1991/1992 GT Zaskar (completed)

[Obi-Juan]

I’ve just got a 91 Zaskar too.
Mines built up from new with Suntour..
I’m in the process of a full strip down and clean up too. Also, I’m unsure on what fork to go for ? The Pace fork is going as I’ve never liked the look of them.

Very good Suntour choice. It is differentiating

 

[Obi-Juan]

I abandoned the idea of a catalog spec. build when I decided to use the Manitou Answer EFC forks. Instead, my plan is now to do a “decade correct” build (if that makes sense), focusing on using cool early / mid-90s parts.

Recently, I bough a 40$ "mystery" bike. The aluminum frame appears to be a quality one, but the decals are removed and the parts are mismatched. I've got no idea what it is! However, the real interesting thing about this bike is the red anodized Race Face I-Beam that came with it. That’s what I’ll use instead of the Deore XT cranks I was planning on installing. I recon these will fit perfectly with the red forks!

View attachment 858559

The idea of “decade correct” manufacturing seems to me to have a lot of logic.
Actually, all of us who have had bicycles are modifying them almost from the beginning, from small details such as handlebars to more functional parts for us, such as saddle or pedals to larger or purely whimsical parts, such as cranksets or wheels. A bike bought today in 3 years' time no longer looks like the catalogue.
Also remembering the catalog bicycles is very "romatic", but brands really rely on pure marketing data and market studies to release their catalogs, they know who they are aimed at and what they are going to pay for them. There is not much cycling spirit in a bicycle catalogue, only commercial reasons. It is more beautiful to do what you like, which is what a cyclist has always wanted.
I recently commented the same thing on a classics forum in Spain.
So congratulations on the decision.
There is great work left

 

[legrandefromage]

Zaskar frames were available on their own and your original build as found pictures look about 'right' if a shop had something left over for a custom one. Or even everything simply transfered from another frame

There was a run of MAG20 forks with short steerers which were sold off cheaper than new around 1992, they fitted my CB Spectre frame perfectly but not much else and there was more than one or two of our group who wanted suspension for the first time and ended up with just a a nut to hold it all together!

 

[Guigui58]

I’ve just got a 91 Zaskar too.
Mines built up from new with Suntour..
I’m in the process of a full strip down and clean up too. Also, I’m unsure on what fork to go for ? The Pace fork is going as I’ve never liked the look of them.

Nice find! It also looks like you have a nice collection in the background

 

[Guigui58]

The idea of “decade correct” manufacturing seems to me to have a lot of logic.
Actually, all of us who have had bicycles are modifying them almost from the beginning, from small details such as handlebars to more functional parts for us, such as saddle or pedals to larger or purely whimsical parts, such as cranksets or wheels. A bike bought today in 3 years' time no longer looks like the catalogue.
Also remembering the catalog bicycles is very "romatic", but brands really rely on pure marketing data and market studies to release their catalogs, they know who they are aimed at and what they are going to pay for them. There is not much cycling spirit in a bicycle catalogue, only commercial reasons. It is more beautiful to do what you like, which is what a cyclist has always wanted.
I recently commented the same thing on a classics forum in Spain.
So congratulations on the decision.
There is great work left

That makes a lot of sense, I agree with you!

 

[Guigui58]

Zaskar frames were available on their own and your original build as found pictures look about 'right' if a shop had something left over for a custom one. Or even everything simply transfered from another frame

There was a run of MAG20 forks with short steerers which were sold off cheaper than new around 1992, they fitted my CB Spectre frame perfectly but not much else and there was more than one or two of our group who wanted suspension for the first time and ended up with just a a nut to hold it all together!

Interesting theory on how the short fork ended up on my Zaskar, this could very well be the reason!

 

[Obi-Juan]

Zaskar frames were available on their own and your original build as found pictures look about 'right' if a shop had something left over for a custom one. Or even everything simply transfered from another frame

There was a run of MAG20 forks with short steerers which were sold off cheaper than new around 1992, they fitted my CB Spectre frame perfectly but not much else and there was more than one or two of our group who wanted suspension for the first time and ended up with just a a nut to hold it all together!

That's how it is. As I mention in my Zaskar, I fell in love with the frame in '96, NOT the bicycle.
It was very easy for someone to change frames and put in what they had, which was already very good material, but it could also happen the other way around: Brands announce their ranges before summer and the new bicycles begin to arrive in stores in September. It was very easy for a store to give you a good offer in October of that year's frame because the new one had already arrived and they wanted to "get it off their backs." But in October/November the new Shimano products begin to arrive, so you could buy a '96 Zaskar at a good price and put an '97 XT on it with what you saved in the offer. Even taking advantage of your '93 titanium seatpost, which took a lot of effort to buy, haha.
This is how you had a Zaskar from '93 to '97

 

[Obi-Juan]

Interesting theory on how the short fork ended up on my Zaskar, this could very well be the reason!

Well, it may be like that after reading legrandefromag's good note.

 

[Guigui58]

Some more parts that I'll use for this build :

This long 150 mm Syncros stem should be perfect.



I also got this classic GT copper rivet saddle on eBay a few weeks ago. There was a little bit of discoloring here and there; I used some leather balm to refresh it.

 

[Obi-Juan]

That's ok. You have to take care of the details. The saddle is a good detail
I think I have the Syncros vectorized files, in case you want to make the new vinyls (although I don't know if I have the "wheel").
By the way, could you tell me a product to darken the leather of a saddle? It's green and I want it darker. They told me that with oil, but I don't know if it would work.