Restoration & Swytch E-bike conversion (1992 GT Tequesta)

Todays video is a sponsored one, Swytch Bike have sent an e-bike kit over for me to try out. Stoked! Loving it so far, it’s making towing a breeze 👏
Check out Swytch: bit.ly/3STDwAE
My Instagram: / toastyrides
00:00 Swytch overview
02:56 selecting the bike
05:33 GT rebuild
13:08 shifter mod
16:52 more building
25:15 Swytch kit install
27:37 Bartape wrapping
29:01 goofy first ride face
29:18 build overview/riding
31:29 comparison
35:26 more riding/thoughts

[@toastyrides]

Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out the video 🤙 if you have any questions then leave them below or head over to Swytch’s site or Instagram for more info 😄💓

[@toastyrides]

So sorry for the hiatus 🙈 it’s just been busy, then I went to make a video and some of the parts for this showed up..then the rest of it took a few more weeks 😅 But here it is! Next video should be up next week or the week after, then have 3 more bikes to get through soon after 😄🤙💓

[@carl1964carl]

That’s the old model (battery) yes?

[@dropthesubjectkiddodropthe5450]

I was about to sleep. Best way to end the night.

[@toastyrides]

Haha thanks for checking it out! Nothing like a late night video to end the weekend off 😁 Enjoy! 🤙💓

[@dropthesubjectkiddodropthe5450]

Same time thou, do you have work tomorrow?

[@kevinmauleoutdoors6247]

Great video. So pleased to see the Swytch kit on an old bike. I've swapped mine on two bikes now. It makes for a much lighter and cheaper ebike. The best part is when I snapped an old chain pulling the kiddy trailer the front hub still worked. I cycled home without a chain....full on smug joy. Chia Bro

[@rileybaker8294]

I LOVE the paint splatter, what a respectful way to disguise the wear and tear while preserving the original colour and decals. And thank you for explaining your rust converter process.

[@MonkeyShred]

Nice job on this one Adam. Love the splatter. Pink is always a winner! Might give that brake lever shifter a go too now after seeing that! Interesting!

[@toastyrides]

Thanks, maaaate 🤙 will be cool to see how you do it and what you think of it 😎 someone even mentioned using thumb shifters, could use anything I suppose!

[@stevehassler]

love your videos and laid back commentary in addition to utilizing old school bikes. keep on keeping on. :)

[@toastyrides]

Thanks, Steve! Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it 👍 Happy riding 😄🤙

[@mechatakoyakisan]

The bar tape installl was

[@noelsmith1852]

Love the all-business aesthetics of your builds.

[@toastyrides]

Thanks! Gotta love the usefulness of a well setup bike 🤌

[@EriebyCycle]

Very cool. I always enjoy the diy engineering. I thought the shifters were great. Thanks a bunch!

[@toastyrides]

Thanks, Josh! Haha was worth a try, I like tinkering and trying little mods like that. 🤙 glad you enjoyed it!

[@londonpickering8675]

Oddly satisfying! Thanks for taking the time to post this vid!

[@donttouchthisatall]

That DIY STI is mindblowingly cool! 😮

[@toastyrides]

Thanks! Was a fun experiment, could definitely be improved but I don’t think I could make it “worth while” for me. Spaced out, to create more finger room, would be better. I really want to try Suntour Command shifters..

[@abandoneduniverses]

Good evening from Greece.Iam restorer of vintage mtbs..just to say that your videos are so relaxing for me and keep me company late nights..Well done keep on keep cycling

[@0xtechno]

So sick !! Love the builds

[@jamesdarge]

Great build, as always!

[@brendonoid6133]

Another thing about the front motor is that you essentially have 2 wheel drive, which is a nice little extra thing people don't usually consider.

[@toastyrides]

Haha exactly! Wonder what it would be like in the snow or sand?? 🤔

[@brendonoid6133]

@@toastyrides It is super useful in sand, I have ridden a front hub ebike for a living for over a decade (Postie) and the power in the front wheel can really pull you out of soft sand traps.

[@toastyrides]

@@brendonoid6133 that’s so cool! 😎 I’ve been in quite a few situations on a regular bike where the rear wheel had no traction, but if the front wheel was powered then it would probably get me out of it! Going over a group of tree roots, through mud etc

[@carl1964carl]

Thanks for a top review, just got my switch

[@burrito_bobby]

Beautiful Tequesta🤙🏼 I love & collect GT’s!

[@huggi3z08]

I love the salmon compound, been on my Gary Fisher KaiTai and they work amazing, nice clean stopping and silent

[@greenS14]

Cool build!

[@fantasticplastic5336]

I have a92 tequesta in black with white paint splash effect on it, love it to bits.

[@mattwolfe70]

GTs are great. I’ve got a large Palomar with a Bafang BBS02. I love it

[@toastyrides]

Nice! Stoked to have my big Outpost now, loving it 🥳 took a long time to find it, though

[@jonjoneda9149]

Love your work sir😍

[@virtualbackgrounds-virtual5809]

great job on the paint job!

[@toastyrides]

Thanks! Love a bit of extra pop from splatter or something similar 🤌 I was hoping to outline the decals with paint pens, but I couldn’t find them when filming 🤦‍♂️

[@knife1406]

makes me wanna make one but I couldn't put it on my beloved mb-5... gonna have to find another beater lol. thanks for the insight with the kit vs the trek, that was interesting.

[@johndef5075]

Beautiful paint job. Would have fit right in with the other cool GT paint jobs from back then.

[@magicbonsai]

Nice DIY Gevenalle-style brifters 👍

[@kevinfeeney5309]

I've been debating on buying the Gevenalle for years, but can't really justify the cost. They're $200 in either short or long pull....no shift levers. I even asked if they'd sell just the kit and let me drill my own levers (I have 3 bikes with the tektro levers already installed) but they said no, due to liability concerns. After watching this DIY I may reconsider the conversion. Run any brake lever coupled with Path Less Pedaled's upcoming UNO bar end shifter collab that handles up to 12 speed in friction mode.

[@toastyrides]

Yeah was worth the experiment! Way better to try it than pay a couple hundred to find out you don’t like it 😅

[@toastyrides]

@@kevinfeeney5309 should be able to run 12 speed with any friction shifter, some need a WolfTooth Tanpan though 😫 Have an old Deore thumbie running 12 with a little free mod 🤌

[@petermorrison680]

very imformative vid liked it alot !!!!

[@toastyrides]

Thanks, Peter! Glad you liked the video 🤙🥳

[@freequest]

I have a Marin Susilito with the Shimano STEPS mid-drive system. You can't hear that thing working. Have about 1400km on it on bush tracks and stuff. I use it as an ATB and have not noticed any drive train problems.

[@darcysnell6243]

Great job! 👏 Damn if only you knew someone who could do 1 1/8 threaded to threadless steerer conversions! 😉

[@toastyrides]

I do know of such a legend! Haha, the larger GT got a threadless fork swap 😁 rocking a Kona P2 fork on it, for straight leg coolness 🥵

[@keir5690]

How does that velo orange stem work with a fork that I assume needs a quill stem? An adapter quill has a top cap with a slightly greater diameter which wouldn't work with this? Would love to know as it seems like a great way to get a bit more comfortable.

[@donttouchthisatall]

hi, love your vids! And i hope you see this comment, since I need help locating one of your older videos :D Which one shows the procedure where you ground down a HG casette to fit onto a UG hub? I currently have the same problem and cannot seem to be find the correct video! MASSIVE THANKS!

[@gilbster]

Great video! That looks fun to ride. I am just wondering how many bikes do you have??

[@ashpunting]

Hey, I've been waiting for you you to try the electric bike and see what fun it can be 😀

[@toastyrides]

Now is the time! I’ve rode quite a few e-bikes, but most off the shelf ones are so expensive and clunky (and not in the good Klunker way!)

[@ashpunting]

@Toasty Rides yes I know what you mean my favourite one is an old gary fisher that I turned into an electric bike and my other two e-bikes are surprisingly OK and have no broken chains yet but I don't ride my bikes as hard as you do I've seen you in action so I understand the broken chain and the good Enduro bikes are way too expensive

[@kazzakoool]

Hi Adam, Great Vid. How long did it (the Swytch kit) take to get to you (NZ)?

[@timetravelfilms727]

maybe if that Trek could be converted to 7 speed - you can use the heavier 7 speed chains. I've not had one snap and I only change my chain and cassette once a year.

[@ottotriance4646]

Hey Adam have you ever done a retro steel 1by conversion video would love to see a series of conversion videos of that nature, I've been working on a specialized rockhopper comp 1990 and I'm considering making it 1X, cheers id also love top see a video dedicated to viewers project bikes, Cheers

[@6ryba6]

Have you tried puting thumbies on a road brake lever instead of bar end shifters? That would be an interesting hack. Bar end shifters work great as the are, I personally couldn't be bothered to put them on brake levers but combining cheap shimano thumb shifters with road levers sounds like fun

[@toastyrides]

Would be worth a try! Oh come to think of it, about 5 years ago I might have done it 😅 no footage of it, but it was a plastic thumbie bolted to the front of a Tektro lever. Might re-try on an upcoming build to see if I can find a better feeling diy shifter 🤔

[@6ryba6]

@@toastyrides Do it mate, that would be probably the first ghetto Gevenalle’s on youtube

[@toastyrides]

@@6ryba6 I think Gevenalle levers are and started off using barend shifters, like I did this time. So I might’ve accidentally been the first ghetto Gevenalles 😅 I’ll try some thumbies too, maybe some other setups if it works out ok. Barend shifters will work the easiest with their bolt, that resists rotation though. Thumbies could work with a grub screw to index the unit/stop it from rotating 🤔

[@6ryba6]

@@toastyrides I think the easiest way would be drill a hole I a lever and threat it(?) so you attach thumbies by its tension screw, what do you thing, let's make ghetto gevenales more ghetto

[@joshuathompson2131]

When riding did you ever feel the front motor pulling you along or was it comfortable? Would you rather have the trigger throttle or the pedal sensor?

[@toastyrides]

Pedal sensor works best in most situations, the thumb throttle is normally just an “add on” so the user can add some power without pedalling. Handy when taking off uphill or in the wrong gear etc 🤌 Feels the same as any other e-bike, power delivery wise. Most e-bikes on full power feel like they’re pulling, more than pushing(if that makes sense). I’d say most people won’t notice where the power is coming from. Only aware of it being front wheel drive when on loose terrain going uphill or when the front wheel lifts a bit. One of the upsides (can’t remember if I mentioned) of a FWD motor is most flat tyres happen in the rear, which is finicky with a rear hub motor 😕

[@joshuathompson2131]

@@toastyrides yes you mentioned the rear hub in your video. Thanks for the reply.

[@viviennepatterson5950]

Great vid. I see Gary used the same system. Did you have any problems getting the battery delivered? I’ve had probs getting the batteries through nz customs.

[@toastyrides]

Yeah! A few of us have been using the kits 😄 my battery showed up 6 weeks after Gary’s, even though they sent mine a few weeks before his 😂 No problems really, just a big delay(most of my kit showed up a few weeks before the battery, though). Having troubles with customs through an eBay/Amazon store or a company or?

[@viviennepatterson5950]

Not Amazon. I’ll consider getting that kit. It looks good and really versatile.

[@myvicariouslife4012]

@3:20 My back hurts just seeing the height of seat post relative to the handlebars.

[@toastyrides]

Wonder if yoga might help a badd back🤔 🧘

[@hathar1750]

schwalbe tire's are crooked these day's i just can't to get them to seat proper.

[@zombeat228]

What is your height?

[@toastyrides]

Around 192cm, 6’3-6’4

[@gregory5699]

*PromoSM*

[@Fitz_lee]

we are looking for business cooperation if you have interests.