Upgrade advice - GT Avalanche 3.0

Sir Talbot Buxomly

Hi all, first post on here.

I have a GT Avalanche 3.0 (24 speed) and I believe it's the 2008 model. I've had it about 3 years and have already upgraded/replaced some of the parts - new headset, new rear cassette, new brakes fitted this week (Avid BB7s).




I want to replace the front and rear derailleurs, the chainset/chainring and the bottom bracket. I haven't a clue what parts I'm looking for here and the only info I have I found online, thus:

Front Derailleur: Shimano M-330 Front Derailleur.
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Alivio Rear Derailleur.
Chainset: Suntour XCT-02 (Suntour XCT-302?)
Chainrings: 42/32/22 teeth.
Bottom Bracket: Tange Cartridge Sealed

I don't know how accurate that info is and I cant see any product numbers on the derailleurs. Money's tight so that has to be a factor here.

Front Derailleur







Rear Derailleur



Cheers in advance!

buddy_club

I presume you want to upgrade these parts rather than a like for like swap?

The Rookie

1x9 or 1x10 gearing would be my suggestion.

If the BB is good, keep the current crankset, swap on a narrow wide ring, 9 speed wide range cassette and a nine speed shifter, you could keep your current rear mech if you wanted to, lose the front mech, cable and shifter, you'll be looking at a greater than 0.5Kg saving, that assumes you can unbolt your chainrings and it's not a naff rivet made to look like an Allen bolt.

Sir Talbot Buxomly

buddy_club wrote:

I presume you want to upgrade these parts rather than a like for like swap?

Ideally, yes. Depends on the cost as money's quite tight right now.

I'd rather keep the same gear set-up as well rather than switching to a 9 or 10 speed as that means replacing the combined brake/gear switchers, which are also pretty new.

02gf74

It looks like the rear wheel is held on by a nut so is solid axle which means wheel is low end.
Nothing wrong with 3*8.

If you are looking to upgrade, do the wheels first

Sir Talbot Buxomly

02GF74 wrote:

It looks like the rear wheel is held on by a nut so is solid axle which means wheel is low end.
Nothing wrong with 3*8.

If you are looking to upgrade, do the wheels first

Yeah, thanks for that. The wheels can be upgraded anytime - I'm looking for advice for upgrading the parts I listed.

02gf74

Sir Talbot Buxomly wrote:

Yeah, thanks for that. The wheels can be upgraded anytime - I'm looking for advice for upgrading the parts I listed.

OK so what is the motivation for the upgrade.
Do you want higher spec components, better overall bike performance (hence my suggestion of wheels), more modern drive train (3*9 parts are more common than 3*8 or go single ring on front), etc.