Advice: resurrect the GT-LTS 3 or buy a new bike
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:30 am
Hi all,
I'm in a bit of a quandary.
I have a venerable GT LTS-3 full suspension frame ($2400 back in the day), with a RockShox deluxe rear shock. Drivetrain is shot, and the forks are (cringe) Rockshox Indy XCs from back in 1997. Despite this, I am very fond of the bike. I'm not the lightest rider, over 100kg, and 2m tall, and the dimensions have suited me perfectly for over a decade. Ultralight bikes do not interest me. I like em solid and faithful. The rear linkages on the LTS seem to be damn near bulletproof, and the rear shock still has plenty of damping and enough travel for my type of firetrail XC riding.
At this point, my options are:
1) Buy a mid-price groupset (thinking an '11 Alivio or SLX set) and a $200 Rockshox Tora or similar, and get the bike back in action for under $500 (I can do the changeovers myself - not bad with a spanner or allen key)
or
2) Spring for a bottom of the range modern dual suspension (price range $1700-2300) which will, in all likelyhood, have the same level of groupset and forks.
My main questions are: how would a modern Tora or Dart fork stack up against the old Indy XC, and how much of an improvement is the 2011 alivio groupset over the 1997 LX set the bike currently has?
I could afford a new bike in the pricerange mentioned, but unless the difference in frame performance is marked, I'm finding it difficult to choose the extra $1000+ over re-vamping the old LTS and getting the dinosaur back on the trails. Does anyone out there still have one of these old GT's up and running?
Any advice, and any good natured flaming is greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
JD
I'm in a bit of a quandary.
I have a venerable GT LTS-3 full suspension frame ($2400 back in the day), with a RockShox deluxe rear shock. Drivetrain is shot, and the forks are (cringe) Rockshox Indy XCs from back in 1997. Despite this, I am very fond of the bike. I'm not the lightest rider, over 100kg, and 2m tall, and the dimensions have suited me perfectly for over a decade. Ultralight bikes do not interest me. I like em solid and faithful. The rear linkages on the LTS seem to be damn near bulletproof, and the rear shock still has plenty of damping and enough travel for my type of firetrail XC riding.
At this point, my options are:
1) Buy a mid-price groupset (thinking an '11 Alivio or SLX set) and a $200 Rockshox Tora or similar, and get the bike back in action for under $500 (I can do the changeovers myself - not bad with a spanner or allen key)
or
2) Spring for a bottom of the range modern dual suspension (price range $1700-2300) which will, in all likelyhood, have the same level of groupset and forks.
My main questions are: how would a modern Tora or Dart fork stack up against the old Indy XC, and how much of an improvement is the 2011 alivio groupset over the 1997 LX set the bike currently has?
I could afford a new bike in the pricerange mentioned, but unless the difference in frame performance is marked, I'm finding it difficult to choose the extra $1000+ over re-vamping the old LTS and getting the dinosaur back on the trails. Does anyone out there still have one of these old GT's up and running?
Any advice, and any good natured flaming is greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
JD