Well I am new to this mountain biking thing but have some questions. My friend has an old GT All Terra mountain bike that is pretty good condition. Looks like it's built pretty well. He got a new Diamond Back bike and offered to sell me the GT for 75 bucks. Are these a good bike? Is this something I can swap the fork out for a shock fork and upgrade to disc brakes? Any info would be greatly appreciated before I decide to buy this or not.

It seems like most, if not all, early 90s GT MTBs were All-Terra. If it's in good shape and it's a Karakoram that's a pretty good deal. If it's an Outpost, not as good a deal.

If it has a one inch headset you'd have to cruise eBay for forks and I'm not sure how many 1" steerer suspension forks with disc tabs are out there.

I will have to take a look at it closer tomorrow to see what model it is. I was poking around eBay today and found a couple forks. Not sure if they will work or not as I don't even really know what I am looking for yet. lol I will take some measurements and see just what it is.

I've built up a couple of those old GT 7005 frames - good geometry, light and strong - if it's one of those I'd buy it.

My favorite Al GTs are the Zaskars, they were 6061 T6 back in the day, though.

I still have a Tempest, just sold a Backwoods that I had, great old bikes.

I am using a GT Outpost Trail... everyone said not to bother but the frame fits me like a glove (and it's strong and dependable), so I had the entire drivetrain replaced this year. I'm very happy with it right now and do not regret spending the money on it. The original parts may have been Altus crap, but with the proper parts, that bike is rocking.

Your mileage may vary, however, since I basically turned it into a hybrid rather than keeping its original function as a MTB.

Ok I went over and looked at it again tonight. It is a Timberline model. Triple Triangle. Looks pretty clean. How hard is it going to be to find a shock fork for it? I have looked on eBay and a couple other places and haven't really found any 1" forks.

It will take some time to find a fork for it, should be able to get one within 3 months I'd guess. Nigh on impossible to find disc fork, also a guess.

Threaded or threadless?

Be advised that the older (like pre 2000?) Timberline frames were cromoly steel, if that matters to you.

If it's got 1" headset I'd say chances are good that it's steel.

Wow, the last CrMo year, 1999 had a freaky Haro bend to the top tube. I don't remember seeing those.

CDG-
If you want the bike offer him $50, but if it were me I'd pass on it and look for something else.

I'll have to figure out what year it is to see if it's even a good deal. I am not sure what these went for new. If it's going to be too pricey I may just be better off buying something newer.

Yeah, if it has a 1" headset it's definitely a steel frame, and IMO not worth the investment to convert it.
BTW, the bike may have been a ~$400 bike in its day, but '90s 6061/7005 aluminum bikes with 1 1/8" headsets are selling all the time for ~$100 or less.

I love the ride of those GT steel frames. Especially Karakoram and up. Even the lowly Outpost and Timberline had a nice ride quality. I had a 1991 Outpost briefly and was really tempted to keep it but had to sell one of my bikes. That and I got it for $12.50 and sold it for $75. Invested $15 in pedals. Maybe about 2 hours tuning.


1991 GT Outpost.

The steel ones were $430 in 1993 and $475 in 1997, MSRP.

Yeah 75 is too much then. If he will take 50 I may do it just to have something to tool around on. It's still a better everyday bike then my Felt F80.

I'm a huge GT fan, any GT is better than no GT in my book.

I think if I can get it for 50 bucks I will just leave it as is rather then trying to turn it in to something it's not. Maybe I'll have my powder coating guy give it a new shiney coat of something.