1998 GT Lightning Build Thread

PhillB

GT Fan
I am really poor at putting together build threads. Part of the problem is I don't take enough photographs along the way to illustrate it. Its doubly poor as I get a lot of enjoyment reading other's build journeys on here, so I must get better at it!!

Anyway, I've entered this bike in the 1998+ BOTM so, in the spirit of the competition, I really ought to give some background on it.

I bought this bike in July last year - although it seems longer ago than that. It turned up on Marketplace, not far from me so I contacted the guy and went to have a look. He wasn't quite sure if he was selling at the right price, but he was about right. He had seen a couple of other examples on eBay for £1500 and above and I explained that they had been on there at that price for months already and would be unlikely to sell (In fact they still are there a year later!!)

This is it when I bought it home. Well used as a commuter, but had had a yearly service at his LBS, or so he said.

IMG_2082.jpeg

It was pretty much original spec. and my plan was to clean it up and upgrade it. Decals had gone, but the frame was pretty much unmarked. The finish on these is hard to restore, so that was a plus.

So I started to strip it down... and then I hit the seat post. It was stuck....not unusual to those of us who restore old bikes of course, but this one was REALLY STUCK...

I tried all of the old recipes, Plus Gas, WD40, CocaCola, vice leverage...etc.etc.etc.

In the end the seat post broke off. What seems to have happened is that someone jammed a seat post in that was .2mm too big... no anti seize and the rest is galvanic corrosion....

IMG_2090.jpeg

In the end I resorted to carefully cutting it out using vertical cuts down the tube without damaging the frame itself. This took forever... from August 2023 to February 2024. I would saw for a bit, get frustrated and then put it to the back of the workshop... then a few days later repeat the process... IMG_2095.jpeg

After a while I cut off enough that I could get another (right size) shorter seat tube in safely.

So I built the bike up and took it for a ride.

DSCF8636.jpeg

I replaced the LX kit with some nice XTR950 cranks, derailleur, brakes, and shifter. and changed the lumpy old saddle for a more comfortable Flite.

I took it out for a ride or two - but the bit of seat tube still in the frame not only rattled :rolleyes:...but it was a botch-job...and I hate botch jobs...It bugged me so much, that I stripped the bike down again and hung the frame in the back of the workshop and got on with other stuff.

A few months later, I picked up the hacksaw again and had another go. Of course, I could have achieved this a lot quicker, but I had other more interesting projects :) it was also complicated by the fact that because the bottom of the seat tube fell down inside the frame, I had to pull it up with a hook I devised with one hand and saw it with my other hand at the same time. It was annoying as f...

Then, one sunny day, it collapsed inside the down tube, I turned it upside down and it all fell out. YES!!! :LOL:

My neighbours already think I am a bit odd, but if any saw me dancing around the bottom of my garden waving a bike frame in the air above my head, it probably confirmed it to them.

Now I could build it up properly.

I bought some replacement decals and then swapped out the Kore stem and bars for some Syncros ones.

FullSizeRender (1).jpeg

I also liked the idea of adding red accents like the red in the decal so wired it up with red cables and red brake bolts.
FullSizeRender (3).jpeg

It's done for now - although I am looking for some anodised red Mavic x517 or Rolf Dolomite rims, which I think would work nicely.

Cheers!
 
I do like a lightning.

They are such an underrated bike as everyone simply thinks Xizang when talking about Ti Gt hardtails.

My first Lightning had a stuck BB. In all the bikes I’ve purchased this was the only one that almost beat me. Ended up cutting it out in a similar way to your post.

Had the lightning a few years and ended up selling it when I bought my first Xizang. Regretted it very shortly after but luckily managed to find a nice 98 version which is now in my collection.
 
I do like a lightning.

They are such an underrated bike as everyone simply thinks Xizang when talking about Ti Gt hardtails.

My first Lightning had a stuck BB. In all the bikes I’ve purchased this was the only one that almost beat me. Ended up cutting it out in a similar way to your post.

Had the lightning a few years and ended up selling it when I bought my first Xizang. Regretted it very shortly after but luckily managed to find a nice 98 version which is now in my collection.
Yes, and rarer too as you know they were only made for 2 years! I enjoyed your post a little while back about the difference between Lightning and Xizang frames.

It was a dilemma whether to build it original LX or 'bling it up' with XTR, but in the end I chose bling :LOL:. I used the LX components on a 98 Bravado frame which had almost identical specification, so have it all if I ever want to revert
 
I had the same dilemma.

My 97 old one was full XTR but the 98 i intended to keep standard. It’s ended up being a XT / Hope build with pace.
 
Hey pretty nice find Phill! Always amazed by your finds and then this one pushed you a bit with the seatpost issue. Well done for getting it out!

Would you guys be able to share the of the differences between the zigzag and lighting?
 
Hey pretty nice find Phill! Always amazed by your finds and then this one pushed you a bit with the seatpost issue. Well done for getting it out!

Would you guys be able to share the of the differences between the zigzag and lighting?
haha, I've had issues that have been more difficult technically, but this was the one that took the longest!!
 
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