How can I date my GT bikes please?

T'boo Ted":2wfwu7d5 said:
yeah pictures will explain much, is the DH one of the boomerang frames or one of the later curved seat tube ones?
Also the LTS are they titanium rear triangle or titanium linkage? Not sure they came with a ti rear end, except that Lynx model. But if they do that would be nifty.

Yes - it is only the twin rear linkages that were made from titanium on the TEAM frames, all the other LTS and LTS down hill frames had these parts made from alloy - just as well really - if the entire rear triangle was completely made from hollow ti it would have cost a fortune.

I remember seeing Jeff Smith and Vic Eastwood's BSA Victor 440 works motocross frames that were custom made for them in ti and the cost quoted for them at the time was believable !
 
They did make one, called it the lynx... wouldn;t think it would be that expensive, just a bit more tubing than a xizang...
 
Titainium is a VERY expensive material - although there are many grades and some may not be as expensive as others, it would still be vastly more expensive to make a frame from genuine titanium than to make one from alloy, steel or even carbon fibre or carbon kevlar.

Titanium is a very heavy metal, but is so strong it can be made very thin and still function and this is how it is used for lightweight parts.

My pal has a block of ti that he has used for years to hammer and rivet things on ( very hard - never marked it), but when he weighed it the other day it was worth a fortune as scrap - quite frightening really!

He is keeping it as an investment - but still bashing things on it when he has a use for it!
 
T'boo Ted":3hrmzlyd said:
have a look here, years 95-97 probably... only the early LTS DH "boomerang" won't be there I think.
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/M ... atalogues/

Thanks - I have found my LTS Team shown in the 1995 catalogue - I have also found the LTS Downhill alloy frame that I have at the end of the 1997 catalogue!.............and exactly as shown on page 58 at the end of the 1998 catalogue as a frame set.

What a brilliant set of references these old catalogue's are!
 
Yeah, the 96 catalogue is good, i have a copy, but its a bit to big to fit in the scanner...

I wouldn't call ti very heavy, sure heavier than aluminium but still not that heavy, being #22 out of 103 and you do realise that they do make bikes out of it, even full suspension one... GT have had 2 in their lineup of mtbs.
 
I will see my pal at the club tonight and ask him to measure his block of pure titanium and let me have the weight - just for interest sake - and the scrap value he was offered for it.

No I have not seen any MTB frames made completely from titanium - but anything is possible if the price is right and to be fair I have not really looked for any.

If you let me know the model types made by GT from ti I will look out for them as that does sound very interesting and I would like to see them - I bet the tube walls are super-thin.

I understand the two BSA team frames were never copied and made available to the public to buy due to the cost (rumored to be several thousand pounds each even in those days when a pound was worth a lot more)- but times have changed and maybe ti is now better understood and cheaper to work with - and no doubt available in lesser grades too.
 
Ti was the wonder material of the late 80's and 90's, and for sure it is expensive.
GT models the Xizang and Lightning for mtb and Edge Ti for road and then the Lynx was the LTS version that never made production.
Many companies made/make Ti bikes, Merlin, Litespeed, Dean, Nuke Proof, Moots, Mcmahon, GT, Mongoose, Serrota, Yeti, Fat Chance, Seven, IF, Raleigh, etc. Its more who didn't make a Ti frame in the past.

Not saying Ti is the lightest thing out there, I'm sure a brick of it will be more than Al, and not even in the same realm as stuff like magnesium or beryllium that they have tried to make bikes out of, but its way lighter than steel and in the grand scheme of things it comes in in like the top 20% of materials out there, so most stuff is heavier, so very heavy it isn't, just not as light as other stuff out there used for bikes. But when you actually make the bike, due to its strength, you can make smaller diameter tubes than say aluminium which have to be ultra thin to get the stiffness with the weight (vague basic frame building properties).

DOn't know if there is a similar thread here, so I'll just link to this one (page 16 shows the Lynx):
http://forums.mtbr.com/vintage-retro-cl ... -2814.html
 
My Zaskar frame number is 01970218 - so with the information and help given so far I am guessing this dates the frame as being made in January 1997.

It is also stamped 16 - the frame size in inches.

Thanks for your help.
 
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