wouldn't get a bike off ebay w/out trying that bike out at an LBS.
The components look ok, but w/out a price who's to say its not a rip off, or the best deal ever.

Off topic, but how do you find the whole I-drive BB setup? I'm thinking of building up a GT XCR frame for XC. What length travel do you have front and rear?
Cheers

hmm. for tires maybe get hookworms?

I've got the City Slickers (Tioga ?) on my Trek. They ride well and certainly have less rolling resistance that knobbies, which is the point.