Maxipedia
Retro Guru
Hello once again!
I was curious abut this since I got this bike and I feel now it's the time and the place to ask about it. Here you have my 1998 (I think) GT Moto cruiser:
I got this bike from a second hand shop during my time in Cluj, which is one of Romania's biggest university cities. I used it to move around town and when I got back home I gave it to my dad to use it daily. I always liked the beat down look of the bike and I actually call it "the rat cruiser". I suspect that the bike was left in the sun for quite a while, because the paint is faded on on side and in certain areas it is a lot more intense (for example where an anti -theft device was probably mounted).
Right now the bike comes with its stock fork (it's a bit twisted and doesn't go perfectly straight, but that makes the bike even more interesting) and following other components:
- stock steel threaded 1.1/8" headset with white Giant lockring
- no-name aluminium citybike handlebar and welded quill stem
- Ritchey rip-off seatpost
- GT one piece BMX crankset with 43 tooth chainring
- no-name aluminium 1/2 pedals
- Bontrager Big Earl jump saddle (temporary)
- no-name grips
- Nexus 7-speed hub and combo lever/twister
- STM downhill front hub with hex bolts (no QR)
- Sun Ringle Ditch Witch/Rhyno Lite rims
- Shimano BR-M600 brakes
- Cane Creek Curve front brake lever
- Bontrager Hank 2.2 rear tire and Michelin Overland 1.75 front tire
I tried to look up this bike on the web but I knew there couldn't be any success, as "GT Moto cruiser" or "GT Moto bike" obviously leads to results from the motorized world. I couldn't find it in catalogs either, but I don't doubt it's a GT, as the paint looks original and the font of the "Moto" text is the same with GT's from the '97-'99 period. An important clue to the fact that it's from that era is the fact that it doesn't have any canti-brakes cable stopper. Looking at that crankset (that is branded GT, by the way) I can only figure that if the bike was from '95 or '96 it would've definitely had lower spec canti brakes and the matching stoppers. So what is that bike? Why no triple triangle? What's the deal with it? Do you have any idea?
My plan is to move the parts to another frame and make a klunker out of this. I already have the frame and my dad gets a fresh nice commuter. Most likely this will get some disc-only rims (probably Double Wide rear and Single Wide front) because I don't want to be tempted by braking with anything else than a coaster and I have a Nexus 4 speed that can easily live without a shifter. I am also looking for a 22.2 motocross bar and a 1.1/8 quill BMX stem, a three-piece BMX crankset, a sprung saddle and I will definitely keep the STM front hub. Basically a simple and fun low-budget vehicle. I draw my inspiration from this:
http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/L ... /k-shiz,14
During my time in Cluj I rode and jumped this bike quite a bit and it's very confortable. The perfect base for such a klunking project!
What do you think? Do you know anything about it?
More pictures to come,
Mx
I was curious abut this since I got this bike and I feel now it's the time and the place to ask about it. Here you have my 1998 (I think) GT Moto cruiser:
I got this bike from a second hand shop during my time in Cluj, which is one of Romania's biggest university cities. I used it to move around town and when I got back home I gave it to my dad to use it daily. I always liked the beat down look of the bike and I actually call it "the rat cruiser". I suspect that the bike was left in the sun for quite a while, because the paint is faded on on side and in certain areas it is a lot more intense (for example where an anti -theft device was probably mounted).
Right now the bike comes with its stock fork (it's a bit twisted and doesn't go perfectly straight, but that makes the bike even more interesting) and following other components:
- stock steel threaded 1.1/8" headset with white Giant lockring
- no-name aluminium citybike handlebar and welded quill stem
- Ritchey rip-off seatpost
- GT one piece BMX crankset with 43 tooth chainring
- no-name aluminium 1/2 pedals
- Bontrager Big Earl jump saddle (temporary)
- no-name grips
- Nexus 7-speed hub and combo lever/twister
- STM downhill front hub with hex bolts (no QR)
- Sun Ringle Ditch Witch/Rhyno Lite rims
- Shimano BR-M600 brakes
- Cane Creek Curve front brake lever
- Bontrager Hank 2.2 rear tire and Michelin Overland 1.75 front tire
I tried to look up this bike on the web but I knew there couldn't be any success, as "GT Moto cruiser" or "GT Moto bike" obviously leads to results from the motorized world. I couldn't find it in catalogs either, but I don't doubt it's a GT, as the paint looks original and the font of the "Moto" text is the same with GT's from the '97-'99 period. An important clue to the fact that it's from that era is the fact that it doesn't have any canti-brakes cable stopper. Looking at that crankset (that is branded GT, by the way) I can only figure that if the bike was from '95 or '96 it would've definitely had lower spec canti brakes and the matching stoppers. So what is that bike? Why no triple triangle? What's the deal with it? Do you have any idea?
My plan is to move the parts to another frame and make a klunker out of this. I already have the frame and my dad gets a fresh nice commuter. Most likely this will get some disc-only rims (probably Double Wide rear and Single Wide front) because I don't want to be tempted by braking with anything else than a coaster and I have a Nexus 4 speed that can easily live without a shifter. I am also looking for a 22.2 motocross bar and a 1.1/8 quill BMX stem, a three-piece BMX crankset, a sprung saddle and I will definitely keep the STM front hub. Basically a simple and fun low-budget vehicle. I draw my inspiration from this:
http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/L ... /k-shiz,14
During my time in Cluj I rode and jumped this bike quite a bit and it's very confortable. The perfect base for such a klunking project!
What do you think? Do you know anything about it?
More pictures to come,
Mx
