GT Triple Triangle?

[Painkiller]

here is my triple Palomar, I will get it back up. using odds and ends parts put still make it a good user again.

[RobAR]

(08-05-2012, 11:33 AM)Bill Wrote:  I think your message got cut off rob

Bill - Bob and I are cool, man. Same name means we fight a lot!

Now that I have decided to agree with Bob (%$$##2), it's a clean specimen of MTB history but will never be a collectible. Like a Nishiki Alien. Hi Bob.
If you want to dress it for a regularly ridden bike, Alivio would be as high as I would go.
The Outpost and the Palomar were both entry level models brought into the line of MTBs after GT aquired the Mount Shasta brand. Until that time, GT was THE dominate commercial BMX company and that's all they did.
If I recall correctly, in 1997, we sold Outpost (rigid fork) for $320 and the Palomar for $420. Palomars had a suspension fork and a cassette rear wheel rather than a freewheel hub. For the first few years, both may be seen with rare Bolt-On rear wheels. If you find a Palamino, with a bolt-on (as opposed to Quick Release) axle, it's a small production issue that was fixed after the first 200 were built.

To put it bluntly? It is worthy. Just don't look at it as an investment.

[Bill]

Yeah I know that ya are cool with each other, was poking some fun myself . Ah ok! Mine has a freewheel by SunTour, of course, and yes it has a bolt on rear as pictured. The good thing though I can always upgrade the the nice parts to a better frame . I will never own a Yeti, well NO ONE I know of could afford one lol, but am sure that a better quality frame will cross paths .

Dang Bob that GT is just smiling in the sun at you and thanking you for bringing it outside, seriously great looking bike!

[Painkiller]

Thanks Bill, and thanks Robar, you are much better with words than me. I know what I mean but can never say it right! Bill here is another one to consider.
http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-EF-51-Shifter-Brake-Lever/dp/B004V2ACD8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344201424&sr=8-2&keywords=shimano+shifter+7+speed
they work pretty decent and the levers should pull abot any kind of brake, V or otherwise. they come with or without levers too

[Bill]

Alright shifters ordered . Now Crankset (I'm going with 170 or 175mm) Deore LX , chain, freewheel shimano 7spd? or just hold out for a QR Freehub?, and some GT stickers to make it 5mph faster (LMAO JUST KIDDING ON THE STICKERS!)

[nfmisso]

Hi Bill;

Go with a Freehub and 8 speed cassette; if this one is 135mm OLD; it would fit and should be really strong:
http://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Master-Alloy-Tandem-Rear/dp/B004MEWSNW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=UTY71LGEXJUA&coliid=I1LT7UDYIWR4MA

I ordered one; probably for my JT, not sure about the OLD. Due between the 10th and the 15th.

[Bill]

Very nice Nigel! Good price too! Only problem is that I already have 7 x 3spd shifters Deore LX Rapids on the way my friend. My wheel building skills are in there infancy. Guess I gotta start sometime though lol!
Other news I can say the original crank on this is 170mm and rings are 28t-38t-48t.

[xerxes]

(08-04-2012, 10:56 PM)Bill Wrote:  I do love the CroMo frames.

Not all CroMo is created equal though Bill. The Tange MTB sticker on your GT, says "P.G Tubes" which means Plain Guage. Whereas better frame tubes are single, double or tripple butted; this explains it better than I can: http://www.brightspoke.com/qotd/2010-05-04/what-is-butted-frame.html

Also there are several tubing manufacturers; off the top of my head:
Reynolds: http://reynoldstechnology.biz/
Coumbus: http://www.columbustubi.com/eng/4_4.htm
Tange: http://www.tange-design.com/
True Temper: http://www.alphaqbike.com/performance_tubing/bike_tubing.asp
Dedacciai: http://www.dedacciai.com/website/index.php?lang=en

They all make several different steel tube sets with varying specifications, qualities and prices. If your looking for older bikes, or frames, it's worth doing a bit of research on their back catalogues. For example, if you see a frame with a Tange Ultimate or Tange Prestige sticker, you know it was probably an expensive bike and a pretty decent frame as these are Tange's top of the range tube sets. Reynolds just have numbers, 501, 520, 531, 753, 853 and 953 and a few others as well, but in general, the higher the number, the better the frame set.

[Bill]

I will agree with you there on the quality of the tubing and such as there are different levels of bikes. Thing is the higher quality the more money gets involved. See it this way, what I have is a good decent frame and not JUNK from a dept store. Finding good deals around here has gotten scarce due to the fact of the jack a$$e$ picking up all the bicycles they can and destroying them for junk money. About killed me when I noticed a beautiful MTB hardtail chopped in half from a sawzall. Nothing wrong with the frame except the sawzall chop. Guy told me the whole story how he and a couple of his friends make their way around the county picking up bikes from any source they can and chopping them in half and taking them to the junk yard.
Sorry off track there, going on I do have enough money to get the parts I need to getting this bike rideable. So in essence I am just trying to slowly get a decent bike that will have parts that are not gonna have to be replaced because of inferior quality.
Thank you for the information as that is cool links.

[nfmisso]

While we are on the subject of GT's I saw this on CL:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik/3182410901.html

I have too many projects....

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[xerxes]

(08-06-2012, 01:47 PM)Bill Wrote:  See it this way, what I have is a good decent frame and not JUNK from a dept store.

I totally agree, if you can find a half decent rigid steel 90's MTB made by GT, Marin, Kona, Specialized, Trek etc. for not much money and the frame is basically sound and not too rusty and has most of the components in good working order it will build up into something much nicer than a $100.00 department store bike from the likes of Wally World, or Halfords/Tesco/Argos/ASDA here in the UK.

You might need a new chain, bottom bracket, headset, brake and gear cables, but if the wheels, brakes and gears are serviceable it shouldn't cost too much to sort out.

However, I think it's allways worth keeping an eye out for something that was a bit special back in it's day going cheap. As well as better frames, the more expensive components on the higher end bikes often had a better, longer lasting finish than the cheaper ones and less steel parts to go rusty.

[Bill]

@Nigel MAN I wish I lived in cali!!! That's an awesome looking GT Tandem! Really did not know they made those. Wander if they made trikes?

@xerxes As far as wheels and brakes those are well consumable items like cables. In time they go bad. Then they need replaced. But with so many on here that are/have helping/helped I have the best people for advice (group hug) lol. Yes I do intend to keep looking for better a quality frame as time passes.

[nfmisso]

(08-07-2012, 10:31 PM)Bill Wrote:  @Nigel MAN I wish I lived in cali!!! That's an awesome looking GT Tandem! Really did not know they made those. Wander if they made trikes?

The Bay Area is really nice for bikes - today the high was 82, low 57; a bit cloudy in the morning. Calm in the morning, tailwind for my ride home I ride 12½ miles each way to/from work.

The downside is the cost of living - and the cost of used bikes.....

[xerxes]

(08-07-2012, 10:31 PM)Bill Wrote:  @xerxes As far as wheels and brakes those are well consumable items like cables. In time they go bad. Then they need replaced.

Brake blocks, certainly, I would be inclined to replace these on an old bike, they can go "off" after years of sitting around and lose their "bite". However, you can sometimes give them a bit of a refresh if you remove them and "reface" them by rubbing them on a bit of rough sandpaper laid on a flat surface. But usually aftermarket brake blocks like Koolstops are better then originals anyway: http://www.koolstop.com/english/rim_pads.html

With regard to wheel hubs, rims and spokes, this just depends on condition and better quality ones generally last longer than the cheaper ones. Better hubs generally have seals to keep out dirt and water and better, harder, longer lasting bearing surfaces. Better rims are usually stronger, with better fisnish, eyeleted holes, thicker walls etc., but these will eventually wear with rim brakes. Better quality spokes are stainless and will not corrode like cheaper ones.

I have a set of 22 year old MTB wheels, the Shimano Deore hubs are just beginning to show wear on the bearing surfaces, the black anodised Araya RM-20 rims are still smart with plenty of "meat" on the rim walls and the stainless spokes look as good and as shiny as the day I bought the bike, with just some slight tarnishing on the brass nipples. Whereas on one of my other bikes with a newer, but lower quality set of wheels, the galvanized spokes have a dull, powdery finish, the unsealed hubs are in worse condition and rims are OK for wear, but the cheaper finish already looks quite scruffy compared to the older, but better finished Araya rims.

I've seen several bikes you've fixed up on this forum and you do a fantastic job and obviously put a lot of time and effort into it. Personally, I think that you could pick something better to start with, something more worthy of all your time and effort. I'm all for saving things from the scrap heap, but I think there are plenty of really nice bikes from the 80s and 90s out there in need of a bit of care and attention, bikes that once fixed up might last another 20 or 30 years and still be a much nicer bike than most of the stuff sold new in places like Wally World.

There's quite a scene for retro bikes here in the UK, take a look: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/

[Painkiller]

Always a fan the Araya RM-20s. I have them on my tandem, my Iboc Comp,and a new pair in a Box just waiting to be built, And a couple sets of Nos Deore Dx hubs to complement them.

[xerxes]

Just posted up some pictures of my latest creation, including some shots of those 22 year old wheels I was talking about here: http://forums.bikeride.com/thread-4264.html

[Bill]

Very nice!

Well I spent most of the day today taking it apart piece by piece. Time I was done I was about to pull my hair out lmao. So I will put up the problems one at a time...
Problem #1:
First while trying to fix up the rear wheel with new bearing, grease, and cleaning it up I found a loose spoke! Well was gonna true it anyways and while tightening it up SNAP! Ugh! Heck you know I am gonna build a rear wheel for it but in time sheese. So here is what I am faced with!

Would I take a nice used spoke from a different wheel just to fix that one temporary? Not too crazy about that idea because it has already been stretched out right?

Find a supplier of spokes and order a rather large amount for future use (like building that rear wheel) and use just one to fix it?

Problem #2:
I was sorta shopping for a new bottom bracket assembly and well decided to go more modern than ball bearing! Yeah me lol. I know what I want but not sure how to measure for the right size. I can tell you I measured the Bottom Bracket Shell and came up with two figures: hole opening is 35mm inside diameter and the length is 68mm (roughly). The next measurement did not make any sense until I measured from the inner end of the inner threaded part of the spindle to the same opposite end which comes up to 122-123mm!!! (BTW PK had previously answered this correctly of course ) So if I were to order a cartridge seal bb I would order 68mm x 123mm? Sounds like the same one nigel ordered. Hope so I have a Deore LX M550 Crankset on the way lol.

Problem #3:
What the HECK is this and WHY was it in my bottom bracket??
My older son asked if it was some engineer's joke of a condom?? ahahaha...

[Painkiller]

Thats funny! but as good of a word as any. It was used for protection. I never thought they did much anyway. it was supposed to help keep out crap from the bearings from the inside of the frame. similar to the full casing on your new cartridge bottom bracket you will buy. more than likely was the original spindle and races on the bike. frames used in harsh conditions like snow, sandy creeks, etc. do get flaky on the inside of the tubes and the "condom" was used to help keep bearings debris free as possible. remember to not force the threads when installing the new BB. clean well, lube and hit the threads right. to have to tap and face your shell would cost a bit. around $75 in this neck of the woods. the one tool most home mechanics do not have for they run around $600 or so to buy.
nice little grab on your derailluers by the way! looks like your down the home stretch.

[nfmisso]

Hi Bill

#1 - just build the wheel, the longest part of the process is trueing anyway. I get Wheelsmith spokes from Niagara thru Amazon. Keep in mind the you need several different lengths, rear wheel drive side and non drive side are typically 2 or 3mm difference in length - if you are lucky the front (non disc brake) will be the same length on both sides.

Note if you do a good job building the wheel (and make sure that there are no burrs in the holes in the hub) with Wheelsmith or comparable spokes, you will never have to replace a spoke. You may even choose to replace the rim because of brake surface wear and keep the same spokes.

#2 http://sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html#deore
M550 - 122.5mm spec'd (±2 mm will work fine) for intended usage. Of course, that may not work right for your application. I followed the recommendation for mine, which resulted in the the small chainring being usable with all 8 cogs in back, put too much chain angle for the even the 2nd largest cog with the largest chain ring. I will replace the BB with a shorter one, after calculating what I need to get what I want - be able to use all 8 cogs with the largest chain ring. This will prevent me from using the smallest 3 or 4 cogs with the smallest chain ring - but a trade I am happy to make.

#3 cure bugger ain't it I have ones just like it in my SR Sport and my 310

[Bill]

#1 So the type of spoke must be calculated exactly the right size or else it would be a waste of my time. Now would measuring the old wheel spokes (rear) length be a good start to determine what I am going to need? As far as the rim I am going with the MTB rated ones! I know Niagra Cycles (good people) as they are in my state the only shame is that they charge me tax on EVERY little item . As far as tools I have many when it comes to wheel building, Park Tools Tension TM-1, older nipple wrench, all the sw-? wrenches, and truing stand with dish gauge. Anything else needed?

#2 Keep in mind I am going to TRY and stay with M550 hubset! Yes that means a rare 7spd not 8spd so the spacing will probably be different Nigel. Almost all the M550 hubs I have seen are 32h! Good thing is better chain alignment per Sheldon's docs. As far as the (+-2mm) on the UN-55 does that change?