Hi, just joined up, have an old mountain bike

[Mr Rippington]

Hello,
Just joined up, and I have an old mountain bike. Interested in what you guys think of this. I bought this bike new August of 1995, it is a 1995 GT Zaskar, back then I paid about $1650 dollars for it. The following year I bought a Rock Shocks Judy SL shock absorber fork for it for about $600. I changed the bike's seat for a more cushioned one, and the bike's pedals for ones that are clip on on one side and non clip on on the other side. I kept the original pedals and seat though. The bike hasn't been used that much in the last 12 years or so, but I did use it a lot for the first few years I had it. So, I'm startong to use it again now. The shifters were sticky, so I sprayed WD 40 into them and then a bunch of 3 in 1 oil, now they work well. Still the original tires. What do you guys think of this bike, is it anything special or not really as far as collectibility? It is special to me, so I am going to keep it and maybe modernize it, what upgrades are advisable? The frame has a little sticker on the bottom of it, "Built by Anthony", the frame is really beautifully welded.

 

[MartinYorkshire]

Simply put, Zaskars are of interest to enthusiasts as they are very well made frames. Enclosing pictures would help as we have several GT specialists on here.

If you would like a valuation, there is a specific thread for this http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29681&start=1755

You sound like you want to ride it though, which is cool

I think everyone loves a good Zaskar.

 

[MartinYorkshire]

I should add that 3 in 1 oil is not the sort of thing to be putting on to a quality mountain bike imo.

I'd also go for GT85 instead of WD40 but only on the chain.

 

[Mr Rippington]

3 in 1 oil is supposed to be a very good quality mineral based oil. The Shimano XT paddle shifters were getting sticky and not working right. I sprayed in WD 40 first, then I have a pressure oiler and absolutely flooded the 3 in 1 in there. It was dribbling out pretty good. Those shifters work sweetly now, so I am pleased with results. I probably used the wrong oil, huh, oh well that's why I joined up on this forum to find out what good retro bike mechanics think. I also oiled up all the cables and derailers with the same 3 in 1 oil. Was I supposed to use some fancy bicycle oil that's synthetic or something? I am used to working on vintage motorcycles not bicycles, so I just used the same type of oil for general lubrication purposes.

 

[Mr Rippington]

OK, here's a few pictures of my old mountain bike:

One cool thing I just found is my old bicycle computer, bought at the same time as the bike, a Vetta model that has a heart rate monitor, speedo, distance traveled etc. I found the rubber chest strap for the heart rate monitor to work also. It's neat having all the original old stuff, I even found all the old diagrams/manuals of the gears, derailers, etc and the owners manual and even the receipts from the purchase of the bike and the fork, etc.

 

[jimihendrix]

Very nice , welcome to the forum, Zaskars are quite popular on here, i would say it is very worthwhile keeping it and using it, looks like it's in great condition too, usually the stickers get fragile with age and break off with use, yours look intact'

The only problem i can think of with using general machine oil like 3 in 1 is that it will attract dirt and dust, the dirt will mix with it and will create a sticky mess, those shifters will work fine for now but will clog up as dust gets in, if it was me i'd have blasted the shifters with GT85 (this has teflon in it so sticks better, more suitable for bikes than WD40) and just left it at that, dedicated cycle lube tends to lubricate but also repel dirt.

As for modenizing it, depends on what you want from the bike, you can upgrade to V brakes but this is not straightforward on the Zaskar due to the cable guides for the rear, you could even fit disc brakes with a universal adapter for the rear and forks with disc mounts up front, also upgrade to 9 speed ?

Here's my 94 Zaskar, my main rider at the moment, has pretty much the same set up as yours, 8 speed, canti brakes and shorter travel forks, used for serious offroad riding, trail centres etc and copes fine

 

[D_XZ]

In my experience GT85 etc.. is great for washing the grit out of shifters and giving a light lube to the outer moving parts (3 in 1 would probably be a more lasting lube) but the problem is it getting into the enclosed indexing mechanisms and washing away the grease. Same thing with water, but a thin oil like GT85 seems to be the worst for dissolving the grease.

It might be worth opening the shifters right up and applying a bit of grease to the index mechanism as it sounds like they were pretty dry to start with.

 

[mikee]

i sprayed chain lube into the last set of shifters i freed off

enough

welcome ,love a nice GT on here (tho some don't)

do you feel the need to modernise it ?

looks good as it is
use it love it

mike

 

[xerxes]

I've always liked the look of the tripple triangle on GT frames, but is there any real world benefit to the design, or is it purely cosmetic?

In addition to the cable routing problem mentioned above, I couldn't fit my friends on my car boot cycle rack, the rear stays made the top tube too short to fit over the horizontal parts of the rack and surely it must be slightly heavier than having 100mm shorter stays joinging the seat tube. That's quite a few negatives if it is purely cosmetic. :?:

 

[cyfa2809]

i thought the shifters are greased inside?
get them apart, give em a good clean and then a re grease
i fing gt85 very god at degreasing :roll: