show us your gt's

[Brettels]

Re: Re:

Thank you for your pic Brettels, I am about to put Magura Tomac on mine too !

I actually took them off today....going to put vbrakes back on, maguras on something else...maybe....

 

[mrlee]

Re:

My 93 richter 8.0
I really love these groove tubed gt's and after riding a 92 karakoram in tequilla sunrise for the past 12 months this will be a nice change from the usual wild gt paint jobs,

build thread soon,

 

[PurpleFrog]

.

Alright, none of ours are as nice as so many in this thread, but here goes:

My "daily driver", a 1993 GT Outpost. I've been using this one for commuting for two and half years now, and it sometimes gets pressed into light touring duty since my touring build is on the back burner. This one's changed a bit since I took this photo, different pedals, different saddle, got my Carradice saddlebag support back on, and I've recently been giving Schwalbe Big Bens (2.15") a try and consequently fenders that aren't as pretty, but fit the much bigger tires

It's nice to see practical working bikes.

You might want to try the Almotions when they reach a sane US price; they're amazing. Big Ben volume, lots of grip and top of the range anti-puncture technology but racing tyre rolling resistance.

...How did you get the bars that high? Steerer extender? If I can ask, which one?

I'm running swept bars myself with ergo grips - I'm using Phorm g510s, which are designed for swept bars. Works very well!

Here's a pic of the reflective tape I've covered our bikes in glowing in the flash of my phones camera:

I've been thinking of doing this myself and doing some research. Interestingly, the most important places to hit on the bike are those that are low down - they catch dipped headlights - and which move. Hitting all 4 sides of the crank with tape works very well, supposedly. The other good tricks are said to be tape as spoke reflectors and, for rear visibility, on half the inside rim - this makes the wheel flash at drivers behind you.

If anyone has any tips about polishing the ball burnish GT frames, I'm all ears. This bike could really shine.

Do a forum search; you'll find lots of stuff. I'm against it - polishing means thinning the hardened ball burnished layer.

Suggestions:

- If you're anywhere rainy and not already doing so then you might want to install Koolstop pink or dual pads

- It could be worth trying out v-brake boosters, especially at the front. These are horseshoes shaped braces for the brake pivots. They can give a surprising increase in modulation as well as ease of braking - my avid v-brakes now feel like they're hydraulic.

 

[kingoffootball]

Re:

That's a '92 isn't it mrlee ?

I need to gather up decent pictures of mine and add them to this thread.

 

[Nutters22000]

Re: my gt

download/file.php?mode=view&id=289614

my gt

 

[Medic Zero]

It's nice to see practical working bikes.

Thanks!

You might want to try the Almotions when they reach a sane US price; they're amazing. Big Ben volume, lots of grip and top of the range anti-puncture technology but racing tyre rolling resistance.

I'll have to look into those, I haven't heard of them before.

...How did you get the bars that high? Steerer extender? If I can ask, which one?

I am using a steerer extender on the bike I'm building up to replace the one pictured above, as the "new" one is threadless (the '94 GT Corrado), but in this case, my LBS hooked me up with a really long stem as the '93 GT Outpost has a threaded steerer. IIRC, it is made by Sunlite. I'm sure that is at maximum safe extension, so that's as high as it goes. A quick internet search isn't turning up that exact one, but I'm seeing a very similar (all silver, no black) one that is 250mm long.

I'm running swept bars myself with ergo grips - I'm using Phorm g510s, which are designed for swept bars. Works very well!

Ah! Hadn't heard of those either! Might have to give them a try if I end up unhappy with the grips I'm putting on the new commuter. Glad to hear someone is making grips for swept bars!

I've been thinking of doing this myself and doing some research. Interestingly, the most important places to hit on the bike are those that are low down - they catch dipped headlights - and which move. Hitting all 4 sides of the crank with tape works very well, supposedly. The other good tricks are said to be tape as spoke reflectors and, for rear visibility, on half the inside rim - this makes the wheel flash at drivers behind you.

The stays actually light up quite well from the rear since they are wrapped in reflective tape too. I'll have to dig up a picture. I had started to do my wheels with the "Lightweights" spoke reflector stickers, but only made it is far as my front wheel and then I killed it! (Wore through brake track) Doing the spokes on my new commuter is on the list. I did do a modified version of what they recommend, only putting the reflectors on about half the wheel to produce visible motion, should've took a vid of it...

You know, it's funny, I'm sure lots of people think my bikes are ugly and couldn't imagine doing what I do to them, but not only do I (mostly) like the way they look, I do actually have some aesthetic lines I don't want to cross, and covering the cranks in reflective tape is one of them!


If anyone has any tips about polishing the ball burnish GT frames, I'm all ears. This bike could really shine.

Do a forum search; you'll find lots of stuff. I'm against it - polishing means thinning the hardened ball burnished layer.

Ah! Interesting. I'm glad I asked. I'll have to do some research on the ball burnishing. I'll try to search for those threads. I assume you've chimed in there with your preferred technique for caring for ball burnished frames?

Suggestions:
- If you're anywhere rainy and not already doing so then you might want to install Koolstop pink or dual pads

Yeah, I'm in Seattle, I run wet weather Kool-Stops in the rainy season, I've still got my summer pads on there at the moment, but not for much longer!

- It could be worth trying out v-brake boosters, especially at the front. These are horseshoes shaped braces for the brake pivots. They can give a surprising increase in modulation as well as ease of braking - my avid v-brakes now feel like they're hydraulic.

They're cantis! (and that's the way I like it!)

 

[Medic Zero]

Re: my gt

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?mode=view&id=289614

my gt

Nice! An '89?

 

[PurpleFrog]

It's nice to see practical working bikes.

Thanks!

You might want to try the Almotions when they reach a sane US price; they're amazing. Big Ben volume, lots of grip and top of the range anti-puncture technology but racing tyre rolling resistance.

I'll have to look into those, I haven't heard of them before.

They've only been around a few months and the US and UK prices are silly: I got mine from Germany. They use a new tyre carcass design taken from sports motorbikes to reduce rolling resistance. (It also seems to increase grip on gravel.)

You know, it's funny, I'm sure lots of people think my bikes are ugly and couldn't imagine doing what I do to them, but not only do I (mostly) like the way they look, I do actually have some aesthetic lines I don't want to cross, and covering the cranks in reflective tape is one of them!

If you put a 1 cm strip of silver super-high reflective tape on each face would it even be visible in daytime? I doubt it. But I could be wrong; I'll know in a couple of weeks.

Do a forum search; you'll find lots of stuff. I'm against it - polishing means thinning the hardened ball burnished layer.

Ah! Interesting. I'm glad I asked. I'll have to do some research on the ball burnishing. I'll try to search for those threads. I assume you've chimed in there with your preferred technique for caring for ball burnished frames?

No, I just did a forum search and found old threads that settled it for me. I follow what seems to me to be the most sensible advice: accept the lack of shine as the cost of of preserving that hardened outer layer. So I wash, but I don't polish - because polishing metal means removing metal.

I suppose you could polish once, and then cover the frame in helicopter tape - that way the frame would be shiny and scratch proof, and you'd have removed a minimal amount of that hardened outer layer... This is what I'd do, but I prefer my Zaskar to look unglamorous to reduce the risk of theft.

The best thread I found was

viewtopic.php?t=131529

Yeah, I'm in Seattle, I run wet weather Kool-Stops in the rainy season, I've still got my summer pads on there at the moment, but not for much longer!

Isn't amazing how many people don't?

- It could be worth trying out v-brake boosters, especially at the front. These are horseshoes shaped braces for the brake pivots. They can give a surprising increase in modulation as well as ease of braking - my avid v-brakes now feel like they're hydraulic.

They're cantis! (and that's the way I like it!)

I have a fondness for cantis myself. The same brake booster will improve their modulation too - although ideally should add a canti hanger too:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/09/ ... oss_101807

..A canti hanger on the fork of the type Zinn recommends plus a booster is an awesome combination.

I'm probably going to keep the avid on the fork and put a Pedersen Self Energizer Canti on the back of my Zaskar, both with boosters; this will mean using unmatched brake levers - for the different pull - but it should give the strongest rim brake combo possible short of Maguras or putting a Pedersen on the front, which has always struck me as a bad idea because with a Pedersen the brake will jam on *hard* if the rim gets bent (Pedersens use rim rotation to pull themselves tighter, so a rim bent enough to be in contact jams them on full.)

 

[Mofofo]

2 solutions if you want to put canti on a late LTS/STS :

or :

 

[kingoffootball]

Nice, I very much like the second solution.