Rare Prototype Zaskar .. yawn.. yer mate.

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

what if he's right, it could have been stamped as a prototype .................easily

:|

All my years working for them and buying, collecting and swapping out near 500 of them I have never ever seen one with any stamp or sticker fro the factory that says prototype. Curved top cap, 7005 stamping....just another "NOT" a Zaskar. There was one curved top tube 6061 Avalanche LE if I remember right from either 96 or 97 that was US made.

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

ok ok, he's posted a correction:

IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION,BY A SELF PROFESSED EXPERT IN THE FIELD, THAT I MAY HAVE DATED MY ITEM INCORRECTLY !! LETS SAY DATING FROM THE MID 90'S TO SAVE ARGUMENTS SAKE !! I HOPE NO CONFUSION OR DISAPPOINTMENT HAS BEEN CAUSED .. IN THE MEANTIME FEEL FREE TO DROP ME A LINE & HAPPY BIDDING !

wait, uh; oh my...
wrong date?!?!
:evil:

 

[ringo]

Not to mention the special 6041 tubing...

 

[ringo]

There was one curved top tube 6061 Avalanche LE if I remember right from either 96 or 97 that was US made.

That settles it! It must be that one!

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

Competition time.

How many errors in the following text.....

"umm,puzzled ? It's not a Zaskar ? I've owned a couple back in the 90's & raced for over 10 years...Pretty broad knowledge of the bike scene old & new..The Zasker Le's utilized 6041 extruded tubing over the 7005 used on the Zasker as it was lighter but still proved as strong..Now this unit i'm selling,wasn't a production run unit,as it declares stamped on the frame...'Zaskar test proto' Now,i'm assuming as it shares the geometry,7005 alluminium formed tubing & has 'Zaskar' stamped onto the frame,this is what is pertains to be..No production run serial numbers are evident,however the test stamps clearly identify the frame to be a GT ZASKAR..I will be posting more picture tomorrow after work."

Person that gets them all wins a hearty congratulations.

Both the Zaskar's and Zaskar LE's of that time period were 6061-T6 and probably Alcoa tubing when the pictured frame was built. 7005 frames from that time period were all Taiwan models either Avalanche, Pantera, Backwoods or Tempest. This frame doesn't seem to have a bi-oval down tube but maybe it's just a bad picture. I for one could never imagine why with all the jigs set up they would ever cut a Zaskar prototype frame with a curved top tube end cap on this one since they weren't making anything like that at the time in Huntington Beach or Santa Ana. There was talk at the GT International distributors meeting May of 1993 about bringing complete Zaskar's into the European market to satisfy demand but if I remember right Michael Mehlmann of Sport Import in Germany put the kibosh on that because, "it had to be American made". One question...if it's so rare why only one distant picture. Why not 12 upclose pictures to show the supposed and declared rarity?

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

There was one curved top tube 6061 Avalanche LE if I remember right from either 96 or 97 that was US made.

That settles it! It must be that one!

1997 GT US Catalog in fact shows both the Avalanche LE and Avalanche frames as made in the USA of 6061 with curved top caps. But the lister insists his is stamped as a Zaskar/Zasker, one or the other. I don;t know if this was for the US market only or global. If global it would have had a hell of a tariff in Europe.

 

[Radoslaw]

93-95 Avalanche at very best.

However, what confuse me is later post 95 mech hanger and top tube gusset which apply to 94-95 models. Unusual. Maybe late 95 or 96 with old stock gusset?

I think I've found answer on my own question. That top tube gusset along with one bolt hanger were low end GTs like Arrowhead or Tempest from 1996 onward.
What a tosser.

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

I think I've found answer on my own question. That top tube gusset along with one bolt hanger were low end GTs like Arrowhead or Tempest from 1996 onward.
What a tosser.

Me thinks you're on to something Rad, the 96 and 97 Tempest, 96 and 97 Ricochet, 96 Backwoods all had that frame with that gusset.

 

[merckx]

Tap tap dink

P

Tap tap dink

R

Tap tap dink

O

Tap tap dink

T

Tap tap dink

O

Tap tap dink

T

Tap tap dink

Y

....well..you get the idea

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

This just in from angiebabe on eBay messaging....ROTFLWMBBB!!!

"Hi,
thanks for your message..I'll begin with the date..As i'm not a 'GT' expert,i had merely posted an approximate date suggesting 96-98 because whilst creating the listing i searched archive sales & discovered a couple of Zaskars which sold recently this year..They were from 1997..So i therefore chose to approximate on my findings based on previous products & listing evidence.
Secondly,as there are no date stamps or production run serial numbers on the frame,i could only hazard a guess as to when the frame was created.It could have been created at any point between 1994-1998 as an ex-GT employee has already advised..
Now as this unit is a test or prototype unit,different materials may have been used in it's construction for the purpose of experimentation.This would be clearly obvious,as 'mock ups' which first grew from a drawing could have been created from balsa wood,wire, anything...So you wouldn't say..'That's not a GT ?!' would you ? Clearly not & as i assume in this instance we're not discussing a production,shop bought item,comparing this unit to one which was bought in a store is nonsense...Yes i am aware of the materials GT used & 6061 extruded alluminum was ear marked for the ZASKAR LE prodution & rumours of a titanium run around '97..
So,the item i'm offering here,is what i beleive it to be nothing else..It has all the qualities of a test unit,even says it is..I've never seen one before but to argue they didn't exist in any form is preposterous.I'm going to go with my gut feeling on this one,even though i don't own 14 GT Zaskars to compare it against! You know,before your forefathers discovered America,we Europeans believed the world to be flat..Columbus took off his blinkers & followed his instinct
later to find a new world..Thank God for Columbus because without him we wouldn't have GT !"

Does this now mean it's Columbus tubing???