GT Sanction Team

I ignored this post before because I have never ridden one, but seeing as no-one else has responded, I thought I'd have a go. Maybe you are still deciding, or have let it go.

The bike is big travel and designed for Enduro, so it should be a good climber as well as a good descender. Rocky trails and big features are where it lives. Unless you are lucky, I doubt bike will be outstanding (it should be more than OK though) on typical red trails in the UK. Please tell me I'm wrong if you are an owner.

The rear suspension appears to be a straight forward single pivot. I personally don't like single pivot suspension, but legions of Orange Five owners will lynch me at dawn for dissing their god. SP has its good and bad points.

The kit seems all good, no point in me saying "what if" about any of it, it will all work just fine. The reviews are good for 2016 models, I couldn't see any reviews of the 2017 model, but I didn't look hard. You really must test ride the bike before parting with your money. But first you have to decide whether this used bike is actually in good condition. There are pages of stuff to be found on Google and elsewhere about how to buy used bikes. So I will limit myself to two things. 1) Has the suspension been serviced by a recognised agent? 2) Check the frame for cracks. Unless it's a carbon frame, I'd ignore chips and scrapes, but always look at the seams and junctions for cracks.

Rowan404 wrote:

Thanks for the response. I know the bike uses their I drive suspenion system so I was wondering about that or is it just a fancy name for single pivot? The bike is coming from a YouTuber so I assume it's in good condition as that's what he said. Also it's got rockshox instead of fox and it has x01 eagle.

Hmmm, I hadn't spotted the i-drive. I was looking at the lack of pivots anywhere except the one behind the chain wheel. A mate of mine had an old GT Full Suss with i-drive and he loved it. It was still going strong when he bought a better bike and gave the old one to his son. From memory there were some early problems with frame cracking, but that has probably long been sorted. It is well worth you doing some research on the advantages and disadvantages of the i-drive suspension.

Again from memory, the crank goes through the BB (as per usual), but the whole BB can move with your effort. So there must be a spring in there somewhere.

Oh, and I wouldn't assume it's in good condition just because a You Tuber said so. Caveat Emptor rules! (the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made).

Rockshox make good suspension, no comment there except I've had zero problems with mine. Read up on how to set up suspension beyond just the sag and rebound.
Eagle 12-speed is great, I have it on both my bikes. It's a great 1x system that gives a massive 5.0:1 gear range. But it is not all sweetness and light. The gear set up has to be spot on or you start to have shifting problems. Ensure that the rear jockey wheel is set sufficiently far away from the 50T such that the shift into the 50t is smooth. Many bike mechanics set the gap as normal, when it actually needs to be a lot bigger. SRAM make a plastic template, but once you know what its supposed to do, you don't need one. I went through years of bike riding without ever having to have the mech hanger straightened. I've needed to have it done so many times that I've bought a Parktool mech hanger alignment tool for myself! That is a long mech arm and it is hanging in harms way! It can exert a lot of leverage on the mech hanger if it gets hit.

Most of the shifting problems I've had have been as a result of something I wouldn't normally expect with anything up to 10-speed. I had 11-speed for a few months before I sold the bike (it was time), so I didn't have time to see if it was any different maintenance-wise.. Things like the b-gap I have mentioned. Also the mech hanger alignment. Seriously, it is worth getting it checked now before you put loads of effort into all the usual stuff.

And don't forget that mucky gear cables also cause problems, but in the case of 12-speed, they cause more sooner!

Good luck with the bike!

I last had i-Drive on my Circa 2000 GT XCR3000 and it wasn't particularly good...then again neither was the shock or RS Judy fork(replaced by a Marzocchi Bomber...and it was 18 years ago!