rigidftw
Retro Guru
Good morning gentlemen,
today I would like to share some photos of my 1994 GT Karakoram Elite and a bit of back story.
Growing up I had an affinity towards GT bikes.
My second mountainbike was a cheap and cheerful GT Aggressor. After getting that bike I hung out at the bike shop I got it from, which culminated in building 2007 GT Zaskar Team with the owner of the shop. Good times.
In 2009 I invested heavily (for me at least) in cheap old bikes and ended up with this 1994 GT Karakoram Elite, which was apparently called Corrado in the rest of the world. Ebay find, original owner, I think I payed about €250.
Original condition apart from the rear tyre, IIRC.
This was the fleet back then. 92 Cadex CFM2, 94 GT Karakoram Elite, 91 Bridgestone MB-3.
Tinkering with the red GT I found the fork dropouts to be misaligned. So I tried different forks.
I think I remember realigning the dropouts with a big pair of pliers. So back on it went, as well as a different drivetrain, new brakes, tyres and stem.
The Groove Tube was a nice detail.
This red Bontrager saddle did not last long.
The drivetrain used to be on my 2007 Zaskar. 3x9, RaceFace Deus XC cranks, XT 770 shifters, LX FD, Dura Ace RD, 11-23 Dura Ace 9s cassette.
Brakes were Avid SD Ultimate mated to some Paul Love Levers.
For a trip to some nearby mountains I then simplified the drivetrain and removed two chainrings.
The Ritchey stem proved to be too uncomfortable and was replaced by a slightly longer Corratec Ti stem.
Chunkier tyres were also added.
The True Temper GTX tubeset made for a light and comfortable ride.
today I would like to share some photos of my 1994 GT Karakoram Elite and a bit of back story.
Growing up I had an affinity towards GT bikes.
My second mountainbike was a cheap and cheerful GT Aggressor. After getting that bike I hung out at the bike shop I got it from, which culminated in building 2007 GT Zaskar Team with the owner of the shop. Good times.
In 2009 I invested heavily (for me at least) in cheap old bikes and ended up with this 1994 GT Karakoram Elite, which was apparently called Corrado in the rest of the world. Ebay find, original owner, I think I payed about €250.
Original condition apart from the rear tyre, IIRC.
This was the fleet back then. 92 Cadex CFM2, 94 GT Karakoram Elite, 91 Bridgestone MB-3.
Tinkering with the red GT I found the fork dropouts to be misaligned. So I tried different forks.
I think I remember realigning the dropouts with a big pair of pliers. So back on it went, as well as a different drivetrain, new brakes, tyres and stem.
The Groove Tube was a nice detail.
This red Bontrager saddle did not last long.
The drivetrain used to be on my 2007 Zaskar. 3x9, RaceFace Deus XC cranks, XT 770 shifters, LX FD, Dura Ace RD, 11-23 Dura Ace 9s cassette.
Brakes were Avid SD Ultimate mated to some Paul Love Levers.
For a trip to some nearby mountains I then simplified the drivetrain and removed two chainrings.
The Ritchey stem proved to be too uncomfortable and was replaced by a slightly longer Corratec Ti stem.
Chunkier tyres were also added.
The True Temper GTX tubeset made for a light and comfortable ride.
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