2003 GT Avalanche 3.0

[2DIE]

I just saw this on the Retro MTB group on Facebookerie........ It looks sensational in a wacky GT way.
How couldn't anyone not like this one? Not a candidate for paint stripping. It echo's the GT Team Scream paint job.

View attachment 333789

Yeah that looks like a collectable bike to me, the paint scheme is what makes it look good. My paint scheme on the other hand I'm not fond of.

 

[2DIE]

Fair enough, that is one good thing not buying off the shelf. You can put together whatever suits you best. Find nice hills if you have no bail out gear



You are doing it the right way. Free is good 4 letter word and much better than work.
Keep an eye out for donor bike too that might pop up Gumtree / Ebay / For Sale / Cash Converters forums etc that you can use to graft components onto you new steed. The unfashionable 26" stuff can be had for bargain if you are patient and don't mind scouring places to find.



I'll have to admit that GT's product line sure did get confusing. The alloy Avalanche's Agressors and Panteras were made in Taiwan but some of the cheaper and later model ones again could be from China.

Some bikes were much the same but different features such at the Richter 8.0 which was one of the first with Rock Shox front suspension but had plain gauge tubing (much like the Timberline and below) to keep the costs down.

The serial numbers can give some hints too and the leading 'H' like on my green Justin Timberline signifies the Hodaka plant http://www.hodaka.com.tw/ that made them for GT among other companies. They did a good job since I think the only way to break that frame would be to run over it with something heavy.



I think the Outpost was the bottom line then the Talera. I had a Talera as my first ever MTB when I lusted after the more expensive stuff but couldn't afford nor justify saying to the folks 'it only cost me $2.5k' without getting sent to doctor immediately afterwards.

Saying that, I had loads of great times on the Talera and wouldn't have changed it for anything as it introduced me to messing around in the mountains on a bike.

Here is link to the GT catalogues that listed the bikes and model pecking orders for each year in the 90's. They did make some great stuff when you look back at it all.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/Manufacturer+Archive/GT/Catalogues/

Stuff like this made be dribble for the 92 Avalanche which I pulled the trigger on eventually.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/Manufacturer+Archive/GT/Ads/Avalanche/GT+Avalanche+1+800.jpg.html

Thanks for all the info, it's good to know. I'll check out the catalogues shortly.

I started at the last page of this thread and I'm slowly working backwards to the start, there is some really beautiful GT bikes here:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47997&start=680

 

[Flow-Rider]

Came up pretty darn good. The disc mount looks ok, what don't you like about it? The early Outposts were plain gauge Tange Cro-mo and 'stout ' is the word, really, stout. I could really notice the difference from my Talera and the Timberlines to the higher grade GT's.

Sorry it's a Palomar for some reason I keep on thinking its an Outpost but I regret that I should have left it as rim brakes. After I stripped back the paint the welds were very neat as well as the pipe work. I checked the serial numbers on it and it was made in a Korean plant. Only the front half is suppose to be chromemoly but the rear of the frame still had a yellow tinge to it and pipes were thick unlike the Talera just had a normal steel look to the whole frame with thin pipes. Even when you tapped the frame on the Talera it had that awful thin rattled ring to it and the frame was actually full of filler to shape the pipes and make the welds look good.

 

[2DIE]

I cleaned up the seat that came on my bike, the threads were discoloured and overall dirty. I used some 1z Blitz APC and a microfiber to gently massage the threads to clean the grime from them and bring back the colour. I like how the back gray is the same as the other colour gray buy it's reflective. It's a nice looking seat but it's a shame I'm too heavy for it to be comfortable.

Flash off

Flash on

 

[Mr Crudley]

Sorry it's a Palomar for some reason I keep on thinking its an Outpost but I regret that I should have left it as rim brakes. After I stripped back the paint the welds were very neat as well as the pipe work. I checked the serial numbers on it and it was made in a Korean plant.

No problem, I think many of the low to mid end ones used the same tubes or migrated to alloy and a had different name over time. The GT naming scheme seesm to be based on mountain ranges or something mountain-ish which makes a lot of sense for a MTB.

Only the front half is suppose to be chromemoly but the rear of the frame still had a yellow tinge to it and pipes were thick unlike the Talera just had a normal steel look to the whole frame with thin pipes.

That might be correct. The frame stickers are bit grey where it will say the tubing used but not exactly where or if all tubes used it. Just economics more than anything I guess.

Even when you tapped the frame on the Talera it had that awful thin rattled ring to it and the frame was actually full of filler to shape the pipes and make the welds look good.

The welds on my Timberline are nice and I think if you flick it hard enough then you will do in your finger :tape2:
I though they only made the mid to lower end stuff in Taiwan but doesn't really matter in the end - the quality was still great.

For today's GT pr0n, behold the 92 Karakoram with the just cool-as Tequlia Sunrise patina.
I've always loved these as it is all that is right and wrong with early GT's. That paint job is a classic probably never to be done again.

 

[Mr Crudley]

It's a nice looking seat but it's a shame I'm too heavy for it to be comfortable.

Looks mint, seats that have been under my butt of any length of time look like they wished that they haven't been there.

Sure looks comfy though, I'm sure your butt will be friends with it.

 

[Flow-Rider]

That might be correct. The frame stickers are bit grey where it will say the tubing used but not exactly where or if all tubes used it. Just economics more than anything I guess.

I was always under the impression that the rear triangle wasn't chromo because it would be too stiff by having a small rear triangle there isn't much flex but could be wrong.

I though they only made the mid to lower end stuff in Taiwan but doesn't really matter in the end - the quality was still great.

.

It could be so, I got some info on online ages ago and it might be wrong. There is definitely a difference in the steel work between the two frames, the Talera steel was soft as shit to weld and had lot of crimp marks under the paint, possibly from the frame jig when assembled.

For today's GT pr0n, behold the 92 Karakoram with the just cool-as Tequlia Sunrise patina.
I've always loved these as it is all that is right and wrong with early GT's. That paint job is a classic probably never to be done again.

They were a nice bike in their day.

 

[Flow-Rider]

I cleaned up the seat that came on my bike, the threads were discoloured and overall dirty. I used some 1z Blitz APC and a microfiber to gently massage the threads to clean the grime from them and bring back the colour. I like how the back gray is the same as the other colour gray buy it's reflective. It's a nice looking seat but it's a shame I'm too heavy for it to be comfortable.

Looks mint, seats that have been under my butt of any length of time look like they wished that they haven't been there.

Sure looks comfy though, I'm sure your butt will be friends with it.

They don't make things to last like they used to.

Give it some time and your rear butt will adapt to the seat, I only run softer seats for the longer rides now.

 

[2DIE]

They don't make things to last like they used to.

Give it some time and your rear butt will adapt to the seat, I only run softer seats for the longer rides now.

I think I need to lose some weight first, I'm around 120kg and I rode it 3 times with that seat and it killed, I couldn't even sit back on it because it still hurt even when not sitting on it.

Maybe I'll swap it back on occasionally and just put my soft one on if I get a sore butt.

I have one of these Giant cruiser seats on it now, it looks like crap but at least I can ride with it.

 

[Flow-Rider]

I think I need to lose some weight first, I'm around 120kg and I rode it 3 times with that seat and it killed, I couldn't even sit back on it because it still hurt even when not sitting on it.

Maybe I'll swap it back on occasionally and just put my soft one on if I get a sore butt.

I have one of these Giant cruiser seats on it now, it looks like crap but at least I can ride with it.

I notice even with myself when I haven't ridden for about 4 weeks from an injury it takes a few days to get used to my seat again. It might also be the fact that the GT seat doesn't suit your sit bones. I went to a gel seat on my Avalanche but the original seat was torn to bits from the previous owner.

It's one of 5 Gt's I own and gets ridden daily on the road. The photos were taken about 4 years and its had a few more small upgrades since.

 

[2DIE]

The paint scheme on that Avalanche is nice, I don't see the point of having the first 6 inches or so of mine blue then the rest silver. On the 1.0 of my bike it's the same but reversed.

What year is that frame? It looks identical to mine.

 

[Flow-Rider]

The paint scheme on that Avalanche is nice, I don't see the point of having the first 6 inches or so of mine blue then the rest silver. On the 1.0 of my bike it's the same but reversed.

What year is that frame? It looks identical to mine.

It was sold to me as a 2005 model, I've never checked with the serial number.

 

[fastrider gus]

Its all about the shorts! when i started riding a bit more xc type stuff i got some alpinestars shorts with a zip in padded liner and oooh man they save your arse! they make pretty much any seat comfortable. 100% worth the money, maybe get two because they feel better with no jocks and they get a tad ripe after a long ride...

 

[2DIE]

I bought about $15 worth of polishing tool from China to use in my drill and dremel, although with Christmas just around the corner they might take a long time to get here but that's ok.

I'm thinking I'll go for all silver and black, not sure about any accent colours yet but I plan to strip and polish the seat clamp, seat pole, cranks, v brakes etc. I'd like for only the seat, tyres, grips and cables to be black, no black bolts or levers etc.

 

[Mr Crudley]

I was always under the impression that the rear triangle wasn't chromo because it would be too stiff by having a small rear triangle there isn't much flex but could be wrong.

Could be, hard to tell and they sure don't need more rigidity in the rear triangle. It would makes esne that mild or hi tensilte steels was used in the rear triangle to keep it cheap.

There is definitely a difference in the steel work between the two frames, the Talera steel was soft as shit to weld and had lot of crimp marks under the paint, possibly from the frame jig when assembled.

Have to assume that it is mild steel if it deforms that easily.

 

[Mr Crudley]

I bought about $15 worth of polishing tool from China to use in my drill and dremel, although with Christmas just around the corner they might take a long time to get here but that's ok.

Looks good, some of the 3M hand pads might be worth considering. They are pretty cheap and you can get coarse grade and then finer for final finishing and buffing. It didn't take mine that that long to buff up.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...brasives/Products/~/Hand-Pads?N=7581709&rt=r3

 

[2DIE]

I have some kitchen Scotch Brite but I might look in to some graded ones, I have a fair bit of wet and dry in grades from about 800 to 2000 as well.

My package that was lost for 5 days turned up today.

Water bottle

Berry Scent

Grips

Bar end caps

Tyres

Wonder if I can go tubeless? I'll look into it.

Stoppers

A few imperfections in the stem, I guess that's why it's something like $50 off

Chain juice

Might check out if these can be stripped and polished, not sure if chromoly polishes up.

 

[Mr Crudley]

My package that was lost for 5 days turned up today.

You are firmly on the path of no return now. Good luck with the build.

 

[2DIE]

You are firmly on the path of no return now. Good luck with the build.

Thanks, it's probably going to be slow from here waiting for all the polishing gear but it's ok, it will give me more time to ride before it gets pulled apart for who knows how long.

 

[Flow-Rider]

You are firmly on the path of no return now. Good luck with the build.

Hahah! I think most of us have been down that trail before and still continuing.