My GT RTS now fullly auluminum 6061

Hello All,

I'm the original owner of my RTS since 1993. Back in the day it started life as a RTS-2 but after a month the frame developed a crack in the lower bracket so GT sent me a RTS-1 ball burnished frame to replace the Taiwan made frame. The LBS swapped all the parts over to it from the RTS-2 frame.

Here is it last year being prepped for a nice easy XC trail ride = 40 miles.


Love the full suspension as it keeps the rider very comfortable.

I decided to upgrade! handlebar to have a 2" rise, update the grips and replace the cantlevers to shimano XTR V brakes .


Decided to check ebay and saw a great deal on the frame with a in great shape adjustable Noleen shock!



Objective one - swap the rear aluminum to replace the cromoly rear then add v brakes:


A little TLC on the rear aluminum arm makes it look brand new:


more to come...

love using my Park Tool chain breaker:




VBrake install! Replaced the cable too since it felt a bit stretched:

nice! be sure to keep the cro-mo rear end. imho they are cooler than the alloy, just more historic, even though they lack the pivots. hard to find to it would seem.

great to see your bike still going strong, thats quite imprssive

now for the handlebar - its 25 inch compared to 23 inch of the original bar:


just have to add the new grips:


decided to add new RTS badges:


came out great:



First test ride this year:


Snapped a few quick pics outside:





Success! first ride - shifts perfect, brakes way better and bike feels lighter. I like the new Noleen shock d titanium rear spring vs. non adjustable steel spring.

still a few more upgrades:
1) Opportunity came up so I've bought a set of Shimano XTR hubs (M950s) in titanium color and Mavic XC717s. Gotta get a good set of DT spokes but still waiting for the new parts to come in.
2) Shimano MX80 pedals

me riding my 199 GT RTS last year prior to the mods:


Yep, it was COLD!


stopping for breakfast:

merckx":2tqf585s said:

nice! be sure to keep the cro-mo rear end. imho they are cooler than the alloy, just more historic, even though they lack the pivots. hard to find to it would seem.

great to see your bike still going strong, thats quite imprssive

Click to expand...

Thank you sir, will do! I'll definitely keep the cromo rear end around for sure!

I ride a lot with friends and family and this bike always gets a lot of looks from people on the trail as well as family.

Those brake levers are not meant for use with v brakes, braking performance will feel very strange. Mushy, and then very sudden full power.

cce":2pylll0s said:

Those brake levers are not meant for use with v brakes, braking performance will feel very strange. Mushy, and then very sudden full power.

Click to expand...

That is why I took it out for a test ride and it felt just fine! So not sure but it felt great to me maybe I'm used to cantilevers?

Its got a nice progressive feel to it then full power.

Why not use the Team RTS front triangle? Did I miss something?

Very nice bike there. Nice to see an original owner and very well looked after.
Nice Lotus there too.