Any cycling savants here?
Hi folks, I haven't had a bike since my Schwinn Varsity Sport, back in Junior highschool.
Now I'm 48, retired, and after borrowing friends "spare" bikes just to ride with them, decided to buy a bike for my own use.
New bikes in the price range I was willing to spend were pretty pathetic, so I shopped around for a better value on a used bike.
Ended up buying a GT Timberline I-Drive, for less than $100, and it seems to be the perfect value for me
But, I was wondering if any highly knowledgable folk here could shed some light on exactly what it is that I bought, let me begin by listing what I think is correct, based upon info that I've googled together.
As best I can determine, GT went bankrupt in 2002, has since reorganized, and sells a few mid range($300-$500) bikes (including the contemporary "Timberline" comfort bike) and a few bikes that range up into the $800-$3,000 range.
GT, at their site very openly states that they have no information available on their pre bankruptcy products, and have no intention to make any available.
Nowhere in their product information can I find evidence of them offering their higher end "I-Drive" system on the midrange "Timberline" model So, it seemed that I had a $300 (when new) bike, with a $500 custom option.
Until I found a link to an old issue of popular mechanics, stating thet GT was going to add the I-Drive system to the Timberline model, for the 2001 model year. with a suggested retail of $699.00
So, it LOOKS to me like I got a "one year oddity" offered by a company with one foot in the grave, perhaps in an attempt to offer their higher end products at a more afforadable price? (just my guessing/monday morning quarterbacking)
Does than logic track with what may have actually been going on at the time?
What is the general opinion of GT bike quality from that time period? Finding out I bought a bike from a company that was sliding into bankruptcy , at the time my bike was made, has given me hope that it was something other than warranty claims that drove them to the poor house?
And, since the I-Drive is somewhat unique, what reputation, if any, does this system have in terms of holding up well, hopefully it's not a maintenance nightmare.
Any thoughts, guidance, and input much appreciated, thanks in advance