Hi everyone. I'm not a cyclist. I'm not going to become a cyclist.
That said, I've looked through the forums here and found some great info.
But I need some additional help. I own a 1992 GT Outpost. It still rides fairly well, but I never ride trails, I just want to make it a little more comfortable for riding short trips around town. I went to the local bike shop and the guy basically told me that was the dumbest idea he had ever heard and that new bikes are technologically so much more advanced now, he basically talked me out of the store.
I have seen a couple of members on here with "cityfied" versions of the same bike that I have, and they look pretty cool. I really just want to put a more comfortable saddle, and handlebars with a mild rise.
But, here's where I need help: I don't need 21 speeds. I also don't want a single speed. The shifter for the rear gearset is broken already - it only shifts in one direction. Is there a way I can remove that shifter and derailleur and keep the tensioner? Or is there a separate tensioner that I need to buy instead?
Sorry for the dumb question. I just want to enjoy my bike more, and I really don't have the cash flow to go buy a new bike. Thanks!

GT Outpost is quite OK to use as an everday utility bike.
Turning it into a 1x8 speed gearing is a good idea BUT you may need to keep the front mech as a chainkeeper to prevent it falling off the chainring.
You can replace the rear deraileur and shifter, they are all standard items from any bikeshop. Make sure they are broken before getting new ones. You may need a new rear cassette and chain as well if they are worn. The rear derailleur IS the chain tensioner.

You can fit some fat slick tyres such as Schwalbe Big Apple or some extra puncture protected such as Schwalbe Marathon Plus. I use Big Apples and they are very efficient fro cruising around town.

The saddle is a personal item, cant recomend any particular model.
Riser bars are good. I use On-On Mary, it may be available in the US but there are similar ones around.

Wow, lame bike shop. I guess he was trying to hustle you into buying one of their new bikes instead of fixing up your old one... find someplace else to shop.

Anyhow, regarding the rear derailer. The derailer performs double duty as chain tensioner, and gear shifting. So in any case you'll need to have one.
You said it only shifts one direction? Does it seem difficult to move the shifter controls? possilble that the cable for it is rusty and is having too much friction. Check that out first.

If the rear derailer is non-fixable, a very low budget solution is to simply tighten its range limiter screws (marked H and L) so that it is imobilized on a middle range gear. This will allow you to use it purely as a chain tensioner and make the bike a 3 speed via the front shifter only.

A more propor method of reduced gearing, is to fix the rear derailer, and shift exclusively with it, while removing the front one. this would give 7/8 speeds

As for bikes being more advanced - yeah, sure. Bikes are examples of really mature technology. While there's certainly been improvements, for a casual rider none of them have much of a wow-factor.

"shifting only in one direction" certainly sounds like the shifter cable is gunked up, with the return spring in the derailer not being strong enough to overcome the resistance. Easy enough to fix, even for a rookie. Several good web tutorials available. Parts are dirt cheap too. Even handing it over to (another) lbs shouldn't upset your economy too much.
As for saddles - don't expect too much. There's a reason why you don't find bike saddles used as sitting furniture anywhere else.
It's a bit like a pair of traditional leather boots. It might fit you just fine when you're in the swing of it, but leave it off for a while and it'll chafe at first.

The bike shop was not very helpful but the project you are proposing (or a practical application of it) is going to be fairly expensive in parts and labor and perhaps you have an unrealistic view of what it will cost if they or any shop does the conversion.

I agree that keeping or replacing the rear derailleur is necessary if you want more than a single speed and that the cables and housing are a likely cause of your shifting problems.

Is there a bike Co-op in your area? These are a great resource for inexpensive parts and expert but low cost help.

1) Stay away from that bike shop -- far away.

2) Get an estimate on repairing or replacing the shifter from another shop. You may decide that you want the gears later.

3) Look into some 1.25 inch, 80-90 psi street tires.

I have a 1993 KHS mountain bike set up as a city/utility bike and use it almost every day.

1. See what the problem is with the shifting. It could be minor such as a cable or gummed up shifter. It might be wise to keep the gearing (not to mention cheaper) than converting / altering the drive train. That way if you decide you like riding and decide to expand your horizons and ride more or commute, you still have what you need. New less aggressive tires would be a good choice as well.
2. As far as comfort goes, I'd try and do a little research or talk to someone about the "fit" of your bike. The right sized or properly adjusted bike makes a world of difference. Also, you will need some time in the saddle to get reacquainted to it. Try a newer saddle, but saddles are a personal choice. Maybe try a basic WTB or something.
3. Find another bike shop. That will make a great commuter. Tough , rugged and good for any terrain and no suspension. That guy was an ass. I have an old steel Specialized I converted to commuting on and it has proved to be invaluable.
4. Go ride!

I use a 1995 GT Outpost Trail. The Acera shifters are crap, they get gummed up easily, I expect you're experiencing this issue. Luckily you can find a pair of replacement shimano shifters for about $40; I forget the model number, they don't even belong to one of the groupsets, so they don't even have a name, but they're good. They look similar to the Alivio 8 speed shifters.

I wouldn't recommend shifting just using the front derailleur. I always had major issues with mine; it was never reliable, so I had to replace it. The front derailleur is attached to the bottom bracket; removing it will be a major pain in the arse, so I don't recommend doing that if you're a novice. I replaced mine with a Deore that attaches to the seat tube, something that's probably overkill for you. If yours is still working I say keep it; just be aware that it gets bent out of shape very easily.

It's probably a much better idea to replace the rear shifter and then examine if the RD is still working. My RD started becomming detuned around 500 miles or so and it got progressively worse and inaccurate. You may want to replace that with an Alivio RD, shouldn't be too expensive. Much easier to replace than the FD. But again, yours may still work fine and it's the shifter that's the problem.


If you want to get a rear rack for utility purposes, be aware that you'll probably need to find some longer rack brackets; the GT Triple Triangle design means that the seat stays are at a much lower angle than most 26" bikes, and therefore the default brackets racks come with are usually way too small to let the rack maintain a level position. I had to buy a pair at my local bike shop (which they had lying around in a spare parts bin); wasn't able to find any online.


As far as a saddle... I bought a Brooks. $100... might be out of your price range. But oh my lord it is so worth it.


Tires... I bought some Schwalbe Marathon Supremes. About $50 a tire; 26x2.0. I love them; they're strong and you can run over things like glass without worrying too much (still try to avoid it though). They're slick and fast as well. If you want cheaper tires, I had some WTB Slickasauruses on for a year. About $20 each. Very slick 26x1.5's, fast, but you have to be more careful about what you ride over. If you go with those make sure you stock up at home with plenty of spare tubes.


PS: If you ride a bicycle, you're a cyclist
Welcome to the club!

Thanks for all of your responses. I do know that the rear derailleur and tensioner are one in the same.
Something like this is what I had in mind:

I looked on Park Tools a little and tried to learn about these adjustments, I may try it out this afternoon.
As many of you mentioned, I don't want to alter the drive train too much, I may want those gears later. The shifter itself seems to be the problem, it's like it doesn't have a grip on the cable to pull it, so it can only shift in the other direction. I'm a little nervous to tear the shifter apart and examine it, but I guess I can't make it any worse than it already is.
Thanks again for your help. Any other suggestions?
What else have people done with their 90's GT mountain bikes?

For how long has tis bike been out of use? Normally I suggest a good cleaning of the drivetrain and then LUBING. It all gets stuck without it and some bikes has not seen lube in years. Clean the rear der and especially the little plastic jockeywheels. If you need to take it apart do only one at the time and lube before you put it back together again.

Put one drope on each of the small "joints" on both the front and rear der`s. Twist and move stuff so the lube gets worked in.

Lube the wires: Gear down if possible front and rear. Work on one cable at the time: Unhook the housing and slide it away so you can lube the wire under the housing. Do this to all the foru cables and whipe off the exess oil. Only if this does not work would I start buying parts.

If you are not into the stuff maybe you should not open the shifter. Just spray some thin lube in there and see if you can get it mowing.

Heck yes it's a dumb idea. Who would ever think of repurposing something to save a few bucks. I mean come on. Just throw it out and buy a new one. (I was using my sarcasm font there) Here is where my dumb idea ended up. I have put alot of miles on this since I built it and I can tell you that MTB's make the smoothest most comfortable commuters (or tourer's if you you don't need to go real fast)


https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...rebuild-begins

Mohair, first off you really want to restore the rear shifting. The three steps at the front are much too coarsely spaced with much too large jumps to use for daily riding.

As mentioned it's highly likely that the system is just gunked up. Flush out the front shifter with some mineral spirits (AKA "low odor paint thinner) and clean or replace the cable and housing for the rear shifter. That is likely all it needs.

You'll also gain a lot of speed and ease of riding by replacing your old dirt knobbies with smooth mountain bike sized road tires. Two that I've used and highly recomend are Ritchey Tom Slick and Tioga City Slicker in the 1.5 inch width size. Either of these options will make your bike ride really nicely.

Being as the bike is an old '92 model it's an iron clad certainty that all the bearings in the wheels, headset and bottom bracket will need cleaning and re-greasing at this point. There's also a very good chance that the spokes could use some attention to bump up the tension closer to optimum and true the wheels to serve reliably in this new "born again" riding career.

Be wary of getting too wide and cushy a saddle. When you set up the saddle height to the correct placement where your leg is almost straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke the back of your thigh tends to push your butt forward and off the wide spot of such saddles. You end up riding on the nose of the saddle and THAT is not comfy at all. Either that or you are constantly pushing yourself back only to end up again forward and on the nose. This is why folks that ride a lot tend to move towards the narrow and nasty looking saddles. Besides, part of riding for fitness is working out on the bike. And riders that are riding that seriously don't sit on the saddle so much as they use it as a place to position there body with much or most of the load always being carried by the feel on the pedals. It's only on the "sit up and beg" beach cruiser bikes that the riders can actually USE those big wide saddles. But that's only because they don't set the saddles up to the "proper" position as they are not in a big hurry to get anywhere. Does that make some sense about why saddles tend to be narrow and uncomfy looking?

If you're interested in doing a lot of the maintanence work on your bike yourself check out the descriptive how to's at www.parktool.com/repair .

You could take the bike to a different shop, explain that the rear derailleur doesn't work properly and ask for a basic tune-up. It might be a quick fix as others have suggested. Rather than mess with limiting the gears, just get it working and use the gears that suit your riding. Leaving it on the middle chainring on the front, and shifting a couple in the back might suffice, but the others will be there when/if you need them.

Sounds like the ratcheting pawl is not grabbing. Could be old dried up grease keeping it from moving (its a tiny bit of metal on a tiny spring). Or springs are old and weakened.
might try popping the cover off the shifter, then spraying all the internals with solvent(wd40) let it dry (compressed air jet), then soak it all in fresh spray lubricant (tri-flow).
If that doesn't work, I've had occasional luck with rebending the worn out springs.

could also replace the whole shifter pod with a cheap friction lever, those pretty much are bulletproof.

There could be a kink in the cable housing which is preventing the shifter from returning freely.

Something I've been meaning to try is one of the thinner brands of 26" street tires. You should be able to use a 1.75" Panaracer Pasela or a 2.125 Schwalbe Manhattan at a lower pressure without too much drag unlike knobbies or street slicks with a thick rubber tread.

Shimano lubed those shifters with white grease which turns to gum fairly quickly. Pretty straightforward to pull apart and clean. I have picked up old mountain bikes cheap that didn't shift. 1/2 with cleaning solvent and some black moly-d grease solves 95% of the issues.

Your GT is a good bike. It'll last for many years to come. It's definitely worth keeping in good shape.