GT Zaskar Sport 2015

When I first became obsessed with mountain bikes, some 20-odd years ago, I remember going into my local bike shop and drooling over the chi-chi bikes they had to offer. One of those at the very pinnacle, metaphorically covered in schoolboy drool, was the Zaskar. This extraordinary machine was the bike that did everything – it was raced at the highest level by race whippets, it was built up as a gnarly (for the time) jump bike, it was hurtled around the local trails.

In recent years, the Zaskar has dabbled with 29in wheels, with some success. But for 2015, GT has decreed that pretty much every mountain bike it does (apart from one budget ladies’ model) will come in nothing but 27.5in wheel sizes. With this determination comes a desire to see the Zaskar reclaim its crown as the bike that can do it all.

This is the cheapest version of the Zaskar: it’s a bike only, in contrast to those frame-only nineties glory days. The frame is very tidily hydroformed, with a tapered headtube and a forged bottom bracket. The welds look neat, and it’s finished in a decent thickness of white paint with snazzy black decals. The GT Triple Triangle is present and correct. In short, it looks how it should. The head angle is 69.5°, and the seat angle is 72.7°. The Zaskar Comp comes with a white RockShox XC30 fork, which uses an air spring, and includes a neat cable-activated remote lockout. The bike, impressively, uses an entire Shimano Deore 2×10 drivetrain, complete with a clutch rear mech, and with Shimano brakes too. The wheels are relatively lightweight, and use Shimano Centrelock rotors. The tyres are Continental Race Kings, which are very fast and work extremely well in dry conditions or anywhere with well-drained trails, but they show their limitations when things get properly muddy.

The saddle is a good, comfy matte-finished number, attached to an All Terra – GT’s own brand – seatpost. A word here – should you buy a Zaskar, ask your bike shop to check the seat tube. Ours had a little swarf in it which scored the seatpost quite badly. It’s by no means a deal breaker, however, and it’s not uncommon on a bike at this price.

Trail notes.

The position on this Zaskar is quite long and low. It came to the office with an inch or so of spacers, and an inverted 6° stem. So there’s the potential to raise the front end by simply flipping the stem if you find it a little low. But out of the box, it had a somewhat racy position, which I rather liked. The frame felt very stiff, and it accelerated extremely well. I found myself riding my test trails a gear or two higher than I would normally, and then suffering for it afterwards. The fork, too, contributes to the feeling of speed: whether it’s the decreased wheel size or increased stanchion diameter compared to the Specialized (more likely a bit of both), the front end felt very direct, and coupled with the head angle, the bike felt joyously thought-controlled. Not twitchy, exactly, but certainly lively. Riding technical rocky sections was a joy, as the bike went exactly where it was pointed, although as speed picked up I noticed the stiff rear end a lot more and my arse took a pounding. Cornering, too, was a pleasure; the fork was capable enough that I could really work the front, as long as my nerve held out – the low front end meant I was rather closer to the front wheel than I normally am. The bottom bracket, at 312mm, is low; curiously I noticed more pedal strikes with the Zaskar than the Rockhopper, but certainly no more than is usual in the rock-infested badlands [Halifax? Really? – Ed.] in which I usually ride.

So has GT reclaimed for the Zaskar the mantle of do-it-all bike? The set-up here seems to be very much a head-down speed machine, and at this the bike works very, very well. Raise the front end a little, perhaps by flipping the stem, and you have a capable trail bike. It’s also a competent enough package, with good enough individual components, that upgrades are worthwhile – should you want a little more travel from the fork, for example.

The rest of the bike would be more than worth it.

• Frame: GT Triple Triangle, hydroformed, tapered headtube
• Fork: RockShox XC30 w/remote lockout
• Hubs: All Terra Centrelock
• Rims: Alex GXD22
• Tyres: Continental Race King 27.5 x 2.2in
• Chainset: Shimano Deore 36/22T
• Front Mech: Shimano Deore
• Rear Mech: Shimano Deore 2×10
• Shifters: Shimano Deore 2×10
• Brakes: Shimano BRM396 hydraulic
• Stem: All Terra
• Bars: All Terra 710mm
• Grips: GT Statement
• Seatpost: All Terra 6061 with forged head
• Saddle: All Terra Colorado
• Size Tested: M
• Sizes available: XS, S, M, L, XL
• Weight: 28lbs (without pedals) 

Review Info

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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