My new winter bruiser
 

I've been looking for a winter beater for couple months now. I was contemplating getting a KHS Urban Soul, but just couldn't justify 400 bucks for a bike I was going to ride through the slop all winter. I was searching Craigslist multiple times a day looking for something that would work. All the options were either too pricey or too crappy or both. This puppy finally popped up. I was the first to write (of many according to her) and popped by after work and scored this for 50 bucks! In Toronto, that is a stone cold steal. Everything was in working order, with the exception of the brake pads 10-15 years of sitting will do that.
I love the triple triangle frames on these old GTs.
I swapped the stem, the bars, added some bar ends from an earlier build, switched the front brake to a v-brake. Replaced the pads on the canti rear brake. Added some fenders and an aluminum rack. I removed the front derailleur and am currently running 1x6. The rear der. is doing well so far, but I might swap it for something newer that doesn't have as much trouble staying put. I still get ghost shifts so matter how much I tweak it. Any thoughts on what I could use as a good rear derailleur for something of this vintage? It's a 6 sp. freewheel system. I was wondering about using a friction shifter up front and forgetting SIS altogether....any reason not to?

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friction is good.

also, try to keep that puppy in some form of repair, at least the frame. It would be a shame to a cool frame like that to get trashed...

Most definitely. It's got a fair amount of scratching already, but otherwise it's in great shape. I intend to keep it that way :)

Nice find. I still ride my GT Timberline I bought back when I was in grade 11. It is a tank!

Great catch!