DerekU2

A few years back, my wife (then girlfriend) bought me a bicycle. I was 50 pounds overweight. I took the hint. She bought me a barely used 1997 GT Timberline off Craigslist for $175. I started commuting on it and once I got hooked on biking, I converted it to a pretty mean commuter - rack, fenders, lights, riser bars, slicks, etc.

After commuting through the winter, the low end components (Acera, I believe) were completely shot. I ripped those off, stripped the bike down, and made it a single speed. Meanwhile, I bought a couple of other bikes - a high end road bike, and a true fixie. I really prefer those bikes for commuting and just added a dedicated single speed commuting bike. I figured I'd donate the GT because it would get little use.

But I can't bring myself to do it. The frame is still in really good shape. I have a general curiosity about mountain biking. I'm considering buying an entirely new group (say Deore or Deore LX) and building it up as a fully rigid mountain bike. I've never been mountain biking in my life. I'm not looking to do anything technical, just to go get in the mud every now and then. I know nothing about mountain bikes, really.

Am I wasting my time an money? Here's the GT set up as a single speed commuter:


Thoughts? Thanks in advance for helping a total newbie...

rydaddy

I have a Timberline of that era as well. Right now it is stripped and powder coated black. I will build a SS out of it using old parts from my primary ride.

I think you are better off going the craigslist route and buying a used mountain bike that is already trail ready. You are going to spend a decent amount of money trading parts on the GT. You can always throw on some mtb tires and run it SS off road. It doesn't sound like you plan on riding anything too crazy so the only issue would be gearing.

I would look for used hardtail that has decent components. $150-$300 should be all it takes. If you find a something on CL, post it and we can help.

paul emick

Nothing is wasted if the bike fits you well, and will see enough service for you to justify keeping it around. Looks like a solid platform to me, and a Deore group sounds just right.

paul emick

I agree completely, the OP sounds like a guy who can never have enough bikes anyway. If space is at a premium however, I would still upgrade the GT, which seems to carry some sentimental value.

dminor 

Don't know if you are interested in this, but there are two organizations in your area that take your old bike as a donation and recycle/reuse it for good causes:

Quadbikes
and
Bikes Not Bombs. Bikes Not Bombs sounded particularly intriguing.

I found them here: http://web.mit.edu/workinggreen/docs/ReuseYourBike.pdf

Just a thought.

rankin116

That's exactly what I'm doing with my old Timberline.

DerekU2

Yeah, BNB was who I was thinking of donating it to.

It does carry SOME sentimental value, and as others have said, I really can't have too many bikes. That said, I'm currently at my limit (6 total, 4 for me, 2 for the wife) that storage comfortably allows. I'm waffling between building this up as a MTB and maybe building a Cross bike next fall.

I wouldn't actually lose any money swapping out parts. All of the remaining acera parts are completely junk. The only thing left is the front brake and the crankset - and the chain rings on that are going too. Part of me wants to rebuild it just for experience working with parts I've never touched before (bottom bracket, cranks, etc).

Decisions, Decisions. Thanks for the input!

lowdensity

right on mate, build that baby, I love gt's, just bought a minty GT Kara, and a Zasbar, and if I can wing it a RTS-3...

it seriously cant cost that much to build it up, hell all I do is buy a 10-15 buck bike from Thrift Shop/Value Village, and theres tons of Deore/XT/XTR/LXR parts on them..

Im up to 40 bikes now, just got another Bushpilot, a mongoose, and a Scott, damn I love them scottys, talk about nice frames...Im torn between rebuilding the scott, or parting it out to other bikes...them scotty brakes would look nice on my Hoffman Bikes - big daddy....

also Id check around, I found a full XT set at my local shop for 89 bucks, pedals,cranks, chainrings, shifters,brakes/levers...

ooorrr, sell me that frame/forks and make that 41.... ;-)

ed 

What the crap, man!!

ca7erham

I some how think 89 bucks is quite a bit off for an XT set.