GT Arrowhead project

add595

Hi all,

As I am planning to sell my Saracen soon as I pretty much only use my full suss now, I am thinking it is time to build up my 'retro' GT Arrowhead as a bit of a hybrid road/fast mountain bike for the rare times it will be used.

The spec (planned) so far:
- Circa 1998 GT Arrowhead 18.5" frame
- Marzochhi Z1 Bam forks
- Magura Race Line hydro rim brakes (bright yellow!)
- Mavic 221 rims on Shimano Deore LX Parallax hubs
- GT bar/stem combo
- Octane One double & bash 170mm crankset (new)
- Shimano 8 speed thumb/index shifters
- Deore LX derailleur
- Tyres will be some form of semi slicks, probably about 1.9 width

I have just put it loosely together to gauge what it will look like when finished and to take some photos. I know it is nothing particularly special but I like it cos it's a bit quirky.

What do you think, so far?

foy

That is one really nice bike and being a gt it will be a bombproof frame as well.

foy

you should post a picture of your bike on retrobike.

add595

Quick update for anyone interested...

Not too far from being finished. Freewheeled down a hill today (no chain yet!) and geometry feels good.

The colour scheme is either 'retro' or 'offensive', up to you.

Had to ditch the retro wheelset, the rear rim was too far out of true to be straightened, and the front does not have a disc hub. They have been replaced with a Shimano Deore/Mavic 117 wheelset, which are still quite nice.

Oh and for the front brake I have decided to use one of these newfangled hydraulic disc brakes, a Hope C2!

hucking_fell

I like it 8)

savvasstavridis

Like it!
I have the same year's GT Tempest and recently I made an upgrade (part by part since last autumn) and changed everything but the frame actually.
I'll post some pics as soon I'll take some.

add595

Finished! Well ok, not finished, but usable now. Been for a blast on it today and I love the old skool, lean forward geometry. Seems to suit my stupid proportions and slightly iffy knees.

Gutted and rebuilt the rear hub today, using all the removable parts (including the non drive side cup - who said this wasn't replaceable?!) from a new M475 hub I bought a while ago. Also spent (what felt like) many, many hours bleeding the front brake and still couldn't get it to stop dragging ever-so-slightly, I suspect one of the pistons may be lazy.

Still got a bit of tinkering to do...

- Forks bottom out with a 'you have clearly reached the end of my travel' clunk. Hoping a service and an oil refill will cure this
- Rear wheel needs truing, never noticed when it was on previous bike with a disc brake
- Rear brake needs bleeding
- Bottom bracket bearings aren't brilliant (cheapo VP branded one, or another Truvativ that has lasted 6+ years for replacement?)
- Front caliper may need rebuilding

The Rookie

Awesome, I've just put those self same Mythos tryres on my retro 97 Gary Fisher Pyranha, skinwalls rule!

Mines true retro though, V-brakes, 7speed STI's on the bars and steel frame and forks and even a quill stem!

Simon

gt-arrowhead

Woohoo!...a nice Arrowhead right there. Looks 934586009335943074356 times better than mine.

I just searched Arrowhead in the forums as i wanted to see other peoples ones. I love this..

rgliniany

i always wanted those brakes on my zaskar...... could never afford them..... had to make do with XT v's..... looks proper nice

gt-arrowhead

rgliniany wrote:

i always wanted those brakes on my zaskar...... could never afford them..... had to make do with XT v's..... looks proper nice

Are you talking about the V brakes? I wondered what they were too. They look pretty different to the typical v brakes, but i know nothing about them...look real nice though, and they have a brake booster so they should be good.

rgliniany

they are hydraulic rim brakes...



the absolute dogs danglers back in the day.... nice and strong.... i wanted them cos martyn ashton had them on his cannondale beast of the east for trials riding.....

pesky_jones

But is it better then a muddyfox bmx?

Chunkers1980

I'd think so, what is for sure is it is significantly better than his PoS.

gt-arrowhead

Hydro rim brakes?? Thats amazing...didnt even know they existed. Must be brilliant!!

Well, the owner of this particular GT seems like he has a reasonable sum of money spent (or at least in terms of parts value) on his bike...so ofcourse its better than my piece of shit. It is getting there slowly though. Fitted an as new alivio crankset on sunday that i picked up from eBay.

A respray is due i think, im contemplating on dropping the matt black look. Deore XT rear mech is ready to be fitted, waiting until i get a new cassette before i fit it though.

pesky_jones

GT-Arrowhead wrote:

Well, the owner of this particular GT seems like he has a reasonable sum of money spent (or at least in terms of parts value) on his bike...so ofcourse its better than my piece of shoot.

Your bike isnt a PoS, it was a joke. You did well with what you had and if your happy with it then alls good. I see loads of kids your age on brand new Demos and Status's and team Giant dh's etc, its refreshing to see a kid with a bike hes built up that daddy hasnt payed for.

gt-arrowhead

Pesky Jones wrote:

GT-Arrowhead wrote:

Well, the owner of this particular GT seems like he has a reasonable sum of money spent (or at least in terms of parts value) on his bike...so ofcourse its better than my piece of shoot.

Your bike isnt a PoS, it was a joke. You did well with what you had and if your happy with it then alls good. I see loads of kids your age on brand new Demos and Status's and team Giant dh's etc, its refreshing to see a kid with a bike hes built up that daddy hasnt payed for.

Thanks mate. Yeah im happy with it.

Those bikes are waaay overkill for someone my age! Unless they are the biking equivalent of Schumacher...

The only help my dad gives me is mechanical help really, he taught me pretty much everything and thats better than getting me an overkill bike that i wont know how to treat and maintain. He does buy me the odd cheap part here and there but mostly technical help.

pesky_jones

GT-Arrowhead wrote:

Those bikes are waaay overkill for someone my age! Unless they are the biking equivalent of Schumacher...

You say that, but at my local spot theres a young boy, must be about 14 - on one of the sh1test and oldest bikes ive seen, I don't know how it stays together. But he hits the same jumps, drops, berms etc that we all do and he absoloutly flies! (We call him superman) I mean he is seriously fast. On the other hand, theres a little chavy boy that comes down, around the same age on a brand new ns soda and asks us for ciggerettes. He rides about half hour (if he comes down) and doenst even try the jumps.

I'd LOVE to swap their bikes around, the shitty kid gets to learn the basics on supermans bike, and superman can farking excel! but sadly that's not the way it works

gt-arrowhead

Haha

Thats kinda what i meant by the biking equivalent of Schumacher. Good on that guy though, seems like he is making a name for himself at 14.

I know these chavs you speak of...well, i dont go to jump tracks or trials just yet but ive seen tooooo many people on really really good bikes and they can barely even ride in a straight line. Honestly. And they are pedalling like fuck because either they dont know how to change gear or the drivetrain is squeaking like crazy...what a waste!! And at the skate parks i see so many chavs on scooters thinking they are amazing...

NS do make some lovely bikes...saw one the other day in the flesh for the first time. Wasn't a soda but was beautiful none the less. Dumb bastard left it outside on the highstreet! Bad idea in London.

IT66T

I'm loving your GT as that old retro style is so addictive and those hydraulic rim brakes seem really old seeing them now but still look 8) ..

PashleyRider

Nice build. Unfortunately HS33s aren't the brake that everybody makes out though which is why so many trials riders have gone to V brakes and discs instead. I ran Maguras for quite a few years because everybody else did, went to V and never looked back! Lighter, simpler, cheaper and far better hold

gt-arrowhead

I cant really make a comparison between V and disc since ive never owned a disc bike or been on one that has been properly set up. But V brakes are really doing it for me. Totally happy with them. They are even better with a bit of dust on them after a long river path ride so ive found.

I lose ALOT of brake performance and power in the rain though...and they start to rub in the rain for whatever reason.

I would have thought that hydro ones would be unbeatable!