Rebuilding A 1996 GT Avalanche - Retro Mountain Bike

[@slaisebam]

I've owned many 90s GT avalanches and Diamonbacks. I'm 50 now and just got back into mountain biking with the TREK brand. I never realized how therapeutic it was to work on bikes. Way cheaper than 40 year old project cars, less stressful too.

[@MrRicardoax01]

Sorry to hear about the engine failure. Awesome rebuild. Thanks. 💯

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks. Ah it happens. Apparently it’s a common fault on those engines but at least it happened when it did because it was a beautiful warm evening and I was in a safe spot to wait for recovery.

[@philippejoseph8604]

At 34:40 I don't rely this spring loaded screw for a stable seting, instead I place the seting a little high and progressively let the cable slide to go to the desired place. If you don't damage the cables and accessories it won't ever change. I will also say that your video is very well done, thanks.

[@MonkeyShred]

Cables will stretch a little over time - unless you’ve absolutely stretched the cable out before installation. Ride enough and shift enough and the indexing will drift slightly. That’s what the barrel adjuster is for. Fine tuning.

[@shannonstrobel6727]

Torvey's a mousie's real hero, or summat. I always enjoy your rebuilds. Thank you 😀

[@MonkeyShred]

Close enough 😂 thanks for watching until the end!

[@RaulMeatFactory1975]

Sweet nostalgia, nice work MonkeyShred.

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks bud!

[@nrsdesign]

I rode mtb in the 90's and loved the movement at the time. Still on the lookout for a 1995 Kona Cinder Cone in 19"!! Merry Christmas from Kurb Krawla Bikes

[@MonkeyShred]

Hope you can find one!

[@nrsdesign]

@@MonkeyShred Cheers! Not easy, not even Lave Domes come up!!

[@markbudd8432]

Amazing build. Looks fantastic ❤

[@MonkeyShred]

Thank you! 🤙

[@techjunkie68smusicandtech56]

Love that GT Avalanche, those GT's are just awesome!

[@MonkeyShred]

Yeah it just looks kinda classically good doesn’t it 😅

[@sdesmtl]

Absolutely perfect, I would change nothing.

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks!

[@-chris-cronin]

GT Bravado in Yellow - the only retro MTB I now 'need' to buy - loved mine BITD. Now have an Avalanche like this one - cool bike

[@techjunkie68smusicandtech56]

I have a GT Bravado in yellow, my favourite bike. 1992 model, 16" frame. shipped from Norway by the previous owner. Rebuild by myself. I also have a 1992 GT Pantera AL (Inferno red), a 1998 GT Tempest, currently build as a BMX hybrid, a 1999 GT Tequesta (orange colour) and a 2011 GT Zaskar Sport, which is my all weather bike. All my GT's are 16" frames. I owned a number of GT's in the 90's, all of which were 16" frames too. 1992 GT Timberline x 2 in both colour ways, dark green and Daktari White, 1992 GT Pantera AL (same colour as my current one) and a 1993 GT Zaskar, bought as frame only built up with Pace RC35 forks and many nice parts!

[@MonkeyShred]

Hope you find one!

[@cpopte]

I made it to the end. Good job and thank you.

[@Emz_Jhaye]

Very nice build! Love that retro GT! 😎👍 remember way back in my highschool days (2001) my classmate got this GT from his father, restored it, painted it purple, then we start to learn to ride downhill/small jumps... 😅🚴🚴🚴 Btw, your cat is beutiful. 😻

[@MonkeyShred]

Thank you! I tell her every day 😆

[@Emz_Jhaye]

@MonkeyShred 😸😸😸

[@celynjones4958]

Nice restoration within budget. Gave a decent bike plenty more years. BTW I ride a 97 Kona AA weekly, 8 speed is so relaiable. Cheers and keep warm ❤

[@MonkeyShred]

Good to hear the 97 is still going strong!

[@samphillips4925]

Classic frame

[@MonkeyShred]

I think so.

[@ChuckHarris-go5nz]

Excellent rebuild thanks for sharing

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks for watching!

[@ClintDowd]

Beautiful. Worth the effort. Thanks.

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks. Appreciate you watching.

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

Looks bloody brilliant 👍

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks!

[@NeatSix]

Being that you're in the UK, for metal polish once you've finished the autosol. I'd recommend peek polish, comes in a silvery chrome toothpaste looking tube (or tub) and I found after testing many different polishes, it works really well with minimal effort. Was a great video and satisfying to see that old aluminium frame come back to life!

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks for the recommendation

[@philippejoseph8604]

At 33:45 I have saved some shifters that weren't shifting more than on speed by cleanig them and also by giving some more preload to the very little hairpin spring that's giving that going up or down shifting. It's got a so small diameter, just like a hair and those hairpin springs are not powerfull, even more when glued by a very old oil turned to grease or stone.

[@MonkeyShred]

Again - thanks for the info dump but you’re not actually listening to the video. I said exactly what I did to clean them out. If you check my other videos I literally have a video or two stripping down shifters completely too. Pay attention dude.

[@Anybloke]

Nice job. Never owned a GT myself but my mate had a Zaskar back in the day. Nice to see Torvi too.

[@MonkeyShred]

She was on a mission that day. Purely catch, play and release though.

[@whateverrobert]

I really like the old gt frames. I own two. Steel frame as well. Really like them still. This is my second channel. I am wanna ride bikes.

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks for watching.

[@ChuckHarris-go5nz]

I only subscribed for the awesome cat😀

[@MonkeyShred]

😂 as you should!

[@JohnPilling25]

Nice job Mark!👍👍❤️. I just love those XT V-brakes. I did eventually sell my GT Karakoram. Still looking for a Zaskar.

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks! Hope you can find a Zaskar. Try Retrobike. I’m sure they come up every now and again.

[@thefreebikes4kidschannel279]

Perfectly painted and polished is overrated!! It looks great as it is 😎

[@MonkeyShred]

Right?! Not scared to get it dirty now!

[@murphyco88]

Nice just sold my Lt-3 full suspension great bikes 😎

[@MonkeyShred]

How come you sold up?

[@renevanderlinde6221]

Awesome GT,,,, very sweet !!!!!

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks!

[@jmanjoker1690]

Every single video a banger

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks!

[@kevinroebke8050]

I had a '97 Karakoram that came with the same WTB saddle, so likely yours is the original.

[@MonkeyShred]

Good to know - thanks!

[@jeremynorth]

Lovely cat

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks 🙂

[@samblenkharn8099]

Torvie's not a mouse's best friend! Would he cope with a bell round his neck?! I love that bike. Looks class. Great work persisting through all the snags.

[@MonkeyShred]

She. Torvi is a beautiful little lady. She doesn’t harm the mice - just kidnaps them to show me.

[@DanielArdagh]

Ahhhhh Cat!🐭

[@MonkeyShred]

She plays nice 🙂

[@brrrt6666]

Lovely rebuild. Theres a certain size spark plug wrench that allows for a full rebuild on these cup and cone style BBs. Some don't come with a keyed washer so beware. Cant remember the size of spark wrench...

[@MonkeyShred]

Cup and cone BB? This is a cartridge BB

[@brrrt6666]

If there's a lock nut on on side of the cartridge, there's a good chance you'll find cup and cone bearings inside. It's build in the same way as the typical bearings on a pedal, just way beefier. Size of the socket might be 32mm and if memory serves correct there's an imperial size that would do the trick as well. The socket has to be really deep and not to thick as it has to clear the spindle and the inside of the cartridge, hence the spark plug socket...

[@tonypotter9578]

Lovely build. I built up what I think is a 96/97 avalanche. It had no decals. Is there a way of telling as I’m sure there are a couple of other models which the frames are very similar?!

[@MonkeyShred]

Off the top of my head - I know the Zaskar is stamped 6061 on the rear dropouts and the Avalanche is stamped 7005 in the same place like I showed. Apart from that I think the serial number can be decoded. Maybe. You’d have to Google that on though. Possibly the end caps have a difference too.

[@hervemalempre4899]

J' ai le même dans mon garage 😊

[@MonkeyShred]

Awesome. Hope it gets ridden still!

[@kaltonian]

I remember this bike, it 's a good all rounder back in its day, looks great when finished, now turn it into a gravel bike, i got a 2003 (i think), scott comp & i am rebuilding into a gravel bike, but will probably ditch the judy rox shocks for straight forks, might use carbon as the frame is super light, apart from smaller wheel set i think will turn out well.

[@MonkeyShred]

I set up a 2006ish Marin B17 as a gravel bike last year, maybe the year before. Wasn’t too bad. Wasn’t keen on the bars though. Should have probably gone for drops.

[@samteks125]

Did up a 2003 Scott Comp two years ago, too :-) I guess you'd need a fairly small frame to make drop bars work with that geometry, but do let me know about your results!

[@bobwilliamson5574]

Go torvey 👍

[@MonkeyShred]

She loves a good hunt.

[@philippejoseph8604]

At 30:40 To place a seven speed cassette on a eight or nine speed hub you just need to place a spacer before placing the cassette so that you can tighten it. Eight and plus speeds cassettes have less distance between the pinions and the chains are special too, they have less external dimensions and the little axels don't overpass the links. This also means that you can place an eight or plus chain on a seven speed cassette because the internal distance between the links ( 2.38 mm ) is the same. The contrary isn't valid.

[@MonkeyShred]

Um, dude, thanks for the info bombing but you need to pay attention to what’s actually going on in the video. I switch out a 7 speed freehub for an 8 speed + so I can run the 8 speed. I then explained why you can’t put an 8 speed cassette on a 7 speed.

[@philippejoseph8604]

At 31:50 It's easier to set the stops on the two extrem ratios when the chain is out so that you will see much better the exact alignment between the pinions to be set to zero and you will not risk the chain to jump off the cassette on the two ends.

[@MonkeyShred]

Each to their own.

[@01FozzyS]

Very nice find,Mark! Sorry to hear about the car though. I forgot but is it a Toyota that you have?

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks. Well - the one that went kaput was a Mazda but I do have a Toyota too... and now a Volvo.

[@01FozzyS]

@@MonkeyShred Congrats on the Volvo then!

[@duringthemeanwhilst]

pretty bike 🙂shame about the car engine - sorry to hear that 😞

[@MonkeyShred]

Thanks. Yeah bit of a surprise but apparently it’s a common problem with those engines 🤷‍♂️ mad.

[@sandwichbar8226]

Torvey's a mouses best friend

[@MonkeyShred]

Wheyyyyy. 🤙🤙 You made it to the end. My hero!

[@ChrisinOSMS]

Always.

[@doormat321]

You definitely can get 130 spaced 8 speed hubs i have a set of XT and LX that are 130 spaced. Please correct me if i misunderstood.

[@MonkeyShred]

You sure? What’s the part number? The generation of LX I used was FH-M563. You can still find all the Shimano part diagrams and that lists it as 7 speed as I found out and 130/135mm However as soon as you go to 8 speed with FH-M565 it only lists 135mm axle Same with XT. FH-M732 is 7 speed and both 130/135mm where as M737 is 8 speed and 135mm only.

[@dercrosscountryracer1089]

Hm, da hättest du auch gleich einen 9fach Freilauf montieren können,das hätte eine 11 Fach Schaltung ermöglicht.

[@MonkeyShred]

That Freehub does 8-12 speed like I said. And an 8 speed shifter works as an 8 speed shifter only so 🤷‍♂️.

[@samteks125]

Or keep the 7-speed hub and throw a 9-speed cassette on it, minus the smallest cog, to get 8 speeds. Would have required a 9-speed shifter for proper operation though ... maybe on another build where you don't have STIs already?

[@christophnox2901]

Hi....I have a yellow Judy fork mounted in a black red frame....your black fork of yor GT would look better in my bike ....do you want to switch the forks? 🤔

[@MonkeyShred]

Not at the moment. I’m going to try it as rigid for a bit. Thanks for the offer though!

[@boxrick1]

Any reason you didn't just change this to 1x like a more modern MTB would use? Less to go wrong, less messing with gears etc etc

[@MonkeyShred]

Mmm no reason apart from a bike like this could be used in a retro race and for that they need to be kept original-ish.

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

Because 1x is crap

[@boxrick1]

@@Tarmaccyclocrossreally? On a MTB, you would want to be faffing with a 3x on a trail? For road bikes 2x still has a place, on a mountain bike I'll take one shifter any day of the week.

[@samteks125]

Depends. You'll probably wear out chains more quickly on 1x drivetrains

[@PedroLima-lr5tp]

​@@boxrick1what you going to do with a rigid 26 that is so radical you can't manage a 3x ? 😂

[@danieletondi5000]

8 speed? I dont like sorry if you put 9 speed is better for me

[@MonkeyShred]

@@danieletondi5000 Ah man. Why didn’t you tell me?! This bike was meant to be a surprise for you. Now it’s ruined. 😔😔

[@lionvillelion]

Torvey's a mouses best friend

[@MonkeyShred]

Eyyyy you watched until the end! Thanks!