Road Cycling - Why don't I hear more about GT bicycles?

Any reason? Or am I just out of the loop? I was flipping back through some bicycling magazines from like 1999 and there seemed to be some bikes advertised that I don't here about anymore. What about Mongoose? I remember an ad for a titanium rig...

GT pretty much bankrupted themselves trying to get into the European peleton. They sponsored the U.S. Nat'l team and Team Lotto for a while...imploded shortly thereafter.

That explains why I see cheap looking bikes with the GT brand at my local Performance store.

Back in the day, GT was a hot name in BMX. Mongoose too. A Mongoose was my first real BMX'er, and my GT Pro Performer was my main freestyling rig back in the days of the AFA American Freestyle Association (before X sports).

Long live Kuwahara.

That explains why I see cheap looking bikes with the GT brand at my local Performance store.

Back in the day, GT was a hot name in BMX. Mongoose too. A Mongoose was my first real BMX'er, and my GT Pro Performer was my main freestyling rig back in the days of the AFA American Freestyle Association (before X sports).

Mongoose was bought out and shortly after started going the retail route, selling a ton of crappy bikes. They had some good BMX's back in the day like the Supergoose, and M1 (super old school). GT has gone down hill to. I think they also were bought out.

yeah, i remember you were a poser if you had a mongoose, but gold if you had a gt

Both Mongoose and GT are now owned by Pacific Cycles. Their primary concern is mass market, so that's where they are.

There are plenty of places here that stock Mongoose and GT bikes.
I don't mind the look of some of the GT MTB, usually reasonable components for a good price. Never owned one since my Mongoose BMX as a kid though, and that was the bees knees back then with tuff wheels.

Mongoose and Tomac. GT and Furtado. That's how I remember those brands. So sad what happened to them.

Well, this isn't too shabby...

2008 GTR Expert
MSRP: $1999.99

PRODUCT SPECS

Frame

GTR carbon monocoque frame
Fork

Kinesis carbon fork
Drivetrain

Shimano 105 compact drivetrain with 105 10-speed shifters
Crankset
Shimano 105, 50/34[/INDENT]
Brakes

Shimano 105
Wheels/Tires

Shimano 105 wheelset with Alex DT Swiss spokes, Vittorio Rubino Pro 120 tpi tires
Handlebar

Ritchey Logic Pro aluminum handlebar
Seat Post

Ritchey 3D forged seatpost
Front Derailleur

Shmano Compact
Rear Derailleur

Shimano 105
Shifters

Shimao 105 STI 10spd
Freewheel

Shimano 10spd 11-25
Chain

CN-5600 10spd
Tires

Vittoria Rubino Pro 120 TPI folding bead with Kevlar
Front Hub

Shmano 105 32 hole
Rear Hub

Shmano 105 32 hole 10 speed cassette
Spokes

DT Swiss 15 guage
Nipples

DT Swiss
Stem

Ritchey Logic Pro 4 bolt 3d net forged with stainless steel bolts, 31. 8 bore
Grips

Black Cork
Headset

FSA Sealed beaing internal headset
Saddle

Fizik Arione saddle

GT Site... (http://www.gtbicycles.com/)

Diamond Back is another long lost soul. They used to have a cool diamond shaped plate welded to the head angles. You were really king of the block if you had a Robinson or PK Ripper though.

This is well timed thread. I just bought a new GTR 2.0 frame and fork off fleabay for $200. Looks like a rather descent frame/fork combo. It's a 2006 model so it has more traditional geometry...level top tube, 73 degree seat angle, etc... Should be a pretty sweet ride I think.

This is a pic from the GT site...I'll have it built with campy though...
http://www3.gtbicycles.com/GTFiles/ProductImages/4737_1793_medium.jpg

They must have really got something wrong when gearing up to sponsor pro teams, Cannondale, Specialized and Trek have all done very well with themselves in the euro arena. I know that GT had sponsored at least one or two fledgling domestic pro teams in the past few years...maybe Forrest Yelverton's head finally got to big..who knows?

yeah, i remember you were a poser if you had a mongoose, but gold if you had a gt

I had a 1983 GT chrome BMX. (back when the color schemes were chrome and something - mine was red)

Back in the day, that bike was the gold standard in dirt bikes - cost $265 in 1983 (a small fortune now that I'm doing the math.)

One of the things that struck me was that Gary Turner was NOT a rider. As a matter of fact, he would have been a close cousin to Orson Wells in the physique department...

That explains why I see cheap looking bikes with the GT brand at my local Performance store.

Back in the day, GT was a hot name in BMX. Mongoose too. A Mongoose was my first real BMX'er, and my GT Pro Performer was my main freestyling rig back in the days of the AFA American Freestyle Association (before X sports).


Funny you mention GT and Mongoose in the same sentence since they are "brands" made by Pacific Cycle. (http://www.pacific-cycle.com) Sort of like Motobecane, but Pacific actually makes the frames and has a factory.

Pacific also makes Schwinn and got both Schwinn and GT, as I recall, about 2001. Their GT stuff is very good and they sponsor pro MTB riders...website has more info. You can still get a Schwinn Sting Ray if you want...

GT make some nice MTBs. Zaskar and Avalanche are really nice to ride, despite incredibly slack HA on the avalanche (69 degrees). Their I Drive suspension system is top notch and the I Drive Carbon is a great bike.

and my GT Pro Performer was my main freestyling rig back in the days of the AFA.
long live Martin Aparijio and Josh White...

and does this look familiar? :lol:

http://bmxmuseum.com/image/sony_129_lg.jpg

long live Martin Aparijio and Josh White...

and does this look familiar? :lol:

http://bmxmuseum.com/image/sony_129_lg.jpg


Ok now I'm going to go to youtube and watch clips of RAD. :D

Diamond Back is another long lost soul. They used to have a cool diamond shaped plate welded to the head angles. You were really king of the block if you had a Robinson or PK Ripper though.
Diamond Back Master TB was my first performance road bike. I ended up pawning it. LOL

long live Martin Aparijio and Josh White...

and does this look familiar? :lol:

http://bmxmuseum.com/image/sony_129_lg.jpg

wtf is going on with that front fork and that front brake??

08 GTR team is a decent bike..

http://www3.gtbicycles.com/GTFiles/ProductImages/2585_565_medium.jpg

I just saw an ad for one of their higher end carbon bikes in Velonews. Looks sharp. I sold GTs when they were still GT. That Zaskar frame from the late 90's was pretty kickass.

long live Martin Aparijio and Josh White...

and does this look familiar? :lol:

http://bmxmuseum.com/image/sony_129_lg.jpg

Man, I'm starting to get nostalgic for my old Eddie Fiola posters cut out of BMXPLus! . . . .

Is that a current picture?

JJ

HOLY CRAP! I had the same thing in chrome back in like 1985. I wanted the yellow so bad but my LBS didn't have them in stock at the time! My downtube stickers were slightly different though.


http://bmxmuseum.com/image/sony_129_lg.jpg

One of the things that struck me was that Gary Turner was NOT a rider. As a matter of fact, he would have been a close cousin to Orson Wells in the physique department...
I think his son was a BMX rider. Gary was a drag race guy, and I think he got started with bikes due to his son.

I always liked the triple triangle design and enjoyed the feel of my Karakoram mountain bike, so much so that I bought a 1998 (just before they went bankrupt) GTB track bike:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j103/jetsanchEz/GT018.jpg

Back in my heavy MTB days in the early/mid 90's, I would've done anything for a Zaskar frame (anodized purple, of course - if you didn't ride back then, you'd never understand...). They had spectacular mountain bikes, but their earlier road bikes with that triple-triangle design always looked plain silly to me. Still do, too.

Today, I think companies like GT, Diamond Back and others are always going to be stuck in the shadow of the big companies like Trek and Specialized. They'll always be trying HARD just to get some name recognition. It's not going to be from a lack of having quality bikes either. Quite the opposite, actually. Thanks to their lack of name recognition, their bikes are a fantastic value. If they can pony up the marketing $$ to sponsor a big name team, they might break out of their current niche and start capturing some of the high $$ market for a change such as what FUJI did in the pre-Toyota United years. I don't think Fuji suddenly started offering drastically "better" bikes at all. They just got a much-needed credibility boost thanks to that sponsorship deal. GT and Diamond Back would benefit a lot from the same situation.

Back in my heavy MTB days in the early/mid 90's, I would've done anything for a Zaskar frame (anodized purple, of course - if you didn't ride back then, you'd never understand...). They had spectacular mountain bikes, but their earlier road bikes with that triple-triangle design always looked plain silly to me. Still do, too.


Yeah, I always wanted a Zaskar but couldn't afford it so got the Karakoram. Wasn't there a Ti Zaskar frame or was that just a rumour? I didn't want the anodized purple one, I wanted the naked aluminium one, such a hot hot hot bike (still is if you ask me).

long live Martin Aparijio and Josh White...

and does this look familiar? :lol:

http://bmxmuseum.com/image/sony_129_lg.jpg




That is a sweet ride....I just bought an '86 Hutch Trick Star off EBay and am slowly but surely trying to build it up....my mid-life crisis!!!!

Yeah, I always wanted a Zaskar but couldn't afford it so got the Karakoram. Wasn't there a Ti Zaskar frame or was that just a rumour?

I used to work for a GT dealer. I can't remember a Ti Zaskar, but I do remember a ti frame that they called the Xizang. The dual-suspension LTS series of mountain bikes was ahead of its time.

GT was a great company to work with. It's a shame they've gone downhill.

Yeah, I always wanted a Zaskar but couldn't afford it so got the Karakoram. Wasn't there a Ti Zaskar frame or was that just a rumour? I didn't want the anodized purple one, I wanted the naked aluminium one, such a hot hot hot bike (still is if you ask me).

I think v1k1ng1001 is right about it being the Xizang. I've seen several purple Zaskars pop up on Craigslist in the last year or so. The GT MTB team in the mid-90's ruled ALL (with the obvious exception of Nedly/Specialized, Tinker/Cannondale, and Tomac/Giant). Julie Furtado was destined to be my girlfriend/wife back then. Unfortunately, she wasn't aware of that.

I bought a 1997 GT Alterra MTB from craigslist for $49. I had to replace the fork ($10 eBay) and I put on slicks and now I have an awesome and bulletproof commuter. It's decent CroMoly frame (heavy but sturdy).

I think his son was a BMX rider. Gary was a drag race guy, and I think he got started with bikes due to his son.

That would make sense. Drag racing is where I discovered what he looked like. My first thought was "That guy hasn't been anywhere near a bike!". He ran a Funny Car with the GT logo on the side as I recall. Can't remember who drove for him, though...

I used to work for a GT dealer. I can't remember a Ti Zaskar, but I do remember a ti frame that they called the Xizang. The dual-suspension LTS series of mountain bikes was ahead of its time.

GT was a great company to work with. It's a shame they've gone downhill.

This is the best inadvertent pun I've seen in a while. :D