# My 90s GT Triple Triangle XC/Hardtail/Gravel-thing build



## Acecraft (9 mo ago)

Been out of the saddle for quite some time, mainly due to a dirt bike injury awhile back, but recently got the urge to ride again. I grew up riding BMX, then hardtail dirt jump bikes, then some light single track stuff, which turned into XC, which turned into road, which turned into fixed gears. So I rode the gamut of bikes. About a month ago I decided I wanted a bike again but I couldn't decide what I wanted. I want to be able to leave my house and ride road, then do some gravel, and even some fire road and single track stuff. A gravel bike seemed to fit the bill, but I'm not completely sold on the sub $1k options, and I wanted a bit of cushion from a front fork. So instead decided to build something myself. I've been a massive fan of GT triple triangles since I was a kid. So I went on a hunt to find a clean one, WITH FLAMES!










Found one on offer up and then started gathering parts. I knew I wanted bigger than 26" (I know, geometry, blah blah) but knew 29 was too big, so I bought some WTB 27.5 off of a buddy of mine. Disc conversion was in the cards, so I tore down the bike, opened up the dropouts to accept a 12mm through axle, and welded up a disc caliper mount. I used the $5 bolt on one from amazon as a template and made some major edits to get it to fit with a 180 rotor on the rear. Is it my best welding work? Absolutely not. Will it work? Abso...hopefully.




































I thought about the new load that the seat stay and chain stay will be subject to, so I decided to weld a post as a support. Once that was done, it felt like the seat stay wasn't well supported enough, as it's quite a bit thinner walled than the chainstay. So I welded a gusset ontop of the seat stay. Should work out.



















Some beautiful (spray) paint applied










Started assembling the bike with the new parts. I really wanted to keep it under $1000, so some of the parts I went with basic amazon, but tried to spend the money where it mattered. Here's a parts list:

Fork: Manitou Markor - currently sitting at 100m of travel
Headset: Tioga
Front wheel: WTB 27.5 non boost 15x100
Rear Wheel: WTB 27.5 boost 12x148
Tires: American Classic 650x47
Stem: Kona take off
Bars: Amazon specials 700 width
Grips: Amazon specials
Brakes: 160 up front, 180 rear, calipers and levers are from Amazon
Cassette: 11 speed SRAM NX
Shifter and Derailuer: SRAM NX
BB: Shimano
Cranks: Amazon specails
Chainring: 36t narrow wide
Seatpost: GT
Saddle: Bontrager

Eventually i'll throw some new cranks on it, new chris king headset and work out the Amazon parts. But in the meantime this should get me riding again. All in at $930. Pretty much exactly what I wanted. Was it dumb to throw all of this on a 25 year old frame? Probably. Am I happy? Heck yes.
Here's how she sits right now. Still need to mount rear caliper, run lines, cut fork, etc. Will hopefully wrap up tonight and will post final photos tomorrow.


----------



## wolfmw (Dec 18, 2020)

I love weird old xc stuff reincarnated as "gravel" bikes!


----------



## Sir kayakalot (Jul 23, 2017)

That build makes me smile. Great job


----------



## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)




----------



## CRM6 (Apr 7, 2021)

Love it!
I bought a 90s GT a few years ago off Craigslist for $25. It was completely original! Put slicks on it like a Supermoto and rode it all over Asheville area!


----------



## Acecraft (9 mo ago)

Thanks guys. I ended up fraying the shift cable so didn’t get the chance to finish it before I went out of town for the weekend. Will post up some photos of it done after the weekend


----------



## Acecraft (9 mo ago)

Here's a few finished photos for you guys. Took it for a quick 10 mile loop this morning to make sure everything was dialed in. Rode really well, exactly what I hoped for. Needs a few little tweaks but great starting point. Looking forward to see how it does in the dirt this weekend


----------



## canyoneagle (Sep 27, 2007)

GREAT job!!!!!!
Nice looking build - super sharp!


----------



## Couccu (8 mo ago)

Awesome work! Was the 27.5 wheel easy fit on the frame?

I'm a big fan of modern tech on old frames. The 35 page long "26ers over 10 years old" thread was actually the thing that brought me to this forum in the first place, but sadly it's been archived and can't be replied to... lots of GT builds there.


----------



## Acecraft (9 mo ago)

Couccu said:


> Awesome work! Was the 27.5 wheel easy fit on the frame?
> 
> I'm a big fan of modern tech on old frames. The 35 page long "26ers over 10 years old" thread was actually the thing that brought me to this forum in the first place, but sadly it's been archived and can't be replied to... lots of GT builds there.


Yea fit no problem. Obviously the fork is 27.5 specific, but rear geo fit no problem.
I can't wait to build a few more. I really want to try a bunch of different stuff like an all rigid, as well as build a mountain specific older Kona hardtail.
But I got my hands on another GT, so deciding which route to go with this one next...


----------



## msrothwe (Aug 1, 2007)

So, any thought on running a slightly shorter fork? This is probably a 71/73 frame, so dropping the front 15-30mm from the original would lower the BB a bit and steepen the HTA for a more road-feeling steering feel to cancel out the bigger rolling diameter.


----------



## Acecraft (9 mo ago)

msrothwe said:


> So, any thought on running a slightly shorter fork? This is probably a 71/73 frame, so dropping the front 15-30mm from the original would lower the BB a bit and steepen the HTA for a more road-feeling steering feel to cancel out the bigger rolling diameter.


Yea I plan on dropping the fork to 80mm soon. Been having fun riding it in the meantime though


----------

