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Full Version: 1989 GT Pro Freestyle Tour build (finally done!!!)
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2FRESH
Feb 2 2006, 07:12 AM
Hey guys,
a year and some two months have gone by and i've just finished this build that's been an exciting one!! The '89 GT Pro Freestyle Tour is finally done, not exactly catalog-specific but with some of my persona in it and the kind of color combo i haven't seen yet.
I know some people like the builds to be exactly or as close as possible with the stock catalogue parts, but i'm not so much into that. I'm happy as long as the parts are at least year specific and most importantly thay have to have the "right" look and look good when combined. After all, it would've been nearly impossible to find the exact catalogue matching parts anyway.
The bike is a mix of used and NOS. The frame, forks, cranks, U-brake and the seat post clamp are used and everything else NOS.

In my opinion, '89 was THE last year GT had cool graphics in their freestyle bikes. By 1990 they switched to those cheap "futuristic" ones and ruined the PFST frame by removing the distinctive support tube under the framestand and eventually the u-brakes. I always thougt that the '89 "swirl/voodoo" or whatever you want to call them graphics looked best on black bike cause they stand out great on it.
I didn't have a matching GT/Viscount seat handy, so a Dyno/Viscount seat had to do.

Thanks to AJK for the F/F and various other people for all the parts and i hope you enjoy the pics!


Ok, this was the day i got the f/f. November 10th 2004 to be exact. You can see there was something strange going on with the seat tube stickers, but that is now taken care of.


Picture from last week, a finished project after some year and two months of finding the "right" parts and some brainstorming for a combination of parts and colors that would match.


The somewhat crooked lower gyro cable routing yet the cable seems to run smoother than i first expected. It would have been better though if the hole would've been designed an inch further in the first place. That would have allowed most lower gyro cables to be routed without kinks. But you just can't have all can you?


Meat mallet combined with Odyssey Flying Wedge bars. I have to say the tone of the stem looked waaay more lighter purple in the ebay picture, and i was slightly bummed cause it was actually a very very deep purple. But now that i'm used to it, it actually works very well with the overall color palette cause there's now variation in color tones that gives the bike some vibe.


First time ever i come across with a weight limitation on full size FS bars. The Wedge bars are 27" wide with tall 9" rise and extremely lightweight. You can see how i barely managed to route all cables thru the bars cause the space was very limited under the humorous-sized crossbar.


Now i cant' remember which one of you did it, was it "Roberto" or "Serva" who restored his 3pc GT Power Series cranks nicely. Anyway, i did just the same to these. I'm the fifth owner of these cranks that have been used and abused over the years. There was serious scars all over and deep marks from grinds plus they were mirror polished at some point. Now we can't have that can we? So i did some filing, some more filing and shaping, steel wool, sandpaper and finally some fine grit sandpaper with water to get the satine-finish. Not mirror not matte. I'm now very pleased on how they turned out. Still missing the "Power Series" decals though.
The Victor VP-555 pedals are (once again) shameless DX copies for $5 a pair but to me they were "genuine" enough for this project and i think they look good too. The GT powerdisc is missing one GT wings logo, it seems it has beed scratched off at some point for some strange reason.


The rear end with coaster-modified-to-freecoaster Peregrine Masters and the odd yet smart 42/15 gear ratio.


Action shot. Finally a bike with a color scheme that matches perfectly our purple/lavender painted walls in our small hallway. Now the wife should be pleased about this. *wink

The parts:

    [*]Frame: 1989 GT Pro Freestyle Tour
    [*]Tubes: 100% Cro-Mo, made in USA
    [*]Forks: GT 1"
    [*]Handlebars: Odyssey Flying Wedge 27" X 9"
    [*]Stem: GT "meat mallet"
    [*]Grips: A'me Supersoft BMX
    [*]Seatpost: Stylizer "snake" layback 22.2mm
    [*]Seat: Dyno by Viscount
    [*]Seatpost clamp: GT
    [*]Levers: Dia-Compe Tech-77 w.locking buttons
    [*]Front brake/pads: Dia-Compe 883 Nippon Weinmann -adjuster/Skyway Tuff pads
    [*]Rear brake/pads: Dia-Compe 994/Skyway Tuff pads
    [*]Gyro: Odyssey 1"
    [*]Gyro cables: Odyssey
    [*]Brake cable, front: Dia-Compe
    [*]Headset: GT
    [*]Cranks: GT Power Series 3pc. (by SR Sakae Ringyo stamped '89) 175mm aluminum arms, Cro-Mo axle.
    [*]Pedals: Victor VP-555 DX copies
    [*]Front sprocket: GT Powerdisc/Tioga CR-1 Compact Disc chainwheel 42T, GT bolts
    [*]Bottom bracket: Tioga BB-220ST "Sealed Tech" 24T
    [*]Chain: "Joint-all" (made in taiwan) ½" x 1/8"
    [*]Rear sprocket: generic 15T
    [*]Wheels: Peregrine Master -Graphite composite mags, with Suzue BB in front and Suntour Coaster/freecoaster in rear.
    [*]Pegs: Tioga Roll-on, 26T front, 24T rear
    [*]Tires: Panaracer Freestyle 20 x 1.75 black/skinwall
    [*]Tubes: Kenda 20 x 1.75-2.125
    [/list]
    Thanks for your time!

    -Timo

    [ February 02, 2006, 08:15 AM: Message edited by: 2FRESH ]
FreeEnterprise
Feb 2 2006, 07:23 AM
Great job Timo, I really like the graphics on that black frame too. The colors you used look great with those stickers.

I always liked the tioga roll ons, Just don't overtighten as I stripped out three of mine... I even started drilling holes in all my other pegs so that I could tighten them the same way.
Spicoli
Feb 2 2006, 07:33 AM
Hey Timo, very cool build !! I like everything about it, great parts, killer colors, its all good !!
You build'em how I like'em, Im a part mixer too !! I think it gives a bike some character to mix it up a little, not that there is anything wrong with a OE build , I love them too.
Do you plan to ride it ?
loj
Feb 2 2006, 07:48 AM
Nicely done!!

Crazy that Odyssey would build bars with a 9" rise and a 130lb weight limit. They're for tall, skinny riders I guess.

Very clean build. I do like the graphics on the black.

[ February 02, 2006, 08:49 AM: Message edited by: loj ]
Pauly
Feb 2 2006, 08:02 AM
quote:
They're for tall, skinny riders I guess
Perfect for Timo then!
Lol.
Cool build. I don't think I've seen those decals before. Is the frame/fork any different than an 87-88 model year?
91Master
Feb 2 2006, 08:22 AM
Timo! Another Awesome Build bro! Now get a a pic of all you builds together.
Needrock
Feb 2 2006, 08:32 AM
yea, all together now. Great looking scoot.
malp
Feb 2 2006, 09:19 AM
Timo you rule. Sick bike!!!

I agree with 91master I want to see all the builds together.
raul
Feb 2 2006, 09:35 AM
Awesome build Timo, as always. I agree with the others, we need a group shot of your bikes.

Now, I've been meaning to ask you, what's the deal with the wall-mounted trucks? Are those your bike racks?
coaster
Feb 2 2006, 09:36 AM
Nice, can you please show a pic where we can see your ride from the front? Nice Bars, do you know a shop that sells them?
joe vasquez
Feb 2 2006, 12:07 PM
your bike looks killer Timo. great job. where did you get the decals for it?
Metal Head
Feb 2 2006, 12:47 PM
awesome build. nice to see all the graphics colors in the parts.

heh..."Not recommended for riders over 130 lbs." how many of us still weigh 130 or under?
jesboogie
Feb 2 2006, 02:10 PM
Wicked cool build,

Jesse D
Pete Q
Feb 2 2006, 02:12 PM
Wow, that bike's insane! Excellent photos too! Can we get a group shot or your rides?
2FRESH
Feb 2 2006, 06:12 PM
Thank you guys.

Hey Spicoli, sounds great! It's cool to choose matching parts from different manufacturers. You're right, it really adds to the character. In this case it was also a must because the original stock parts would've been so hard to find.
Not planning to do any tricks with it but i will go for some cruising with it in the summer for sure, just to show it off in the sunshine lol

Loj, i've was surprised by the bar's weight limit too. It seems odd cause they're obviously for normal size riders with the 9" rise and all. Now they do flex quite bit when putting weight on to them, and i sure wouldn't feel comfortable doing grip rides with it. It just flexes too much. Still, i think it's a unique feature it has the weight limit.
Paulie, true. In Kilograms that limit is only 65 kilos which is ten kilos less than what i weigh so technically i shouldn't ride those bars. Btw, has anyone of you guys seen such a weight limit on any other bars? Howbout the earlier Wege bar with the higher/wider crossbar? Did that have limit too? I'm curious.
Those '89 decals are the ones i remember the best cause i had barely started riding when this frame came out. From what i've seen in pictures and catalogs i can't see any significant differences between this and the 87-88 model. Someone school me if i've missed something.

I have few other projects i'd like to finish up before taking the group shot, but that WILL happen eventually. I'll promise.

Raul, the trucks you see mounted on the wall work as our clothes hanger. I came up with the idea due to having too many Variflex trucks lying around the apartment. Now they can be used for something.

Coaster, no problem. There's few more shots coming up in this post. The bars are from ebay, i wish i knew a shop too that would sell them. However i have a spare set of exact same black wedge bars just like the one in the bike. If you're interested in a trade let me know.

Joe, the decals were already on the frame when i got it. Now the problem was that the seat tube decal was misplaced on the lower tube so i guess (some of) the previous owner(s) had probably applied the decals at some point. I'm not sure.

Hmm.. Found an very interesting detail today while taking more pics that i haven't paid attention to before. The serial# of the frame is: 9873180
Now isn't it that the second and third numbers combined indicates the year of manufacture? Could it really be possible that this is actually a '87 frame with '89 decals!? This is getting even more exciting!

Now here's some more shots:




The serial#


Here's some shots of the bars. I still think these are one of the illest freestyle bars to date which is why i like them so much.


The eerie light upon the rear mag. I liked this shot so i decided to share it for no particular reason.


I'm proud of this low-profile nut & bolt combo i made to attach the brake arm smoothly to the frame.


The regular nut on the brake pads were tough to operate, so i switched on some hex head nuts to save some space. Now did i make any sense with these explanations? lol wow It's two o'clock in the mornign and i reaally should go to sleep but you guys keep me awake posting this stuff..

Thanks again you all!!
Signing out 2:12 AM. Good night.

-Timo
K-Dog
Feb 2 2006, 06:27 PM
Bike looks sweet.

The color balance is fantastic.

Job very well done !!!!!!
sickboy
Feb 2 2006, 08:31 PM
Another sweet build Timo. Really diggin the color combo........Cool team stickers too. I sooooo need a set of those.
pjbaz
Feb 2 2006, 08:40 PM
Yep, that serial # makes it Sept. 87, and even though 87 decals are easy to come by I think the 89's are way better. You hardly ever see 88 or 89's.

I have a late 88 without 990's...long thread months ago on that, but it's nowhere near done.

That ride is really sweet.

J
MidLifeCrisis
Feb 2 2006, 08:54 PM
2 Fresh, that bike is 2 sweet.

Nice job.
Matt427
Feb 2 2006, 09:13 PM
Nice build for sure, but I'm really diggin' those purple walls!
2FRESH
Feb 3 2006, 08:16 AM
Thanks guys, you're all 2 nice

pjbaz, that is interesting with the serial/date but yes, i'm definitely keeping the '89 decals on especially now that the whole bike is built around their color theme..

Scanned an ad from dec. '88:


I have noticed an interesting feature in late 80's/early 90's GT ads and catalogs.
Now look very closely at the first picture, you can see there are u-brake posts yet no u-brake is mounted but a regular rear caliper brake instead. Now what was going on there at the time, why didn't the mount u-brakes on their bikes for these ads??
I remember someone said here that there was shortage of u-brakes at one time, but i've seen the same happen in few other old GT catalogs too.
It feels strange if they marketed their bikes with caliper brakes while the u-brake posts did exist on their frames. Confusing.
Does anybody know more about this or even paid attention to this detail?
Thanks,

-Timo
86waterpumper
Feb 3 2006, 08:50 AM
Hey Timo that is a sweet build man! It seems like noone else much is doing or has done the late 80's builds, I too have a 89 gt frame like yours I want to build up, it is the chrome one like on the ad. You don't know of a source to get those stickers do you? I need them desperately for mine as my frame is naked at the moment. As far as the u brake fiasco, I too have noticed that in the very late 80's and early 90's they seemed to go out of favor, if you look at the old mags, none of the bikes used them hardly. I think everyone went to pitbulls and boas and thought they were going to be superior to ubrakes for whatever reason, the wilkerson airlines bike didn't have them, none of the bully bikes that you see in the ads had 990's either, I have a mag from 91 too, and it shows teh mongoose hooligan, and it had a regular caliper too in the rear, This obviously was a short lived fad, I guess by 92 or 93 they went back to u brakes again.
pjbaz
Feb 3 2006, 12:30 PM
If you look at that first scan you can see where the 990 mount was/is? It appears to have either been ground off or removed from the photo.

This was a long conversation we had in the thread I mentioned about my PFT.

Yours is still sweet though.
Pauly
Feb 3 2006, 12:51 PM
Timo,
ROBERTO has done some research on the 89 GT/Dynos. In all the ads he said they all had calipers buy he never actually saw an 89 that did not have 990 mounts.
BillyDub
Feb 3 2006, 01:10 PM
I think this build is sick man. Im not trying to stoke your coat but your builds are consistantly good.

Well done.
86EndoKing
Feb 3 2006, 02:12 PM
Nice color combo and choice of components. Works really well together.

86EK
melvinsarmy
Feb 3 2006, 08:24 PM
Sweet PFT. I love those bikes, you're build turned out awesome!
I love GT
Feb 4 2006, 05:32 PM
Great bike!!! loose the tioga roll ons though> Just my opinion! really nice build!
2FRESH
Feb 5 2006, 08:02 AM
quote:
loose the tioga roll ons though>
Thanks but ain't gonna happen!
Well i had problems finding some black GT aluminum pegs and on the other hand i felt the build was "too recent" for GT frame/forkstanders though i guess they still came stock equip in '89.
Hudson
Feb 5 2006, 03:29 PM
Wurd...a source for 89 stickers would be cool...those stickers are dizzope
2FRESH
Jun 11 2006, 03:30 AM
Pumping up an old topic with an update and a brief test. Yesterday the bike went for it's maiden voyage and i took the first few outdoor pics, here you go:

Finnish summer does not get any better than what this shot presents:


..Even the beetlebug was seemingly enjoying the GT and the sunshine:


..just a regular side shot:


In all the bike handled really well except for the bars that felt a little high for my personal taste combined with the regular height GT stem. But then again, i'm normally riding inverted DK stem with 8" rise bars so, no wonder. Nevertheless the bars/stem have the right look for my taste and the bike is basicly meant for just "showing off" so it really doesn't matter.
The bike was VERY comfortable to ride & cruise around the city and the colored details were absolutely glowing in natural light. Keep in mind that this was THE FIRST time ever this bike saw daylight in this end of the globe because i finished the build in the middle of coldest scandinavian winter in february.
While cruising the Tioga pegs constantly reminded me of their existence with the rattling noise caused by the end rollers and the tiny bearings inside. I took care of that by removing the bearings and fitting tiny rubber strips between the roller and peg. Problem solved. Ahh.. the silence.
At first i feared that the 42/15 gear ratio would feel weird but it didn't actually. It was perfect, not too easy but not too tight to pedal. The restored GT cranks worked great as you'd expect.
I was little worried about the braking marks on the pristine Peregrine mags and how they'd perform in action because the color of the pads isn't exact match with them. However, you really couldn't see any marks unless you looked up close.
The grips. They are A'me "super soft" and that they indeed are. They felt almost TOO soft for getting a good solid grip of the handlebars. Oh well, since i couldn't find any Tri's or Round's with matching color they'll have to do for now. The search continues.
No problems with anything else, the bike feels compact yet there is enough room for such a flagpole like me to pedal comfortably.

Thanks.
serva
Jun 11 2006, 05:25 AM
Hey Timo! I just caught this mate! Thats one cool build there.....I love the f/f and bars...and cranks....man, I love it all!.....mate, you take great photo's too! I dig the bettlebug shot!
Really cool bike...

Scott
Ricky D
Jun 11 2006, 07:03 AM
man that thing is "SWEET". you never see the 89 and you did a great job on that build
mnewxcv
Jun 11 2006, 08:54 AM
hows the hang 5s on that thing?
2FRESH
Jun 11 2006, 10:28 AM
Scott, cheers mate! The bug also had a great taste IMO and sweet was my aim with the colors indeed. Thanks guys!!
Hang 5's huh..? Haha! just terrible. Even my 6-foot-long legs didn't help me this time.
BOB-O
Jun 11 2006, 03:09 PM
very nice build..i like the wedge bars....A+
Spicoli
Jun 11 2006, 03:16 PM
Timo, flanelcamel has a set of purple "old font" Tris on the bay right now...if your interested in purchasing them and if he wont ship them over seas, LMK, and I'll try to win them for you, and I'll send them over...
-Joe
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...MEWA%3APIC&rd=1
2FRESH
Jun 11 2006, 03:54 PM
Bob thanks!
Joe, those are exactly the ones i'm looking for! I just asked flanelcamel about the overseas shipping. Thanks for the tip, i will PM you as soon as i know.
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