GT 2016 – the CSG Launch (VIDEO)

And now for the second course in our grand CSG launch 2016 banquet – it’s GT!

At the beginning of the week, Barney went down to the Williams F1 team HQ to peruse the latest bikes from Mr Gary Turner’s wonderful world – here’s what caught his eye:

GT Zaskar

To celebrate its 25th anniversary (that’ll make some readers feel old) the massively versatile (it’s won *everything* in its time) Zaskar is turning back into the fun bike of yore – a 27.5in gnardtail. We liked the £800 Zaskar comp we reviewed last year but it was a fairly XC nose down job – this is a return to the huckster of yore. There are two carbon models and three alloy ones; carbon ones get 142×12 through axle, internal routing, and of course they all get that triple triangle.The bikes we saw are US spec. though – CSG are speccing them differently for the UK. We get shorter stems, wider bars, gnarlier tyres and all of them (apart from the cheapest Sport) will get a 1x transmission. Sounds awesome.

Prices start at £849 for the Comp and go up to £1,899 for the Carbon Expert.

GT Verb

The Verb is a new model in GT’s range – it aims to be a very fun 120mm budget full-sus, and two of these models come in at under £1k. Here’s a quick video of George chatting about them:

There are three models to choose from: Comp, Elite and Expert in rising price. They use GT’s iDrive system, which isolates the drivetrain from pedalling forces. It works well, too – there’s been a version of it on the go since 2000 or thereabouts.

Here’s the linkage that isolates the BB from the rear end, and (sort of) attaches it to the front triangle. It’s complicated; watch the video up there ^^.

Prices start at £799 for the Comp and go up to £1,199 for the Expert.

GT Sensor

A new slimmer arse to shave 180g of the total frame weight, the sensor gets a longer fork up front too – so it’s now 140mm at the front and 130mm at the back. Looks lovely in orange, we reckon – but there’s something to be  said for……black. Fully stealthed out does look rather ace. It was at the very back of the display, so not really accessible, so here’s a link to some pics from Chipps’ US presscamp report.

Prices from £1,499 for the alloy Comp up to £4,299 for the Carbon Pro.

GT Fury

Old-skool GT Timberline paintjob, nu-skool DH monster: ace. You can pick up one of these beasties – the Fury Elite – for £2,500. Fury frames alone go for £1,799 and the range goes up to the World Cup at £4,999.

The GT Trailer

Chris showed us round one of the GT luxury trailers some lucky folks get to cruise about in (they’ve got two!). There’s a workshop down below – which typically in such trailers houses F1 cars, a luxury relaxing area with big TV and air conditioning, and…

Some rather swish looking bunks. Luxury loo just to the right, there.We couldn’t find the keys to the drinks cabinet, sadly.

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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