Not quite, there's a bit more to it than that.
Karakorams have always been made from non-heat treated 4130 be it Tange, True Temper, Reynolds or un-branded as in '97. But from what I can tell from the catalogues in the archive, Bravado's were made from heat treated 4130 up to and including '95, again sometimes True Temper and sometimes Tange. In '96 and '97 they were made from non-heat treated 4130 like the Karakoram and after that they were made from Reynolds 631 (non-heat treated 4340). Arguably the heat treated 4130 frames would be nicer than the non-heat treated 4340. Heat treated tubes are usualy thinner due to the increased strength and make a lighter bike with a livelier feel (everything else being equal).
In the '97 catalog the descriptions for both the Karakoram and Bravado frames read the same, stating all tubes butted cromo. The Tequesta that year states full cro-mo with butted main tubes and the Timberline was all tubes cro-mo (no butting). So there are lots of differences between the steel GT's through out the years. The '98 Timberline and Tequesta were both full cro-mo with a Reynolds 525 seat tube and un-branded butted top and down tubes. Were they the same frame? Don't know! The Karakoram that year had 525 main tubes. In '99 the Karakoram and Tequesta had 525 main tubes, so again, same frame? Maybe the Karakoram had butted stays and the Tequesta didn't as in '97? Again I don't know. The '99 Timberline had a cro-mo frame with un-branded butted main tubes. I have a '99 Timberline and a '99 Karakoram and to be honest they ride the same and other than paint they look the same. The Karakoram might be a touch lighter but I've never weighed the bare frames so I dont know.
Anyway, is there really that much difference between non-heat treated butted 4130 cro-mo tubes from Tange, Reynolds, Tru-Temper or whoever made the unbranded ones?
