e30driver

okay
my nebhor(bad spelling i know) is going to give me his gt.its a jammi bestwik pro. is it a good bike? its not a 2003 i think. are gts good or do they suck?()ill post pics later! should i take it?

arboc!

is he giving it to you? take it, these are pretty good...

e30driver

yes he is giving it to me. so take it? okay ill get it after school and take pics

marcus987

i reckon GT bikes are brilliant!!!

dirtbike1445

my gt seems good even though it looks like a piece

BMXTRIX

GT & Haro for years were basically the top two names for entry level to mid line bmx bikes. There are better ones and worse ones, so it really depends on which model you get. But, the worse ones still typically sold around 200 bucks to start with while the better ones were up over 500 bucks.

They aren't like a good custom built bike - except maybe the GT Show for flatland. But, their top of the line bikes weren't garbage by a long shot either.

Take some pics, put them up here, you will get a lot of honest answers, and some dumb arses going 'gt sucks' because they have no brains and are just trendy fools.

e30driver

okay heres pics of my new bike
i know the seat is too high and the handle bars are too low ill fix these soon.
how tight should the chain be?

mude

a tad slack but not much...mostly preference and depends on the bike

theres nothing special about it but it seems like a decent bike. not a big fan of the handlebars, there pretty big. but in general the bike looks pretty decent and in ok shape, and either way u said u alreday got it so even if im rong and is a a piece of $h!t
learn to make deal with it. might as well get better on a decent bike you got cheap.

queensrider86

you are pretty lucky. those are the original gt bars that bob scerbo's bars are based on. that stem is worth about $50 the crank is pretty much sh1t, but they will do you good if you are starting. if the fork is 4130, it's alright. the wheelset probably sucks , but it will be fine if you maintain it

CMcMahon

Just like most every other stem on the market. I had a GT Piston, once upon a time; it was horrible.

queensrider86

i did too. my bars would move because the neither the bars or stem were knurled

e30driver

so what cheap thing can i do to it to make it better?
what brake pads do you recomend(i want to skid to a stop)?
as in cheap 50-80$. i have a local bike shop close by me so i can just go there, they are a gt dealer. i like the bike. so iam going to stick with it.
also what is a good beggener trick to start out with(i can bunnyhop, but i can only clear a low speed bump, but friends say i get 8 inches).
how to tell if its 20"?
Is this a wallmart bike(just wondering)?

thanks
e30driver

BMXTRIX

Tilt your bars forward some (so they are inline with the fork or straight up and down or between there somewhere), brake pads won't help your braking issue... Clean the rims with Simple Green, sand the pads on the bike down slightly and see if that helps. The brake cables should all get a shot of Tri-Flow down them to help them move better.

Lower your brake levers so they aren't sticking straight out.

For really good braking, switch the rims to a chrome plated version. There is no question in this world that chrome provides the best braking surface in the world in dry conditions.

Tricks / How-to's are available all over include www.bmxtrix.com - do some reading.

Don't measure your bunnyhop height, just practice them. If you know you can clear 20" and no higher, then you will never clear that 24" ledge. If you stop measuring and just start doing it, you will clear things that you never got over before.

Make sure you are bunnyhopping correctly.

No, it does not appear to be a dept. store bike. Looks like a $200.00 entry level bike from a shop.

Finally: DO NOT SKID! Okay, occassionally, but you wear through tires way to quickly if you do it all the time and good tires (not crap ones) will run about $15 each. Give me a few hours of skidding and I could wreck my Primo Walls... not cool. You definitely should be able to lock you rims up though and stop on a dime.

lunchbox

save up some money and get some 3 piece cranks, also lower you seat some.

lunchbox

I tihnk what he meant by how to tell if its 20" he was refering to the frame, if so go to the gt website and look and see if they have specs listed if not, you can alays email them and ask.

e30driver

okay
asked for the specs from gt= no reply yet
lowered seat and moved handle bars forward=perfect well at least for me. can bunnyhop easer.
and plan to change to 3-peice cranks. is the red line Flight Cranks good? will they work on my bike?
and mayby change break lines(too much slack)-should i do this or use the knobs on the levers, and spliter thing(u know the screws with nut on them)?
thanks
ps
sry for allthe questions iam a noob at this!!

baktrailbiker91

for the chain question it depends on wut your going to be doiong. if your going to be doin no footers u should tighten up your chain so wen your in the air your crank arms dont move much. if you are not doing no footed tricks leavea little bit of slack.hope that helps.

queensrider86

yeah leave some slack because if you grind on your chain it will not snap as easily. if your crank rotates in the air, i think you can hold your brakes to stop them.

lunchbox

The redline flight cranks should be good, i had the monster tublars, they were like $79 and last a year till the spindle bent and the threads on it twisted, so they should be better since there alot more, and as long as there american bottom bracket the'll work.

e30driver

thanks lunchbox and every one who helped me out.
ill just be saving for the red line flight cranks and better breaks.

queensrider86

never get anything made by redline. he just thinks they are good because he has a unsealed crank on his bike. go on ebay and get a profile or odyssey. don't get a wtp either

e30driver

queensrider86
whats bad about redline?
what makes odyssey good?
whats wtp?
remember i am on a buget!!!!

BMXTRIX

FIRST: Get new rims, not new brakes. If you brakes suck it begins with your rims not being chrome plated. Second is because your brake cables are not properly lubed - new brake cables are cheap, and MUST be lightly greased/Tri-Flowed. Finally, brake pads must be cleaned/sanded if they are dirty (Simple Green)

Switching your calipers/levers will not come close to making your brakes work as well as chrome plated rims will.

Redline no longer has the engineering staff in place to really produce good product. They buy garbage from Taiwan, stamp their name on it, and when the stuff breaks, don't warranty it. It simply is no longer the same Redline that used to be cutting edge.

Don't even BOTHER with 3-piece cranks unless you are having issues with your 1-piece cranks. You will have ZERO performance increase by using 3-piece cranks, they are stronger - but if you haven't broken what you have, then who cares? A good wheelset will do a LOT to improve your braking and overall bike issues almost right away. Sealed hubs + chrome rims = very smooth ride with quality braking. First thing you should even consider upgrading.

Don't worry about other stuff until your rims are replaced.

queensrider86

i don't like redline because their parts kinda suck. odyssey uses a heat treating process that makes tubing strong and light, and odyssey makes many reliable parts

W e T he P eople


the redline is $115. it wouldn't hurt to save $20 more to get a profile with a warranty

BMXTRIX

After rims - of course.

Profiles own all. Their warranty is lifetime and they actually honor it. They are the gold standard that is found on so many rider's bikes it is astounding. I swear by them, even though I don't ride them currently (got some short Haro cranks from them for free). I do own a couple of pairs of Profile cranks and have never once had any issues with them. Ever.