Seem to have a good value ratio. Are they that bad?

What makes you think they are bad? What is the criteria for "bad"?

GT made some of the greatest BMX bikes ever.

I'm being advised to stay away from the GT road bikes as not many people ride them.

GT is owned by Dorel Industries. Dorel owns Cannondale and Schwinn. Cannondale continues to make top quality road bikes. Schwinn markets very good quality road bikes sold through Performance and LBS shops. They also make department store level road bikes sold at Target and WalMart.
From the small search I did, I found two good quality GT road bikes sold by REI. I'm not aware that GT is marketing any department store level bikes. So I see no reason to avoid GT. They appear to be no better and no worse than many other brands out there.

Who is telling you to avoid them? A bike shop that doesn't sell them?

The only downside is that is had faded as an innovative brand. I feel GT is just a sticker applied to a standard frame jig weld-up and is being sold on cachet alone from 35+ Dads who had one as a kid.

Not a bad bike, just nothing to get excited about. I used to be sponsored by GT and Dyno for bmx, and I choke a bit seeing them as the shadow of their former selves but the brand is being managed wisely by Dorel. No crap, but nothing amazing.

Cool.

How is that different that many other brands. There's nothing "bad" about them. They get off the shelf frames from big asian factories, and slap on Shimano/SRAM components. Just like everyone else out there these days.

Some might do more R&D than other, and AFAIK Merida builds for specialized but not for anyone else in the US. Giant builds for many other brands (including their own). So GT isn't much different than many others who go to a factory, buy frames and badge them as their own.

I have a gt series 3 that I bought when I first started riding. I've since upgraded it to sram force, and when ridden with good wheels it's totally passable. I did a double century on it when my primary bike was out of commission, I've done RR -type group rides on it, etc.

Only time I ever felt anything amiss was on the double, a crazy descent where I hit a corner too fast and had to brake hard, the frame felt a little noodly. But, I was also on a borrowed front wheel, which could have been the cause.

oh, and because there's never going to be a "show your GT" thread:

What about their mountain bikes? Some seem to be good value on the usual websites, but I know nothing about the brand.

Thoughts on this GT? I'm digging the SRAM components.

Ijust got the GT series 4 and have been very happy with it. Honestly, I think for its price range its a very good deal. Mine is just an entry level bike but after riding it for a couple of weeks now, im still very satisfied with the money i spent getting it and have no regrets.

That's a nice looking bike! How much did that run ya?

That's gotta be one of my favorite descriptors. I don't know what it means, and yet I know exactly what you mean.

I've always admired the GT bikes. They have some very attractive designs and the component selections are pretty good. They seem like a very good "bang for the buck" entry/mid level road bike IMHO.
If you take a spin on it, it feels good, and the price is right, buy it!
Good luck on your decision.

ANy thoughts on this bike yet? Seems like a helluva deal. Just rode it, it felt good and with the heavy flat demo pedals, weighed in at just over 18lbs.

I paid $580 for it new with tax.

If it fits, get it.

Like I said on the other site I would still go look at the Specialized Roubaix and Tarmac and the Trek Madone 4.5. The Roubaix compact was less than the GT. The Roubaix Elite was a bit more. The Madone was a tiny bit more. The Tarmac Comp is gonna be on the upper level of your budget. They have a Tarmac Elite left, but its only a 54cm and would be to small for you.

The Roubaix is gonna be a more relaxed frame geometry than any of the other bikes so you really gotta go ride the Roubaix to see if its what you want vs. a more aggressive bike like the GT, Madone or Tarmac.

I guess there is nothing wrong with the GT GTR, but it just doesnt seem as though many people ride them compared to Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, Felt, etc...

I would also check out some of the Felt bikes, there are plenty of dealers around your area just doing a quick search on their website.

GTs are just as generic as Scattante bikes. The latter typically has better pricing.

You basically just said what I said. GT is not bad, of course. But they used to be innovators, they came up with some interesting designs. they had national teams, they pushed boundaries. Now it's just a brand as we have both stated. It's no different from other brands except that as I mentioned, Dorel has been keen to not dilute the brand by putting the name on $150 bikes like Mongoose, Dyno, Torker or Diamond Back have been reduced to.

the blue and white GT above looks noce but it's just like anything else I'm sure. Don;t forget that for HALF of their time in BMX GT has been a laughed at brand as well. They started making some weird stuff that busted real fast. It appealed to the newbies and the kids but wasn't fit for hardcore use. when they got into MTB stuff they took off and BMX became their legacy outhouse on the back lot. Gar and Rich made their money, sadly Rich is no longer with us but I certainly hope Gary Turner made some money out of the sale. He can now go back to his first love, making dragsters.

GT can soldier on with a good brand recognition and we can ride a taiwanese bike with excellent graphics as opposed or a motobecane or a dawes that uses some 80 year old font that was cobbled onto some weak logo for $0.012 a sticker pack.

I'd show my old GT but I have a mullet in that shot, it doesn't get posted often.

Dude, that is just begging for pics...do it!

1986

Effin' awesome!