Further to Tuesday’s post I have now done a proper ride on the repaired GT XCR 1000 from Classic Cycle:
By “proper ride” I mean I rode to and from the trail instead of just throwing the bike on the car:
And no, I don’t mean a ride that you drive to isn’t “proper.” I just mean this gave me ample time not only to confirm the rear shock is working properly and all that stuff, but it also allowed me to experience the bike not just on mountain bike trails but also on pavement and all that other stuff.
This bike follows the AMP Research B3, which I finally returned to Classic Cycle over the winter:
Along with the Plimpton Bike, which is not relevant here (or, arguably, anywhere):
I really enjoyed the AMP. It is a very light bicycle, and it feels very fast, even on the stretches of pavement I’d ride to and from the trail. There’s front and rear suspension, but not a lot of it, making it an easy transition for a rigid (both in the literal sense and the sense of being uptight) rider like me. I also like the way it looks, and the thumb shifters appeal to the retrogrouch in me:
The GT is only five years younger than the AMP, but the suspension is considerably more plush. Mostly that’s a good thing, and it still manages to feel reasonably fast on pavement, despite being both heavier and more squishy, maybe because of the i-Drive or something, what do I know? But more and better suspension is not entirely a good thing, because by 1999 bike companies had figured out how to make very good suspension components, but they hadn’t updated the geometry to go with it–they were just making the same bikes they always had, only with better suspension. So I could see getting into trouble on the GT, particularly when descending, since even though the suspension really eats everything up and you’re tempted to go a lot faster than you otherwise would, you probably shouldn’t because it’s still liable to put you over the bars if you’re not careful.
That’s certainly not to say it’s scary to ride or anything like that. I mean I’m used to it. This was what I rode for years:
[That’s a photo of a photo in my book.]
Also, fortunately the large frame size coupled with the riser stem and bars Paul was thoughtful enough to equip the GT with all mitigate this effect considerably. Still, you do need to keep in mind when riding it that even though you’re floating over roots and rocks you’re still on a bike with a steep front end, small wheels, and narrow tires.
As for the bike’s appearance, it’s…you know, a fin de siècle mountain bike, and I don’t think anyone would argue that those are in any way elegant. I’m tempted to say I would have thought the bike was really cool-looking back in 1999 when it was new, but the truth is I wouldn’t have, and didn’t, because in fact I found mountain bikes quite aesthetically objectionable at the time. But now that it’s basically a museum piece I can appreciate it more, and in a way it’s kind of the bicycle equivalent of Mötley Crüe. When I was in high school they represented everything I was against, but when I hear them now I think, “You know, that’s not a bad riff…” All of which is to say so far I’m having lots of guilty pleasure-type fun on the Mötley Crüe bike so far.
And speaking of cool, obviously you can’t beat those Suntour thumbies in that department, but 8-speed XT shifters are pretty damn good:
I’m old enough that these still seem thoroughly modern to me, but now that we’re well into the electronic era they’re much closer to those thumbies than to what people are using today.
Speaking of being old, as an erstwhile BMX kid the name GT has great significance for me, and while I never owned a Performer:
[From here]
Or a Mach One:
[From here]
I still remember them intimately from poring over magazines, and I did have various GT components, including the tires, which had the letters GT in the tread, and which I color-coordinated with my GT brakes.
I did eventually get a GT, though I was (technically) an adult by then, and the bike was a GTB:
[Photo from here]
These bikes are now highly coveted by the fixerati, but at the time they were wholly unremarkable apart from being pretty much the only complete off-the-shelf track bike you could buy, and I bought it because I was a bike racer and at the time there was still this idea you should train on a fixed-gear bicycle during the winter to improve your spin or something. (Now you’re just supposed to plug your bike into a computer and ride inside unless the weather is absolutely perfect.) I do wish I kept it, not because it was particularly enjoyable to ride (even as a young racer I found it extremely harsh), but only because it’s one of the very few bicycles which has appreciated in value over the years, which is ironic because, as I say, there’s absolutely nothing remarkable about them except the “triple triangle.”
So yeah, I don’t miss it…though even I am not immune to the allure of the triple triangle:
[Via Classic Cycle]
Now that’s a cool bike.
Alas, now GT is just another defunct brand owned by PON Holdings, though their website is still there, and you can browse their generic bikes with their sad vestigial triple triangles:
Oh well, they had a good run.