1993 GT Borrego - Gentlemens Green

[MiniNinjaRob]

Ok, I will hazard a guess than not many people have heard of the Borrego. I know they used the name in later years but the 1993 bike was only made for 1 year. It sported the double-butted "groove-tube" frame as seen on many other GT's but unusually it had a full Suntour groupset.
Have a look at the catalogue pic:

A recent deal with Ringo to obtain this had me torn. I wanted to sell on the Suntour stuff and spec the frame with new gear but I just couldn't bring myself to split the Suntour gear from the frame. I may be wrong but I think it's the only GT ever to sport the Suntour stuff so it seemed a shame to remove it.

Unfortunately the paint has seen better days. I could touch it up but you know that's not my style. I want it to look mint...... like my Tequesta (see link in signature)

The bars were very unusual - sporting integral bars ends a la Scott AT2's. They are quite wide which is unusual and ever more odd is that the original Plastiche Cassano rubber full length grips are in mint condition. After 18 years!! So they'll be staying on....

Seatpost/seat/pedals are scabby and need replacing.

My aim is to have the frame resprayed at Triple S (only the best for my GT's) and new decals put on, then the groupset lovingly restored and replaced, along with a few choice bits to smarten it up and make it "standard", but more like "resto-standard".

The pics below are from Ringo's sale - we chatted about bikes at his place for about 2 hours and could have been there longer - he's got a few bikes that no-one has seen which we fussed over... Great bloke!

The aim is to have this restored to an excellent standard. It might take 6 months, but it'll be worth it when I've finished.

So - watch this space!!

Rob Atkin - flying the flag for unusual GT's!!

 

[mattbrown]

very nice, I have a 1993 Karakoram, 93 was one of the best years for GT

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

I was just looking at the catalogue spec at the back of 1993 catalogue and it says this bike has XC Comp Drivetrain and brake lever and XC LTD brakes. But my bike has an XC Pro short cage rear mech and XC comp brakes. Bonus!!

I do like the look of the Porc skinwalls on it but the spec says Ritchey Z-Max. What to go with?

I need a new set of wheels. Shimano is ok, they just have to be all silver, 8sp compatible and be in minty condition. What do you have?

I also need a 26.8mm seatpost in black. Not much layback please!

The original stem is pitted with rust and looks tatty. Originally a chrome finish I think. What can I do with it? I'd prefer a shorter one if anyone has one they would part with.

 

[merckx]

i owned one of these from new in 1993. i hated the suntour, especially the brakes and levers. cheap and nasty and hard to adjust. i took it all off as i could and ended up with a xt and lx mix over the years.

had mag 21 rock shox on it. those bars got turfed early too.

frame was bombproof, i rode and raced it xc and dh for 6 years..eventually sold it in 1999, but in hindsight should have kept it..

the brakes on yours are the same mine came with, the rear mech you have is better though, might have been changed at some point. mine came with z max tyres, i think GT just took the catalogue shot showing the onza tyres....which do look great.

 

[ringo]

So glad the bike is going to stay "Suntoured".

Enjoyed our chat the other night, the wife always says that when I talk about bikes she can just hear trombone noises!

I'd rub the stem down, spray it with the sort of primer that will cover the pitting and then give it to your spray guys to match...

Looking forward to the build, be nice to get the original wheelset, a nice flite and a nice Syncros post on it (in black). Resprayed and decalled you'd have a stunning rare bike!

Good luck tomorrow and see you next week...

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

I think I will go with Shimano hubs as I can use an 8sp shimano cassette. The Suntour 8sp stuff seems very rare.
Maybe some boutique hubs. Hmmm.

I always like an accent colour on a bike for the anodised bits. I always seem to go for gold on bikes and I think it'd work on this one too. Not sure.

I may not go for a Flite - we will see what happens tomorrow on the Peaks ride - my first ever ride using one!! It'll be one if they are comfy, a WTB or a nice copper rivet one to go with the GT theme.

 

[jimo746]

wow! you don't see too many of those around, I think the last one I actually saw must have been in 94'.
Why was it never a bigger seller?

 

[ringo]

Why was it never a bigger seller?

The Shimano juggernaut?

 

[kingoffootball]

I think gold accents would look great on this.

I missed out on one very, very similar on eBay recently. It was just missing a front wheel and went for £31

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

I have now stripped the bike completely and checked over the paint. It's not horrific but it doesn't look smart. As it's a plain colour touching up would be problematic.
This will all be solved soon. Thankfully I live not too far from the mighty Triple S powdercoaters so it'll be going off for them to weave their magic.

The colour scheme will be green and silver. I was thinking about gold or blue accents but I want this to be a gentlemans chariot, without unnecessary bling. Subtle and cool.

The original stem was pitted with rust and is far too long for me. I have a 4 bolt Planet X one which will be perfect. I will probably get both stems powdercoated at the same time - the same colour as the frame. This will continue on the tradition of GT matching frame, forks and stems.

Tintin40 is supplying me with a very tasty Suntour XC Pro seatpost in the right size to match the groupset (which is in very good condition!). Very much appeciated!

The one thing I don't really want is Suntour hubs. The cassettes are hard to find in good condition and my preferred choice of XC Pro ones would be too costly. So I've managed to buy some Deore LX hubs - the XTR grey colour ones laced to some nice silver Mavic rims. I can mount an 8sp cassette on these and I think they will look very good against the green.

Pictures below of the state of the paint.