1991 GT Karakoram project XT/DX/Onza/Ritchey rebuild

[Ollie]

Looks fantastic .

 

[dalecooper]

Re:

Lovely color! I like these old GT bikes!

 

[xxnick1975]

Re:

beautiful GT, nice rebuild too

the colour is poppingly good

 

[ultrazenith]

Extraordinary!

Back in the day, where would the Karakoram have been in the steel GT lineup?

 

[mynchiboy]

Extraordinary!

Back in the day, where would the Karakoram have been in the steel GT lineup?

In the '91 range, it was as follows:

Cyclone (Psyclone)
Avalanche Team
Avalanche
Karakoram Elite
Karakoram

So Joint fourth is the answer, with the Elite being the same frame (AFAIK) but with better parts.

 

[Hairylegs66]

Re:

Yes, as above, the Elite version disappeared in the 1992 GT range, those Karakoram had a good spec as standard but I wanted a kind of hybrid version with the 91 Inferno paintjob and DX components. Thanks for all the positive comments everyone!

 

[kingoffootball]

'91 Karakoram and Elite were actually different frames I believe, though very similar.

Slightly different tubing and little details like the internal cabling. Karakoram and Tequesta may have been the same frame I think.

 

[Hairylegs66]

Re:

The

'91 Karakoram and Elite were actually different frames I believe, though very similar.

Slightly different tubing and little details like the internal cabling. Karakoram and Tequesta may have been the same frame I think.

Looking at the 1991 GT catalogue, the Tange decals are identical on both bikes and both have the same internal cable routing, so I am pretty sure that the frames are both the same. The Elite model has DX mechs and chainset, Ritchey rims and alloy finishing kit - in addition to the different pain schemes, these seem to be the main differences from the standard 91 Karakoram.

 

[kingoffootball]

If you read the specs at the end of the catalogue the Elite says Tange MTB Seamless Double Butted Tubing whereas the Karakoram and Tequesta say Tange MTB Double Butted Tubing. My two alternative paint scheme '91 Karakoram Elites have a different colour Tange sticker (Blue) that states seamless. I'm pretty sure although the decal on the main Night Sky colour scheme is the same pink colour it will be slightly different, like these two:

Like I said, very similar, but I'm pretty sure GM confirmed to me when I asked him about it that they were slightly different.

 

[Hairylegs66]

Re:

Thanks for the frame information, I'd clearly missed that. it's strange GT didn't make it more of a selling point in the catalogue rather than focus on the upgraded components.