# Pimped GT Avalanche



## ChrisEyles (5 May 2020)

Just finished making a few tweaks to my trusty Av'.















Went from 90mm stem 720mm bars to 60mm stem 780mm bars, and stuck on a shadow style rear mech to hopefully tame some of the chain slap while bombing it downhill.

It's not exactly an efficient xc machine, but climbs well enough in a tenacious sort of way and monster trucks down the other side in a very pleasing manner indeed. 

A few test rides confirm the wider bars and shorter stem have made it even more enabling for this sort of thing, with no real drawbacks elsewhere - other than fitting it through the garage door 🤣


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## ChrisEyles (5 May 2020)

Not much stock left on it any more... 

Got some rev's up front, running at 115mm, definitely a revelation to me after late 90s elastomer jobbies! 






Gearing is old school 3x8, by preference rather than cheap skatedness in this case - 30t middle ring for general trail riding, granny for steep climbs and the big ring sticks a bit more chain tension on the rear mech on descents. Running 170mm cranks due to the lowish BB and 40/30/22 rings due to wussy legs!






New mech certainly shifts all right, will test the spring strength out on a proper ride tomorrow. Cable routing certainly looks a bit smarter. 






Having baulked massively at dropping £80 on a dropper seat post, when I finally crumbled and stuck one on after trying a friends, there's no going back.


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## ChrisEyles (5 May 2020)

It's quite short in the top tube by modern standards. The in-line post puts the saddle in just the right place for super steep climbs, but the cockpit does feel a smidge short when seated with the 60mm stem. 

Once out the saddle it feels spot on, and feels a bit more nimble than some more modern hardtails I've ridden, perhaps due to the shorter wheelbase. Despite this it's great at holding a line through the rough stuff and in spite of a moderate head tube angle no trace of skittishness, which I was concerned about switching to the shorter stem. 

It's a very different ride than my arse-up-head-down 2000 Marin mount vision!


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## I like Skol (5 May 2020)

I LIKE! 



ChrisEyles said:


> Gearing is old school 3x8, by preference rather than cheap skatedness in this case - 30t middle ring for general trail riding, granny for steep climbs and the big ring sticks a bit more chain tension on the rear mech on descents


3x drivetrains rock for exactly the reasons you state. A thinking mans choice, none of this trendy bollocks 1x nonsense. Sir, I salute you for not being a sheep and choosing something for a reason rather than following a ludicrous trend.


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## I like Skol (6 May 2020)

I think it's appropriate to drop this in here...





2x Zaskars and 2x Avalanches about to head out on a family lockdown ride about 2 weeks ago. Fantastic, unpretentious bikes that just do the business!


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## ColinJ (6 May 2020)

Nice bike!



I like Skol said:


> 2x Zaskars...


My cousin has bought a new mountain bike and was due to give me his old Zaskar when he came down for this year's Tour de Yorkshire, but that trip has been cancelled due to the damn coronavirus. Still, it is something for me to look forward to on his next post-viral visit!


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## southcoast (6 May 2020)

Nice, what year is it?
here’s my 2001 model with its friend. Lol


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## Levo-Lon (6 May 2020)

My step son's GT from a few yrs back after I sorted it out for him.


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## ChrisEyles (6 May 2020)

I like Skol said:


> I think it's appropriate to drop this in here...
> View attachment 520245



Highly appropriate, they look the business! What's the difference between the Zaskar and the Avalanche - is it just a matter of finishing kit or are the frame geo's different? 

Lol when I read reviews or threads on 1x setups saying they get pretty much the same range of gears as 3x8 they never mention it's about 5x the cost and less durable. Bloody good bit of marketings been done there!


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## ChrisEyles (6 May 2020)

southcoast said:


> Nice, what year is it?
> here’s my 2001 model with its friend. Lol
> 
> View attachment 520250



My frames a 2010 Avalanche 3.0. Shame the more recent models have all but lost the triple triangle, as those looked the business. 

Unpretentious they may be, but they look the business, as showcased by a couple of the fine specimens above


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## Threevok (6 May 2020)

I miss scratchy


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## I like Skol (6 May 2020)

My Zaskar is from 1996, owned it and abused it from new. Hand made in USA and heat-treated after welding. Not long afterwards they moved all frame production to the far East.
The Avalanches are 2015 models, one size M and the other an L.
The other Zaskar is my youngest son's. A 2016 carbon limited 27.5. Unfortunately just slightly small for me.
All different creatures. The Avalanches seem like a Zaskar equivalent when compared to my 96, but when you pick up the 2016 carbon you realise they just ain't. Jeez that thing is light, nimble and flies. It just needs a double or triple chainset to make it perfect!
Jnr loves his Zaskar.


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## ChrisEyles (6 May 2020)

Somehow to me "Zaskar" always conjures up images of big bar ends and 90s awesome anodised purpleness.






Guess they've changed a bit since then


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## ChrisEyles (6 May 2020)

Remember seeing your '96 Zaskar update thread on here ages ago, you did a cracking job with that one.


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## Threevok (6 May 2020)

Of course, there is the new Zaskar to consider, including the welcome return of the Triple Triangle

https://singletrackworld.com/2020/0...9NuHYzBF3sldoRU0nA9b-1dP1raqb7BNPvlUO7zixaFK0


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## Drago (6 May 2020)

ChrisEyles said:


> Just finished making a few tweaks to my trusty Av'.
> 
> View attachment 520197
> 
> ...


A very nice update, keeping to old girl very relevant and usable. But I must ask, just how wide are your shoulders if 780mm bars are required?


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## ChrisEyles (6 May 2020)

Not measured, but at 5'10" and a regular build I obviously don't need 780mm bars to get a good fit. But they feel damn good on rough downhills! 

Felt really weird when I first went from 630mm to 720mm, but after a few weeks decided it just intangibly felt better. Going up to 780mm instantly felt slightly better again. 

Could either be because the extra leverage makes it easier to hold the front wheel on the line you want to take, or the wider bars may just be pulling my upper body into a better position for confident handling. Not really sure which! 

FWIW I ride 580mm with bar ends on my full sus (100mm stem and much lower front end) and love that too for general all round responsive handling. Prefer narrow drop bars on road bikes too (40cm - 42cm). 

But for riding scary stuff that's on the edge of my comfort zone, I'll take the wide bars any time, hands down (and wide apart ). 

I am a bit of a nerd about bike set-up so would be interested in your thoughts on this!


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## ChrisEyles (6 May 2020)

Probably also worth mentioning intended use of the bike - everything from Exmoor/Dartmoor epics to DH runs at two of my local spots; and rider skill/confidence - unfortunately pretty average at best, unless the other guys doing the same downhills as me are all on much better bikes LoL. Still I'm improving gradually over the years, and I'd say the switch to wider bars helped with my progression when I did it.


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## Drago (6 May 2020)

ChrisEyles said:


> I am a bit of a nerd about bike set-up so would be interested in your thoughts on this!


I'm a fraction under 6'4" and quite broad with a 53" chest, and run 720mm. You do get more leverage, but once it's gone beyond the width of your natural grip that leverage starts to come at the cost of increasing loss of fine control.

I teach MTB skills - among other cycling stuff - to the emergency services, SAR teams, etc, and wouldn't recommend bars that wide for a multitude of reasons. That said, if it works for you and you're happy with it, then that's what matters. You'd probably find my taste in clothes equally strange.

Tip - rotate the controls so your brake levers drop at about 45 degrees from the bars. They're far too high as they're presently set, assuming you have the normal range of motion in your limbs. That'll bring your elbows up and give you far greater control - technique over brute force.


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## ChrisEyles (6 May 2020)

Went out for a proper shakedown ride today - managed a nice 30 mile mostly off-road route with 3800 ft climbing along the way. 

Started out on the local DH trails in the woods. The trails are still quite wet after yesterday's rain and had just the right amount of slip'n'slide to be a real hoot. Managed a PB down the main line on Strava (still in the bottom 30% of riders though lol) and finally managed to get a decent wall ride on the high sided berm at the bottom too 







Having decided to make a bit of a day of it I explored the woods a bit more. Found a fair few DH routes that looked frankly terrifying that I'll leave for the big boys, but also a nice singletrack loop around the woods. 






Had an unwelcome visitation from the bloody fairy along the way - but fully kitted out it's not so much bother.






Leaving the woods behind I climbed up onto the heath. Some nice fast open tracks here but too much fun to stop for piccies! Pootled around some green lanes and back roads for a bit before looping back towards home.






A thermos of tea is quite possibly the best thing you can take on a ride  






Found a couple of bridleways I'd not ridden before on the OS map and struck out to give these a go. Thought I knew all the good bits of trail around me, but these were pretty good too, just a bit tricky to fit into a ride without a bit more road in between than I'd prefer. 






Can't wait until lockdown's over and I can take the bike up to Exmoor to chuck it down some of my favourite bits


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## ChrisEyles (6 May 2020)

Drago said:


> I'm a fraction under 6'4" and quite broad with a 53" chest, and run 720mm. You do get more leverage, but once it's gone beyond the width of your natural grip that leverage starts to come at the cost of increasing loss of fine control.
> 
> I teach MTB skills - among other cycling stuff - to the emergency services, SAR teams, etc, and wouldn't recommend bars that wide for a multitude of reasons. That said, if it works for you and you're happy with it, then that's what matters. You'd probably find my taste in clothes equally strange.
> 
> Tip - rotate the controls so your brake levers drop at about 45 degrees from the bars. They're far too high as they're presently set, assuming you have the normal range of motion in your limbs. That'll bring your elbows up and give you far greater control - technique over brute force.



Cheers @Drago - never thought about arm positioning with the brake levers like that, will give it a go (come to think of it, the levers on my full sus are more like 45 degrees already). Agreed that you sacrifice some rapid fine control with the wider bars - for me that's kind of a good thing in some ways, I gues one person's responsive is another's twitchy. 

I'd be interested in a skills course but TBH also worried I'd get pushed well out of my comfort zone, or get my confidence up just enough to get into trouble!


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## fossyant (6 May 2020)

Nice bikes indeed. I had a mates GT full suspension in my garage for a while, the ones with the fancy pivoting bottom brackets from the early 00's. Decked in XTR, but not looked after. I fully serviced it, but told him the brakes were shot (perished bladders in levers plus broken levers). That's why is sat in my garage as he didn't want to pay for any new brakes. Shame I wasn't doing the MTB's then (I am now) or I would have bought it. I was very tempted.

The new Zaskar looks ace.


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## fossyant (6 May 2020)

A lot of it is rider skill, as @I like Skol is a demon on his HT Zaskar - we've said to him god knows what he'd be like on a modern machine. I hide my handling skills behind a 130mm full suspension trail bike - it's quicker than I am down hill.

You've got to think a load more (and skill) with the old stuff, but the new kit is incredible, and also a very fast way to end up in A&E as you run out of skill faster. 

My old Diamond Back fully rigid is quick on XC, but is outgunned on the rough stuff (or the rider chickens out).


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## I like Skol (7 May 2020)

fossyant said:


> A lot of it is rider skill, as @I like Skol is a demon on his HT Zaskar - we've said to him god knows what he'd be like on a modern machine.


I'm only mediocre at best, if I went mountain biking more than 4 or 5 times a year I could probably get better to ok, but to be honest I look at some of the really extreme downhill stuff and wonder how the tracks are not littered with the broken corpses of over ambitious riders?


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