1990 (?) GT Timberline - First Retro Project

[jointhedotz]

Morning All,

Well, after lurking for several months and soaking up the forum vibe I find myself in the awkward position of having to explain this to the mrs.....


(ebay pic)

Hopefully this should arrive next week so I can start cleaning her up and assess the requirements, plans at present are for a loosely period correct easy geared baby towing singlespeed for cruising the old railway lines that litter the north east.

Since this is my first retro project I thought I'd start the thread 'early' to gather any hints/tips/suggestions you guys may have

Thanks for looking

 

[sick-lizard]

sas is going to kill you my turn to take the piss on your parts spend

 

[jointhedotz]

sas is going to kill you my turn to take the piss on your parts spend

Ha, sub £100 is the aim....I should be spending the pennies on my modern bike after all.

 

[tack4]

Morning All,

Well, after lurking for several months and soaking up the forum vibe I find myself in the awkward position of having to explain this to the mrs.....


(ebay pic)

Hopefully this should arrive next week so I can start cleaning her up and assess the requirements, plans at present are for a loosely period correct easy geared baby towing singlespeed for cruising the old railway lines that litter the north east.

Since this is my first retro project I thought I'd start the thread 'early' to gather any hints/tips/suggestions you guys may have

Thanks for looking

i almsot bid on that frame lol

good luck with restoration

i refuse to count how much i spent on my rebuild..........!!!!!!

 

[jointhedotz]

i almsot bid on that frame lol

good luck with restoration

i refuse to count how much i spent on my rebuild..........!!!!!!

Cheers

I only stuck a cheeky £10 bid in so wasn't really expecting to get it. I'm hoping that cheaping out on frame and by singlespeeding her will keep it under the magic ton, but I suspect that's being very optimistic. Still, it'll scratch a few itches (retro, steel, rigid, singlespeed) and perhaps pave the way for something more interesting down the line.

Nice Marin btw

 

[jointhedotz]

Re:

question time....

...seatpost size? I've asked the seller but thought someone here may know.

Cheers

 

[jointhedotz]

Re:

Well, accidents will happen...just picked up an early 90's (1994 I think) outpost trail for £25, should be able to salvage at least the seat post and wheels.

Edit:





Not quite original, has a 200gs rear mech and nexave front. Might just transfer to the Timberline while I collect the required parts for singlespeed. I'd completely forgotten about the existence of freewheels on mountain bikes so suspect this isn't the wheelset for singlespeeding

 

[jointhedotz]

This isn't my final form!



She's had her first shakedown ride, only a quick 10 min blast punctuated with rear axles slipping out and the occasional clunk from the drivetrain. Oddly the 18t ring on the cassette seems to have the teeth at a diagonal rather than straight, it seems equal though so unsure if this is design or failure......

Oh, and 90's brakes.....TERRIBLE! (I think i may need to clean up the rims and pads a bit though)

To do list:

I think better wheels are on the cards at some point, so currently unsure whether to buy THIS or use the spare non-period wheels I have lying about with a regular singlespeed conversion kit.

Smaller inner tubes as tyres not quite seated correctly

Less rusty bar than the original (and perhaps wider)

Matching brake levers.....

I like it though, haven't ridden a rigid bike in almost 20 years and it wasn't as harsh as i remembered. Singlespeed was hard work but then I barely ride so have no expectation of fitness. She handled well despite her 29lb bulk lol

 

[sick-lizard]

were you limping afterwards? ocd in me wants to lower that stem an inch lol & change the seat post clamp/qr, looking good!

I promise i'll post some pics of my mt4 soon, not sure if i'll torment you further with images of the 1.10 tyres on it lol, those splashbacks do look quite nice on the GT

 

[jointhedotz]

The qr is a copy of the original but with the original GT rubber on so it's staying, weighs a ton though.

As for the stem, at 29lb this isn't an xc rocket so I don't plan on assuming the position...

Get your mt4 thread up, oh...there's an MTB on slicks thread too where you can meet like-minded folks for a glass of rosé