Which LTS?

[titch__16]

Been offered a GT LTS but don't know which one. It has RS Indy cc fork, deluxe shock and Apex crank. Don't know the frame code yet and have no pics here. Also the pivot mounts above the top tube.
I know I'm being quite vague but surely someone here knows

And there's a sticker on the chainstay (that's half missing) that says "equ..".

 

[Barneyballbags]

If the main pivot is above the top tube, then it's either a 16" or a rarer 14.5".

The sticker is probably a Mavic one (Black with yellow writing?) which originally said Mavic Equipped or Mavic Equipment.

If the Indys are original and the rear linkage looks like the one on my STS (picture below), then it's from 1997 onwards. If the linkage looks like the one in the second picture, then you have a 95/96 LTS.

Hope this helps a bit

 

[titch__16]

That'll be the sticker then. Not sure if forks are original probably are though and will measure once i get it. It has the second linkage. Any idea if its a 1, 2 or 3?

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

The second linkage run from the original LTS in 95 on to around 98/99. Is the linkage made of titanium or alloy?

There is a thin connecting piece between the sides of the linkage; is it all one piece, or is it bolted in place?

 

[titch__16]

Bolted, not sure of material but is polished and lighter (colour) than ti usually is.

 

[shogun]

Bolted makes it a LTS-2 in 96 and an LTS-3 in 97.
The link with the trunnion mount shock (like the pictured STS) was 97 onward but the older style survived as LTS-3 at least in 97.

 

[Barneyballbags]

Bolted makes it a LTS-2 in 96 and an LTS-3 in 97.
The link with the trunnion mount shock (like the pictured STS) was 97 onward but the older style survived as LTS-3 at least in 97.

I didn't know this - proof that you learn something new everyday on this site!

 

[shogun]

Bolted makes it a LTS-2 in 96 and an LTS-3 in 97.
The link with the trunnion mount shock (like the pictured STS) was 97 onward but the older style survived as LTS-3 at least in 97.

I didn't know this - proof that you learn something new everyday on this site!

Yep, in grey/ball burnished rear for '97 as the LTS-3.

 

[titch__16]

Front tri is was polished (has been painted) so that makes it a 96 lts2?

Just got it and built it up with some parts to see what it's like.

Had LX v's and levers, and a cheap set of steel bars. Switched them for a modern GT bar/stem combo with STX groupset and Deore wheelset.

Where could I get new decals for the frame and the fork?

 

[shogun]

The sticker once said 'Mavic Equipped'.

1997 LTS-3 was available in grey main triangle and also ball burnished. It had SR Apex cranks and an Indy XC (which was black) so I would say yours is a '97 LTS-3. I just looked again and the LTS-2 in '97 was also the old style link, the main triangle in red or BB, but with XT and a cream colored fork.

Have a look here for the catalogue http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/d/10529-2/1997.pdf


The obvious giveaway as a 1997 frame is the angle of the brake studs, '96 bikes still had cantilevers and the brake posts were almost 90° to the seatstay to get a good routing for the cable and straddle calble; '97 got V brakes which needed to be angled down and away from the top of seatstay, like in your bike, so the much longer arms would clear the bent section and link. Your bike definitely has the newer seatstay.

^ See how my brake posts stick out perpendicular to where they're welded on? V-brakes won't fit this bike without an adaptor spacer GT made later on. Yours is a direct fit because the brake posts come out on an angle.