Here's some before and after pics of my 1981 GT 26.

A GT 26 was always one of my dream bikes- one I thought I'd never find for sale or be able to afford if I did find one up for sale... So, I nearly dumped a load in my pants when I found this bike curb side in a trash pile a few years ago. Right in my own neighborhood. Before I loaded it in my car, I stood there stunned for a few minutes, letting what I had just found sink in to my brain. I looked around cuz' I thought somebody was messing with me!!!

Anyhow, here's what it looked like when I first dragged it home. Some hippie had managed to put a 5 speed rear hub & derailuer on it, Thankfully without spreading the rear end! Loaded with great but WELL worn parts (Cook Bros hubs, Pro Neck stem, 1st GEN. MCS CRUISER BARS!!!). Obviously the bike had been neglected for a long time...
BEFORE PICS




so much surface rust it looked like it had been dipped in Cocoa powder!!!

Here it is now- looks a little bit better, I guess... still wearing the OG chrome & decals
Pretty much done except for adding era correct bars and a MCS Hotplate when I find them





Parts list:
1981 GT 26 frame and fork
yellow label Comp III's
Ambrosio ribbed sidewall rims
DT Swiss spokes
Avocet sealed bearing hubs
Beartrap headset
red 1981 MCS stem
mid school GT cruiser bars (to be replaced w era correct bars)
well worn Unicanitor seat
Tuf Neck fluted seat post
Excalibur seat post clamp
Ashtabula 7 1/2 inch crank
Takagi spider
Tuf Neck chain ring
Shimano freewheel
Schwinn bottom bracket
Shimano pedals
Dia Compe MX-1000 brake set
repro GT pad set
Cal Lite checkered seat cover and lever cover (corny, but SO early 80's!)

Everything on the bike was found locally or from my parts stash- except the pad set- NO Ebay or message board scores. Thanks to Big Lou for the tires!

SWEET

That bike rocks. You should be proud of your hard work.

Congrats on the find and the stellar rebuild. Truly awesome.

That's a super stunner. Very nice work.

What did you do w/ the MCS bars? Any chance they're for sale?

I love the first gen MCS bars, these just were not clean enough to go back on this bike.
I used them on another cruiser of mine.

Great bike! Just can't go wrong with a GT.

I especially like the Ashtabula 7 1/2s. Just like I used to run.

Great story also.

Sweet ride, buuuud.

SAVED!!!
GREAT work on cleaning that bad boy up!!

WOW!~ and just chillin in your own neighborhood!!!!
that is sweet!!!!

Did those come stock with the Ashtabula cranks? The 26's were a little before my time.

I agree with slowride. I'd be shocked to find something that sweet in my hood...unless it was stolen lol

Great job!

No, they didn't come stock with anything, GT's were just sold as framesets in the early years.

The 7 1/2 inch (which is a very long crank) Ashtabulas and Takagi's were real popular with the 26 inch era cruiser guys, as the Red Baron confirms up above!!!

Thanks for the positive comments guys!

That is a great story and a great bike! Congrats!

awesome.

So, tell us, how does it ride?

thats one of the nicest before and afters I've ever witnessed!

Have you ever rode by their house and just waved hello?,,, bet they wouldnt recognized it!

Beautiful job. That chrome cam back great! Must be a blast to ride.

Was that chrome just from a oxy bath? I dont see any pitting at all? Very nice. Saw a 81 GT 26 at the Tampa Grand Re-Opening last month. Lady still races it! VEry early Profile first gen box cranks painted gold. Wasnt for sale and she knew it was a piece of history.

How did you get rid of that rust..do tell!

that was fran d'ambrosio. her dad nino owned "the pedal shop" in st pete about a mile from profile. i talked to her at tampa for about an hour. she said dad still has her little brother's cinelli mx-1 in the garage. i directed her to this site.
mike

Yeah, i've heard about that ladies bike- I hear she runs 24 inch wheels on it? Must make for a weird ride, these 26 frames are huge, and super long!!!

About the chrome: it looks really good in the photos, but there is some pitting in the bad areas. It did clean up REALLY nice though... I impressed myself on this one!!!!

What I did was-
1. Oxalic acid powder bath- soaked for approx. 24 hours, scrubbing the nasty areas every few hrs. with a SOFT brass bristled brush
2. removed from bath and drained/dried/oiled inside of frame real good
3. polished whole frame and fork with 3M rubbing compound
4. cleaned and shined whole frame with Windex glass cleaner- Windex is awesome on chrome

Still undecided about replacing the decals... the OG ones on the frame are complete, but very faded and scratched up, look like crap compared to the way the rest of the bike looks now... I have NOS decals... but I love the survivor aspect of the frame and fork...???

Me too! although I would put new decals if they were NOS on it. If they were repops, id be hesitant.

I like NOS bikes but I equally like the survivor or replicas of old bikes that people had. We never rode all stock bikes bitd. Having Flight cranks, hutch pedals, powerlite bars and dk neck was a must on our bikes and seeing this on bikes nowadays makes me just as excited as seeing an all stock one.

If it was me, I'd keep the original decals on it. There's no rush, you can always swap them out later, if they bug you.

I'm sure I will keep the originals on, this bikes been built for a couple of years now. I just never got around to posting a thread about it!

Damn Dave, that came out awesome.

it had me at "hello"

great story and resto.. thanks for sharing!

oh and I vote keep those og decals onboard..

DANG!!!!!

Man what a great score and resto.