XTR'd 1997 GT STS 2

clubby

MacRetro Rider
98+ BoTM Winner
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In the beginning (1997), there was God (hello).

On the first day, God created the 1997 GT STS 2...... And it was good.

On the second day, God decided Rockshox were wrong and that even in 1997 despite their claims, 80mm forks could not be considered "long travel". So he created 100mm (oooooh) Pace RC36 Evo forks, ....And they were plush (as any women will tell you that extra inch made all the difference).

On the third day, the devil cursed Scotland with 40 days and night of rain and God's V-brakes clogged. God took the afternoon off and created Lancashire, sheds and blokes. Later that afternoon, blokes in a shed in Lancashire created Hope brakes and hubs, and God could stop without clogging.....God was a very, very happy deity.

On the fourth day, after a year of DH racing God's poor Rockshox Coupe rear shock collapsed. God looked at all the shocks he had created and cursed that very few fitted that bloody trunnion mount. Finally God discovered the Stratos Helix shock (with air assist!).....And it too was plush.

On the fifth day, God grew weary of DH and went back to doing long rides in the country. Many miles ground XT and LX to dust, so God invested in an XTR and Middleburn drivetrain.....And changes were slick.

On the sixth day, God spent many hours in the shed fitting a BETD bearing kit (except for the horst link which was out of stock and still hasn't been replaced, must get round to that).....And they were smooth.

On the seventh day, God wanted to go for ride but Mrs God had other ideas. To spite Mrs God, God bought a Trek liquid 30....And the STS was retired to the back of the garage.

And there it stayed, (except for an occasional ride), undisturbed for many, many years.


This brings us up to about six weeks ago. I was feeling guilty about not using it and I've been saving up for a 29er (I know, heresy) so I decided after much soul searching to sell it. I came onto the site to sell it and even had a sale arranged. The sale (thankfully) fell through and I decided to do restore it instead. Many other parts had been changed over the years as fashions changed including stems and bars, but I'd always kept the original parts. This left the dilemma of whether to put it back to factory spec or not. In the end, the XTR I had was period and still in perfect condition so I didn't want to lose it.

I removed the Hope brakes and wheels and sourced a set of M950 V brakes and levers in great condition for only £42! This lead to the most frustrating part of the build, rethreading the internal cables. Plenty of patience and 1mm modelling wire eventually bore fruit and now all the cable runs are reinstated. I also stole the idea from the STS thread and used an old v-brake noodle to smooth out the front mech cable routing.

I still had the original black LX/Mavic 221 wheels, but Rojo was selling a lovely set of XTR hubs on grey Mavic 217 on here, and they were such a perfect match I had to have them. The grey WTB tyres are the ones that came with the bike. They were so awful even back then, that I've not ridden them enough to wear them out! The tread now has the same feel of a skateboard wheel so they are only on for the photos.

I toyed with putting the "Long Travel" Judys back on but the elastomers are completely knackered, so I've kept the Paces on. Anyway, the carbon just looks so right.

The Kore stem and bars are original, as are the bar ends and the WTB saddle. I still have the original seatpost, but when I was DH racing (I was young) and had scored various height markers on it. I don't want to tempt fate riding it any more, so I bought a Dean titanium seatpost on here. It was a wee bit tatty low down which would normally be hidden, but the STS has an open seatmast. 15 minutes with some steel wool brought it up nicely though.

The pedals had seen better days, so I stripped them and repainted the red with smooth Hammerite. The finish will be a bit too soft to last but they look good for photos. Will probably stick on my old M737 spd for riding.



DSCF0493 by steven.clubb, on Flickr


DSCF0494 by steven.clubb, on Flickr


DSCF0495 by steven.clubb, on Flickr


DSCF0496 by steven.clubb, on Flickr


DSCF0497 by steven.clubb, on Flickr


DSCF0498 by steven.clubb, on Flickr


Spec List

Frame - 1997 GT STS 2 100mm/120mm (BETD bearing fitted 1999)
Forks - 1998 Pace RC36 Evo 100mm (still have Judy C LT)
Headset - FSA Extreme (1998 fitted with forks)
Stem - Kore (original)
Bars - Kore (original)
Bar Ends - GT welded (original)
Saddle - WTB (original)
Seatpost - Dean Titanium (New to me, year unknow, but period. Still have original alloy post)
Grips - ODI Tomac (NOS, from spares box)
Brakes and levers - XTR M950 (new to me but period)
Shifters, Mechs, Cassette - M950 (fitted 1999ish)
BB - Race Face taper (as above)
Cranks - Middleburn RS7 9 (as above)
Pedals - Shimano DX (few months younger than bike, from previous bike)
Tyres - Grey WTB Velociraptor (original crap fitment)
Wheels - XTR M950 hubs on grey Mavic 217 (New to me, but period)


I've got a set of NOS factory decals on the way from the states, but I'm too proud of the build and wanted to get photos up already. I'll update once the decals arrive.
 
Great write up and great bike, :cool:

I need to find one of these for my ever growing pile of GT's... they're taking over! :shock:
 
so your god , i did wonder


nice bike , aren't the forks a bit short travel for these , thought they were
120 ish rear travel , or is that just the DH one ?
not that it makes much difference
 
No mikee, it matches perfectly.
If you look in the last photo of the shock you'll see it bolts into a black chip. This can be flipped to change from XC (100mm) to (120mm) mode. Also the stratos shock has a slightly longer stroke than the original rockshox which adds 5mm. The next few years bikes did have more travel.
Anyway there weren't really longer forks available at the time. The original bombers from then only had 100mm and boxxers were only just coming out.
 
Sure glad the God you are worshiping is different than mine :D

Prediction that on the 8th day the downtube cracks just behind the head tube because you've got her jacked up higher than engineered in the front, putting stress where it was never intended to be. Just saying it now.
 
clubby":252oadsp said:
No mikee, it matches perfectly.
If you look in the last photo of the shock you'll see it bolts into a black chip. This can be flipped to change from XC (100mm) to (120mm) mode. Also the stratos shock has a slightly longer stroke than the original rockshox which adds 5mm. The next few years bikes did have more travel.
Anyway there weren't really longer forks available at the time. The original bombers from then only had 100mm and boxxers were only just coming out.

was just thinking what forks to fit to my dh , maybee 120 mm z1 would be good , dont want to fit boxxers , i like the look of the shorter forks too
that is a bit stunning tho love it
mike
 
gm1230126":2hz563te said:
Sure glad the God you are worshiping is different than mine :D

Prediction that on the 8th day the downtube cracks just behind the head tube because you've got her jacked up higher than engineered in the front, putting stress where it was never intended to be. Just saying it now.

Those forks have been so since 1998 and were used during a year and a half of DH racing! Admittedly that was "back in the day" before the jumps and drops got huge, but the bike was used hard until 2002 when it was replaced with the Trek. I think I'll be fine.

Cheers Mikee, I think Z1s would look great. I almost went for the orange Bombers before buying the RC36s as the were lighter and carbon.
 
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