jcontonio

Hello all, first post on here so it'll probably be long.

I just moved to NYC. I have two bikes, but neither have been ridden in a while. I have a 95 GT Pro Series BMX, and a Specialized dirt jumper that I just use for cruising. The GT is in rough shape as the handle bars have rust, the forks, etc. I was thinking about just taking the body and restoring it but finding original parts has been a nightmare.

It is all original, brakes, seat post, cranks, sprocket, etc. My questions are:

1. Do I restore or buy a "new" old bike
2. Is there a place I can find these old GT parts (catalog, etc)
3. Is re-dipping the bike in chrome going to add a lot of weight to the bike?

The goal is to basically have a bad-ass mid-school BMX to ride on nice days where my Specialized is my everyday bike.

FitRider 921

I would just buy a new bike- no need in spending all that money to restore a crappy one when you can buy a decent one for a lil bit more.

MadMan2k

A new complete would probably be better suited to hard riding, but if you want to have a nice ride I think it's worth rebuilding the GT. Maybe you can call the company to see about ordering OEM parts, or pick some up on Ebay.

Since you live in NYC, do you run brakeless, 4 pegs and 21" bars with flangeless grips? Just wondering.

lunchbox

You can find old stuff on Ebay.

jcontonio

I don't run brakeless, no pegs, and no idea what the other two are. I haven't ridden in years and just want to restore this thing for transportation really. Why would I run brakeless in NYC? You gotta stop sometimes!

jcontonio

Yeah I have been trying. Only thing I can find is some 24" version of my bike in decent shape (I should probably just buy this).

captainknuckles

riding brakeless in a city sounds like a dumb idea.

MadMan2k

I was kind of kidding. Edwin DeLarosa rides that setup, and I think a lot of other people, especially in NYC do it to be like him. I do, minus the pegs and my bars are a little longer because riding on the bends is not so comfortable, heh.

Brakeless is a little risky for riding street depending on what you do, if you pedal your ass off at huge gaps you might kill yourself, but if you do a lot of slower speed technical stuff it's more fun IMO.

captainknuckles

MadMan;
I figured there was some sarcasm in your post, although kids do stupid things, hence I wouldn't be shocked if riding brake-free is some sort of cool fad.
Say, what do you mean by "pedal you arse off at huge gaps"?

MadMan2k

I mean when you find a bank, or a curb cut, or jersey barrier, or some kind of hill, and you go as fast as you can and launch out of it to land on another bank, or a downward slope, or a wall, or past some obstacle. Or if you find/set up stuff to hop over/off where you need to go really fast to get the distance. Basically high speed, big air, usually tight spaces to slow down.

Josh Stricker and Steve Hamilton seem to do that a lot. And a lot of other people, but those two were who I thought of first. It's not usually my riding style.

Brakeless is actually a pretty common thing in street, not everyone rides so that they need brakes to stop. If you do a lot of barspins and tailwhips you could either have a gyro or just run brakeless; brakeless is a lot simpler and can make some stuff more challenging, and more fun for some people. If you ride big trails with a lot of jumps where you need to control your speed or stop quickly it's probably not going to be that practical.

KinetikBiker

Hahahahahha.

Thats great.

Best post ive heard in a while.

lunchbox

People don't do it to be like him they do it because they ride street. Thats the style of All NYC street riders.

lunchbox

Cool Fad?? I been riding brakeless for more than 2 years and its great.

KinetikBiker

'Trend *****'

Haha


I hate riding without brakes, no matter what terrain...
Its just weird/scary/a good way to ruin your shoes.

eightdip

i rode brakeless for about 4-5 months but i got bored of wreking my shoes so i got a brake. alot easier

MadMan2k

You don't have to wreck your shoes. Unless you're riding in places where there's lots of hills, then you could just lock up the back tire instead of letting your shoe rub on it.. heh

But if it's pretty flat, you can usually stop pretty easily without tearing up shoes. At least I can.

KinetikBiker

Just put some brakes on.

Save the rest of us.

MadMan2k

lol

I ran brakes for one weekend because I was riding in Denver, didn't like it. I haven't ever hit anyone, I pay attention to where cars are and where skaters/other riders are when I'm at the park. Well, I probably hit my friend's bike on purpose but it doesn't count.

FitRider 921

"... I probably hit my friend's bike on purpose but it doesn't count." I guess we all have to make mistakes sometimes... :-P

MadMan2k

I've run into him when he was sitting on his bike talking on the phone just to **** around.

Whoops, I think we hijacked this thread.