Ompelukone
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No matter how I'd like to indulge you with an epic build story, I'll have to resort to a humble tale of simply waiting for the perfect bike to become available.
I recently found an old thread by Yidaki for 1991 GT Avalanche being for sale here on RetroBike. The bike hadn't sold yet, so we made a deal.
All, except tyres, are original and very lightly used as far as I can tell. Tange Prestige, GT 2x4 adjustable rake fork, GT FlipFlop stem, full DX groupset. And I love it. For some reason this is the first bike in years, which makes me want to go riding when ever the weather permits.
The left pushpush shifter unfortunately broke when I was trying to soften the hardened grease with lighter oil. The zinc axle was cracked at the nut and held together just by the tiny screw holding the plastic cover. I decided to go thumbies, as I've never grown to like these "modern" shifting systems. Now I'm running all DX, except XT thumbies - and needless to say, they are super nice!
Trails being rough hereabouts, I decided to get some suspension to save me ol' wrists. A nice period correct Scott Unishoks came available and I had to get it. It was one of the things we drooled upon BITD.
Now the shocks are set for a test ride and I'm looking forward to see whether the early 90's suspension technology can compete with the horrible RockShocks I had on my 2008 Avalanche. Better fitting stem is needed and brake cable needs extending. There is also a bit of a challenge getting the brakes to work with narrow rim and fat tyre due to brake posts being farther away from the centreline than usual. The pads seem to move up rather than away from the rim and end up touching the tyre.
I admit, the stem and bar ends are ugly - they have to be sorted! If the fork starts performing well, I'll cut more thread to the steerer and use the original Daktari coloured FlipFlop stem. It's an aheadset setup atm.
Edit: Changed picture to original setup, the stem is so ugly! Judging by the quality I've got to get a proper camera to take these pics...
I recently found an old thread by Yidaki for 1991 GT Avalanche being for sale here on RetroBike. The bike hadn't sold yet, so we made a deal.
All, except tyres, are original and very lightly used as far as I can tell. Tange Prestige, GT 2x4 adjustable rake fork, GT FlipFlop stem, full DX groupset. And I love it. For some reason this is the first bike in years, which makes me want to go riding when ever the weather permits.
The left pushpush shifter unfortunately broke when I was trying to soften the hardened grease with lighter oil. The zinc axle was cracked at the nut and held together just by the tiny screw holding the plastic cover. I decided to go thumbies, as I've never grown to like these "modern" shifting systems. Now I'm running all DX, except XT thumbies - and needless to say, they are super nice!
Trails being rough hereabouts, I decided to get some suspension to save me ol' wrists. A nice period correct Scott Unishoks came available and I had to get it. It was one of the things we drooled upon BITD.
Now the shocks are set for a test ride and I'm looking forward to see whether the early 90's suspension technology can compete with the horrible RockShocks I had on my 2008 Avalanche. Better fitting stem is needed and brake cable needs extending. There is also a bit of a challenge getting the brakes to work with narrow rim and fat tyre due to brake posts being farther away from the centreline than usual. The pads seem to move up rather than away from the rim and end up touching the tyre.
I admit, the stem and bar ends are ugly - they have to be sorted! If the fork starts performing well, I'll cut more thread to the steerer and use the original Daktari coloured FlipFlop stem. It's an aheadset setup atm.
Edit: Changed picture to original setup, the stem is so ugly! Judging by the quality I've got to get a proper camera to take these pics...
