All hail the genius of the triple triangle

Anybody got a Vintage Zaskar to show?

I’ve a pair of Zaskars that both get used for cross country riding… Not quite ‘vintage’, but 2001 (& 2012)… Here’s them on a jolly along the Bath to Reading Canal…

So weird though how GT shot themselves in the foot and went really crap after a polished zaskar and the LTS/ RTS frames were so desirable . They went really downhill and in my eyes haven’t really recovered , although I have seen some tasty looking DH bikes around now .

So weird though how GT shot themselves in the foot and went really crap after a polished zaskar and the LTS/ RTS frames were so desirable . They went really downhill and in my eyes haven’t really recovered , although I have seen some tasty looking DH bikes around now .

GT was driven by the partnership of Gary Turner and Richard Long who founded the company. Unfortunately Richard died in an accident in ’96 and things started to faulter after that.

This is a good read.

http://sidewaysandfallover.blogspot.sg/2008/07/history-of-gt-bicycles.html

Ta will read!

any excuse to post up a picture of my beloved Zaskar and i’m on it…

20 years old this year and still love riding it, just such a great frame.

I put this together a few weeks ago. During my first ride the frame cracked (again).

I have an Avalanche 0.0 which came with xt/xtr mix and Formula hydraulic brakes. It was my first ever new bike. My daughter rides it now.

they are brilliant, and beautiful

Who’s currently got the eye of the beholder?

Aren’t most 90’s MTB frames “triple triangle”? One in the middle, two either side of the wheel at the back.

That GT ‘mis-weld-passed-off-as-a-feature’ actually seems to almost more of a pyramid.

TT bikes aren’t renowned from being designed to have any compliance in them in any direction…

Going from a bike with (probably) 21mm tyres at high psi on stiff carbon wheels to an mtb on fat rubber at much lower pressures, this would make much more difference than any compliance in the frame!

Do like the old GT’s though.

well there isnt a single bike in this thread that deserves …..

they are brilliant, and beautiful

6079smithw: ah white Michelin tyres, had them on my Endorphin, stylin! Does the fat front tyre provide suspension or bounce?

they are brilliant, and beautiful

Yours isn’t

A comfy GT?

Out of interest, how do Xizang owners pronounce ‘xizang’?

Out of interest, how do Xizang owners pronounce ‘xizang’?

I don’t know myself, Xizang owners don’t talk to each other when we meet, we just exchange a brief sage glance and nod of appreciation before racing off on our separate paths.

I don’t bother trying to say Tibet in Chinese as my chinese pronounciation is pathetic. I just say Zee-Zang

proper pronunciation

I used to say zi zang or you total piece of shit will you stop chain sucking. Even with a complete drive chain swap off my other bike it would still suck.
I came to the conclusion that the bike was haunted.

Out of interest, how do Xizang owners pronounce ‘xizang’?

jtszsheee jtszianger

duh, pfft

buckster – Member
6079smithw: ah white Michelin tyres, had them on my Endorphin, stylin! Does the fat front tyre provide suspension or bounce?

It’s a white Geax!
Yeah, the fat front gives a nice bit of comfort below 10psi. Below 8psi the drag on tarmac is a bit too much. But the grip is awesome, would have to be going some to wipe out front first.

tomhoward – Member
Yours isn’t

Ok I was being modest. It’s stunning.

Did anyone buy the Xizang 29er of a couple years back? Wonder what it was like

*Cough*
TT bike has skinny tyres at high pressure, MTB has big tyres at low pressures, there may be factors other than hallowed vertical compliance with lateral stiffness at work here.
*Cough*

love classic gt bikes.

i always wanted a ball burnished zaskar le (or xixang 😉

edit i did have a quick ride on a gt karakoram (the orange flick paint version about 1991-2 era which i did like the ride of,couldn’t afford it though 🙁

it make my 1988 dawes ascent mtb feel like a lump of scrap.

it make my 1988 dawes ascent mtb feel like a lump of scrap.

My first MTB, genuinely the worst MTB Ive ever owned, mainly because no-one truly new what an MTB was then.

I used to say zi zang or you total piece of shit will you stop chain sucking. Even with a complete drive chain swap off my other bike it would still suck.
I came to the conclusion that the bike was haunted.

Fair enough, honestly hardly ever had chainsuck on the Xizang. Had loads of issues with chainsuck on bikes with less wheel clearance when the mud really builds up.

Had some minor issues with phantom shifting when all out sprinting on the Xizang, but I had the same problem on all downtube cable bikes I used. This problem is now universally fixed by my lack of power and fitness anyway.

TT bike has skinny tyres at high pressure, MTB has big tyres at low pressures, there may be factors other than hallowed vertical compliance with lateral stiffness at work here.

For the 2nd time it was satire 😛 I thought the references to the STS and i-drive would give this away. I was just trying to do something more interesting than here are some pics of my bike on it’s 19th birthday.

it make my 1988 dawes ascent mtb feel like a lump of scrap.

As it happens my dad had this bike, the wheels were floppy but otherwise I quite liked it. I was annoyed when he insisted on throwing it away – I managed to sneak a couple of components off it and still have the handlebars (decent width and sweep + indestructable) and thumbies on my commuter – I wish I’d managed to keep the frame, it’d have made an interesting singlespeed.

Oh and about using the Hammerhead navigation off road. I’m not too sure about this because I only use it to Navigate the roads to the the trail rather than visa-versa. The app does allow GPX import but it tries to think about it too much, if you pass a point then it starts trying to create a route on roads again.

Basically I think I have learnt that usefulness tends to be rather software driven, going for something that has used an API model rather than full in-house development, or a vendor like Garmin that has more resource to develop in house is probably better.

Twisty are you an MP?

nice big 2.2″ tyres @ 30psi almost makes up for the minimal suspension.

You get 2.2s on a TT bike?

Twisty are you an MP?

Close but no, I’m unemployed. I am confused as to why you asked this.

Ride a GT grade and love it

Not enough rear speeding here for my liking.

Not enough rear speeding here for my liking.

I would never dream of putting a pile of mismatched crap on my beloved Xizang! 😆

But seriously, the general principle is that this is my serious bike which takes the shiny new sprockets which when worn/part worn filter down to the rearspeeder which I use to eat up urban miles and on less serious off-road stuff.

Love old GT’s. Nice bike OP.

During my first ride the frame cracked (again).

😯

I agree with the ‘GT used to be great at one point, but seem ‘meh’ still. Over complex suspension and ‘doing it differently, just because’ seems to be the way they went. ‘Unique’ over function IMO.

My brother and I both had 90’s Zaraker LE frames and neither of them showed any kind of damage after a good deal of (ab)use.
I don’t know about the supposed ride properties of the Triple Triangle design, but I can say that I thought my Zaskar was pretty comfy – but I did come to it after riding a couple of Klein Rascals!
I’ve not been interested in GT for many years after they lost their way, up until the Grade came along and I HAD to have one. I bought the alloy 105 version and the ride is superb, if the finishing is rather workmanlike. I do love this bike and have spent more hours in the saddle since buying it than I have for years.

My brother and I both had 90’s Zaraker LE frames and neither of them showed any kind of damage after a good deal of (ab)use.

I wondering if the american made frames had better QC than the Taiwan made frames of the time. Aluminium frames are very finicky on things like welding temps and heat treatments.
BTW are the left had side of the bars on your Grade bent or is that a trick of photography, nice bike.

I agree with the ‘GT used to be great at one point, but seem ‘meh’ still. Over complex suspension and ‘doing it differently, just because’ seems to be the way they went. ‘Unique’ over function IMO.

Somebody finally understood me

I used to like the early GT’s but not enough to buy an affordable one bitd. I wouldn’t buy a new one though so I’d look elsewhere when you sell this one. 😉

I wondering if the american made frames had better QC than the Taiwan made frames of the time.

from memory yes