I’m looking at changing the frame on my 2006 GT avalanche 1.0 to something slightly smaller and better looking. Will still be a HT. What pitfalls may come up as I transfer parts from one to the other?

the seattube might be a different diameter, needing a new front derailleur. same with seat clamp as the seat tube wall thickness might change.

Disk brakes. Are the hoses long enough.?
Seat post.
Seat clamp.
BB width.
one piece gear cable outers.?

fork steerer length may be too short for new frame

You weren’t riding up Screaming Mile by Ladybower on Sunday were you?

Is it worth looking at frames with the same cable lay? Currently runs underneath the top tube (exposed).

What about the width of the head tube, does that differ much between makes?

🙂

@flyingmonkeycorps – unfortunately not. I was out riding but down south!

As a minumum i would budget for:

New Cables, not worth messing with
New Headset, you could put the same one back in but might as well go new

You may possible need:

New seatpost, wrong size and\or length
New Bottom bracket, without knowing whta type your BB is its hard to say
New front mech, wrong band diameter
New Chain, not long enough
New Stem, wrong length

If you are really unlucky you might need a new fork as the steerer may be too short.

Just wondered ‘cos we chatted to a chap with an oldish Avalanche that was thinking about changing it!

Headtube could be a different standard too, by the way.

As above and budget for a new headset – my Avalanche has an unusual type of headset (“oversized” iirc).

If still on the original BB you may now want to get an external / HT type (or buy the tool to get the orininal out if its the same width).

You’ll most likely need new cables (inners & outers) due to different runs / routing.

The front derailleur may need a different type (eg bottom pull).

Edit – too slow!

I had an 07 Avalanche until it was stolen, it was a nice bike and i would suggest that you might need to spend more than you think to upgrade to anything lighter / stronger. By the time you have bought a new frame and replaced the essentials it might cost more than a new bike.

Its the frame angles that worry me when I am changing, building stuff up – components can be changed.
I can’t stand that feeling of the front wheel tucked back behind the bars that you used to get with older bikes – even with a shorter stem( un-slack head angle?).

sounds like it may be easier and cheaper to just get whole new bike!

Done it several times. Here are the things I had to sort:

Seat Clamp
Seat Tube
Head tube height + new headset vs steerer length
Front Mech clamp size
Re-cabling and brake hose routing
Stem length

The BB with should be fine but worth making sure…….

@foxyrider – does one you’ve put together yourself feel as good as one that comes out of a shop?

You can always buy/sell/swap the bits that don’t fit on the classifieds, thats what i’ve done in the past to cut down on costs when swapping frames

The headset is likely to be different dont modern GTs have internal headsets?

what would be the most expensive part that most commonly needs replacing (apart from forks)?

@I_Ache – I think my GT has the internal headset. Is that just GT who do internal one?

Just buy whatever you want & worry about it afterwards. 🙂
(My usual approach).
You’ll likely need a new headset as the GT has a semi-integrated type. Fork steerer length possibly might be an issue, but I doubt it. They run a couple of spacers IIRC. Seat-post size is 27.2, probably the most common there is. Clamp is 31.8 I think, again pretty common size. Sticking new cables on isnt going to cost more than a fiver.

And get an Inbred.

@foxyrider – does one you’ve put together yourself feel as good as one that comes out of a shop?

I think better as you can’t get a Kinesis XCPro3 already built 😉

I can quite honestly say its the best bike I have had 🙂

At least I know it has been built by a first class mechanic 😉 LOL – seriously I love building bikes (unfortunately) – I made sure the frame was the right size and geom. But the best thing was I could choose exactly what things I wanted on it unless I re-used stuff which I did mostly 🙂

If anyone spots my 07 Avalanche (it had a Marzocchi bomber fork upgarde) can they let me know.

@foxyrider – nice bike, you have inspired me to build my own!