Very early Zaskar frame no. 88

merckx · Oct 1, 2013

so is the head tube on the 19 longer than the 18?

my 19 had a very short head tube, it was too short i think for the size of the bike. its a bit of a general design problem with GT back in the day I think. I see lots of them with steep stems and or riser bars, and i agree with you, they just don't look right

dirttorpedo · Oct 2, 2013

Beautiful frame. Personally I'd swap for the 19inch frame, but for me rideability outweighs the historic importance of the frame. I'm 6'1" and am riding an 18 inch frame and have a riser stem, riser bar and a lot of spacers to get the bar where I need to for comfort. It looks bloody goofy, but its fun to ride. I'd swap my frame in a second for a 19 inch for aesthetics alone. Heck, if you aren't going to ride it and you really like owning the frame, its pretty enough that you could just display it in your house. Got a nice expanse of wall that needs a little something?

Rahbari · Oct 8, 2013

Thank you for the input.

I have decided to stick with the 18inch.

Reasons:
- I won't ride it that much anyway and I am not convinced that the 19inch is significantly more comfortable as the headtube is only 3mm longer
- the steerer of my 3D fork is too short for the 92 19inch (113mm headtube over 110mm); it would have taken ages finding a 3D fork with a longer steerer
- first production month makes the frame special for me
- the frame I was offered had a small dent from the handlebar and does not have original decals anymore

If someone is willing to swap his 18inch against a 19inch I can forward contact details of the person in Germany who wanted to swap his 1992 19inch.

dirttorpedo · Oct 8, 2013

Enjoy the bike - its a beauty and being one of the first production frames is pretty

I'm surprised there is only 3mm more steerer tube on the 19. If that's the case I agree its not worth the bother swapping.

Rahbari · Nov 26, 2013

Small update. XT headset and bottom bracket installed. Will start building next weekend.

Build list:
- 2nd Generation Syncros seatpost black
- 1st Generation Syncros handlebar with shim
- 1st Generation Syncros stem with noodle
- Wheelset with black XT hubs and black Araya RM-17
- Complete XT gruppo with thumbshifters, black chainrings
- Ringle Camtwist skewers and Ringle collar
- Original GT grips from early 90s
- Smoke/Dart Classic Skinwall

Regarding saddle: cannot decide between GT/Vanguard with rivets (over 400g!) or Flite (220g).

Very early Zaskar frame no. 88

merckx

Senior Retro Guru

dirttorpedo

Senior Retro Guru

Rahbari

dirttorpedo

Senior Retro Guru

Rahbari

Similar threads

Latest posts