Norwegian GT LOBO STS "

[Lowman]

Hey there people

Thank you so much for the add .Much appreaciated.
I just wanted to show you my "rigs"..first and foremost my 1998 GT Lobo STS,and tell you my " special " story around this lovely bike So if you wanna hear the story...follow along

Im sorry for the lenghty " thread" ..
Im from Norway by the way,,and in no way shape or form ,am i a bike expert.But ive been riding off road bikes and DH bikes,since i got my first Kona AA in 1995,and been a huge fan of the off road segment since then(Not been active at all in maaaaaaany years..but really planning on getting back on the bikes..as i also have a 2009 Scott Gambler DH20...so i love the older bikes it seems

So..in 1997, i bought my first GT DH bike, The STS DH bike,from a Norwegian factory GT rider.And at some point late 1997, early 1998, the frame cracked.'
So I got in touch with the factory driver whom i bought the bike from..and asked if he could help me out,maybe try and get it replaced under warranty....and he said yeah sure.He pointed out,that he was not sure he could get me another STS DH,..but rather told me that GT had a new frame coming out..called the LOBO.And of course ive heard about it..and i was quite happy POSSIBLY getting one

So.Weeks went by..AND>.He sourced me a brand new GT LOBO STS frame kit

Consisting of the frame,complete with the HOPE Bigun hubs,and if i remember correctly also the HOPE brakes.
The BOXXER fork i sourced brand new ,from another norwegian team factory driver.The rest of the parts i transfered from the old STS frame.So i basically was able to build myself a LOBO, for the price of a used STS(it wasnt " that cheap" though back in the day,,,but still....compared to the price of the LOBO at the time..it was definetly a win win

So,i Got the bike built up..and i was sooo happy with the bike ..and rode it quite alot.
Until one day,,,in 2002"ish....i had it sat in the hallway in the appartment building...Went down to get my lovely bike..and BOOM, it was gone.STOLEN

Fast forward 1 year and some months..mid 2003"ish....i was sitting in my couch,watching the local news....and they interviewed the local chief of police..and he said they had caugt a big theft "gang"...and confiscated alot of stolen goods,,,,in there ,alot of bikes...
And during the interview.,in the background,.i thought i spotted a red Bigun hub,,,etc...
I FLEW down to the police department...told them my story...about my bike beeing stolen..and believeing i saw my bike on the television..They let me in..and behold....MY BIKE WAS THERE!!!!!!!

And the best part was that i got to take it home with me.
Then ...some years later..i " sold" the bike to my brother..cause i was in need of money..and i kinda " pawned" it .So it basically has been sitting down in the basment since 2005"ish....And now..a week ago..i asked my brother if it was time for us to " reverse the deal"..and he happily did

So here it is.My 1998 GT Lobo STS

It is mine..and this bike is never leaving me,as you might understand after reading this story

So my plan now ,is to restore it, and take it out for some calm easy outings...dont wanna break it..though with my carefull " Dh biking,,,it will be fine.
Eitherway , i will post up some updates as i go along here,,and i hope you enjoy the pictures for now

Greetings from Norway ,Stefan

My two DH rigs.My 2009 Scott Gambler DH 20...which i bouth new in 2009.


My first GT STS DH, bought from a Norwegian factory GT rider.Bought it in february 1997


My 1998 GT LOBO Sts , when it was completely built up,using most of the parts taken off the broken STS DH frame.Received this Lobo as a frame kit,,,under goodwill and warranty from GT Norway. This picture is from late end of 1998.

 

[Lowman]

Repro stickers received yesterday, from a hungarian Ebay seller
The color on them,looks very pink,but they are red in reallife
Also,another find,is the CatEye light i got from an antique show i went to earlier this month
I had this excact same type of light,back in the day ,,,so i had to gran this when i saw it sitting on that sellers table

 

[Lowman]

Also,,,i scooped up this lovely gem,on Friday
I've always been a massive Kona fan,as my first proper off road bike, was a Kona AA, which I bought new in 1995.And I've followed Kona since.
And this one here, is a 1996 Kona Sex Three. One of my all time favourite off road bikes.
This bike will also be restored,as I need to bring it back to factory spec....i think.At least some of it,though i might put abit of my own taste,in there
Here is some pics,i guess i will make a thread about this bike,in the pre 1998 section readers bikes
I hope you like the pics people. I just love this bike in this lovely color

 

[Dami]

Nice story with the Lobo! And great component spec on it That is definitely a bike worth keeping as long as you can!

 

[2manyoranges]

What are all these mint ancient unicorns in Norway? Is it the fact that you can't ride for nine months because of the weather? Is it the culture of 'look after what you have...'? There alway seem to be lovely original bikes surfacing somewhere in the Nordic states.....

 

[d8mok]

I think my small STS Lobo went to Norway (it could also be Switzerland though)

 

[Lowman]

So here's some picture update
I have come a long way with the bike since last update,,so there will be quite alot of pictures coming your way

Before the storm

My grandfathers big old wooden mallet!! love that to bits.

Dirty links.

What an amazingly cool design this is

All ready to be taken even further appart.



Im speechless to how good this design looks.

Bad bearings in this BB.


Phat Air. I was kinda wanting to keep this..but still not in a way .So i stuck it on the seatpost for the moment...so i could save it

 

[Lowman]

More pics
Main frame totally stripped.

Shock arm..before polishing

Shock arm after polishing


The old sticker made a permanent impression in the aluminium..so it was super nice to have that..as a blueprint on where the sticker SHOULD be placed


Perfect


MAssive wear on the main swing arm pin guide.Almost 1 mm smaller diameter.


New swing arm pin bolt.I was superlucky getting hold of a new old stock parts kit..almost complete.Just missing two end caps for the upper swing arm


MAssive difference in wear.Soooo happy getting hold of these new metal parts

 

[Lowman]

You need to mount the centre bushing before mounting the deepest bushing.If mounting the outer /deepest bushing first..you are not able to mount the centre bushing.As the deeper one is protruding into the open space between the two...hopefully you will see what i mean,..by looking at the pictures

Mount this bushing first.Mounting tip:use the bushing pin as a guide.when pressing in the bushing.Be careful when pressing the bushings in..so you wont damage either bushing or the alu frame

THEN, press in the deeper/outer bushing.Using the bushing pin to press in the bushing

Perfect


Remember to clean out the lubrication hole on the lower bushing on the pullshock.

The lubrication hole is super tiny.And it needs to be cleaned out so you can use a greasegun for simpler maintenance

ALL cleaned out

All the frame parts ready to be mounted back together.New bushings ,and polished frame components

 

[Lowman]

And some more
Im using my phone to upload,so at the moment,the pictures will have to speak for themselves, as I cannot bother putting text in between pictures .I hope that is ok by you

I got some new decals for my Boxxer fork.But as i was diggin into the work of taking off the old stickers.It seemed that the damaged part of the sticker..was only a protective film on top of the stickers...from when the fork was brand new.so i ended up peeling the clear layer off...and behold...the stickers are like brand new...almost.So the repro decals from SLIK Graphics..will be put in my drawer...until i possibly decide to make the fork even better.But i dont mind it showing its age or some of its scars..as they are so minor..and they also just tell a story..So i think it is better to leave it completely original .

Here you can see the outer layer peeling off


All the outer layer of the sticker peeled off.


Mood picture

AMAZING quality of the new repro decals.They are printed under license of SRAM , and the files of them were made out of genuine decals..a long time ago.This is info that i got from SLIK Graphics today..as i asked them for abit more info about these particular decals

Mood picture.Love the aluminium bits on this lovely bike