1991 GT Karakoram

[Guigui58]

My next project will be this lovely 1991 GT Karakoram with the iconic "Blue Widow" paint job.

The guy I bought this bike from used it as a daily commuter for years, so it is far from spotless! Hopefully, it can continue to be somebody else's commuter for many more years after I'm done.

I already took the bike appart with no major issue. The only surprise I had during this process was the water in the BB shell making a rusty mess in my appartement (to my girlfriend's pleasure). Fortunately, the internal damage made by the water appears to be minimal.

The frame inspection brought out another surprise... there is a tiny crack at the end of the seat clamp's slot (<1mm). It is tiny enough that I should be able to drill a bigger hole at the end of the slot where the crack is to remove it.

If I end up resolving this issue, this bike will turn out great, fingers crossed!

 

[kingoffootball]

Beautiful, I like that paint scheme a lot!

If you are happy to share the serial number it would be appreciated:

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/help-please-steel-gt-serial-numbers.392411/

 

[PhillB]

Look forward to seeing this build... love the Blue Widow paint design.

 

[Guigui58]

The first thing I did after taking the bike apart and have the inside of the frame dry off was to tackle the seatpost clamp crack.

It is hard to see in the picture, but it is there...





First thing I did was to drill a bigger hole to remove the crack. I finished by sanding with a Dreimel tool to have a smooth finish, reducing the chances of another crack forming.



Hopefully I was able to extend this frame's life a little bit!

 

[bamacrazy]

Keep us up to date on progress!!

 

[bamacrazy]

What is the max tire width for that frame?

 

[Guigui58]

I did not forget to send updates; this project took a sad turn and I’m a bit bummed out…

After I did the small repair to the frame, I built the bike up as a city commuter. It went well, I didn’t notice anything else wrong with the bike (or so I thought) and the rebuild was uneventful. I tried to use as much of the original parts as possible, but some of them were either missing or too far gone. As replacements, I used what I had on hand, such as the Shimano crankset and the Deore XT rear derailleur. It was not a purist, catalog spec build at all, but I was glad of the final result!




After taking it for a short ride, I cleaned it one last time before putting it on Marketplace. And that’s when I saw this :



The other side for comparison :



This bike might be a bit more beat up that I initially thought… How I found the microscopic crack near the seat post, but missed this big hole near the fork dropout is still a mystery! For now, I obviously won’t ride or sell it. Unfortunately, repairing the fork is a bit above my knowledge and the equipment I have. Replacing the fork would be the simple solution, but I would love to try to salvage the original fork. Where else will I find one with the same amazing paintjob!

And so, this ambitious project comes to an halt until I have the fork repaired. I'll post an update when things move!

 

[Guigui58]

What is the max tire width for that frame?

2.1" fits well, I'm sure almost any 2.2" would fit too. Wider than that might be tight around the u-brake and the chainstays.

 

[PhillB]

Arrgh, that's gutting! I wonder if you could get it welded without damaging the paintwork too much?

 

[minor_LEGEND]

It's hard to tell from the photo if the drop outs are pulling out of the fork or if the dropout itself is failing. Find a local frame builder to get an opinion. Personally having knowledge of numerous framebuilders, that is fixable & a black base coat of paint with blue splattered over isn't the hardest thing to attempt to replicate. This bike would certainly have a lucky history if you save it.