1999 GT Zaskar (HOT Mango). It's been a journey!

Mango Zaskar and I became friends back in 1999 when I bought her new, and it was love at first sight. From day one, I had her built up with blue Z4 Bombers, and XT groupset (737/739/740). Since then, we've tried a few colour schemes, but think the next one will be a return to her blue roots (albeit this time with XTR).

EDIT (June '15): Getting close to finished...

oof, not going to lose that one easily are you?

not entirely my cup of tea in terms of colour scheme but i do love 16" flavoured GTs. What travel are the bombers? they look 80, but i'm hoping you're going to say 100..

Also, I would go for a black Charge with red writing/details, it'll match the detailling on the cockpit nicely

Haha! The photo makes it look a bit more radioactive than it actually is, but you're right!

Re forks, I was under the impression Z3.5 only came in 100mm? That is certainly what I believe they are, but you've made me doubt myself now. I'll have a closer look next time I have them in bits.

Also take your point re saddle. Was starting to think I had gone slightly overboard on the red, so black saddle/red detailing might be a nice compromise. But then we've already established that Mango Zaskar isn't about subtlety...!

hmmm, cool. I have a 2004 Avalanche that has 78mm Manitous on it at the moment and I'm on the hunt for some 100mm SIDS. apparently they are few and far between and i've been tempted to resort to 80's but i think i'll continue the hunt. Very frustratingly there are some nice ones for sale atm, but i'm completely skint.

how does it ride? I'm fairly certain my frame is designed for 80's but I've been told it can run 100s

Ride was great, and Mango was handling very nicely. Forks were perhaps a bit soft, but that's easily fixed.

Re travel length, you've got me freaking out slightly over fork length and maximum recommendation. http://my-sport.spb.ru/manual_1/2000%20z3.5.pdf has this at ~470mm length which I am now wondering if this might be slightly too much for the frame geometry. :|

Black flite and grey (XTR?) crankset please
sweet nonetheless...

Experimented with XTR crankset previously but BB troubles put an early end to it. 952 crankset is a lovely looking thing, but always had a soft spot for the silver 739!

You're the second person to mention a black saddle...!

Up and running in blue. These are the forks I put on the frame when I bought it new, and the same rims which are still true(ish). Had XT groupset back in the day, but now getting full XTR treatment. Thomson layback post, and Thomson stem added, along with a few blue bits to match the forks (not forgetting the blue cable ends thank you very much).

Couple of bits still to do before I'll be 100% happy with it. I have a set of M950 hubs waiting to be built into the Mavics, and one day, I will find a Thomson riser bar (the GT bars are lovely, but slightly narrow for my liking).



Took her out for her first ride like this tonight. Felt really good (despite an early puncture ruining the ride and resulting in a long walk home), and quickly remembered why I really love this frame.

Ignore, the red 636 pedals...I couldn't get them off the cranks in time for the test run!

Very nice indeed!

Cheers dude!