My father obtained this GT RTS frame from a work colleague who was clearing out his garage. Have had a quick google and found that GT released 3 versions of the RTS (plus the team version) but am clueless as to how to ascertain which one mine is. The parts still on it (shifters and front derailleur) are Deore LX and XT respectively, which as far as I can work out from Bikepedia/GT Catalogues point to it being either an RTS-1 or RTS-2.
From what I can tell though, the RTS-1 was XT throughout, and the RTS-2 was LX so unsure whether this points to front derailleur being upgraded (seems a bizarre thing to upgrade) or shifters being downgraded? (possibly a budget replacement after a breakage?) Essentially I am clueless, and the only thing I have been able to work out from the serial number is the year, 1994 (I think.)
Finally, I come very much from a road bike background, so MTBs, especially retro ones are a very much alien thing to me! This thing looks like immense good fun, and I know it was a great bike in it's day but I am absolutely clueless in terms of how it would be built up. Can someone please give me a quick crash course on mid 90s mtb components/sizes/sources and some sort of pointers on what my best options are for building this thing up on some sort of budget, given that the amount of use it's going to get will be purely recreational - I doubt I have the ability to test this frame! Also any potential pitfalls things to look out for?
From what I can tell though, the RTS-1 was XT throughout, and the RTS-2 was LX so unsure whether this points to front derailleur being upgraded (seems a bizarre thing to upgrade) or shifters being downgraded? (possibly a budget replacement after a breakage?) Essentially I am clueless, and the only thing I have been able to work out from the serial number is the year, 1994 (I think.)
Finally, I come very much from a road bike background, so MTBs, especially retro ones are a very much alien thing to me! This thing looks like immense good fun, and I know it was a great bike in it's day but I am absolutely clueless in terms of how it would be built up. Can someone please give me a quick crash course on mid 90s mtb components/sizes/sources and some sort of pointers on what my best options are for building this thing up on some sort of budget, given that the amount of use it's going to get will be purely recreational - I doubt I have the ability to test this frame! Also any potential pitfalls things to look out for?
