# GT Ricochet



## zhillhouse96 (Jun 21, 2018)

Hey, I have been looking for a bike for a little while now, most recently at the diamondback lineup. However about 90% of their bikes are out of stock right now. I don't believe they are going to be in stock for about a month. I was looking at the sync'r or the overdrive as my first bike but have to wait a month or so to restock. Would it be worth it to get this bike in the mean time. 

https://m.dickssportinggoods.com/p/gt-mens-ricochet-plus-sport-27-5-mountain-bike-17gtxmrcchtplsxxxprf/17gtxmrcchtplsxxxprf?recid=Family_PageElement_family1_rr_1_3497_&rrec=true


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

don't buy a bike from Dick's. it's not a bike shop and they don't know/ care about assembling and setting up the bike correctly.


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## Rhodyman (Aug 7, 2015)

This might be worth a look..

https://www.performancebike.com/sho...2-mountain-bike-performance-exclusive-31-7055


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## zhillhouse96 (Jun 21, 2018)

Thanks, I was looking at that bike as well and really liked it. I ended up getting the GT to start out on, I ended up only paying $300 and will end up giving it to my brother. Looking to get a better bike closer to the end of the season hopefully on sale.


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## Rhodyman (Aug 7, 2015)

You'll be fine with the GT. I bought a used Giant Talon 29er a few years ago that came with an XCT fork. I rode it on all the local trails for a year before picking up a Rockshox air fork. Yes, the air fork transformed how the bike handled but I learned a lot and became a better rider by just hitting the trails. 

I bought a new Trek Fuel in late September. It was marked down $500 as it was a '17. You'll find some good deals in the coming months. Best of luck!


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## mtmoriah (Sep 22, 2010)

*GT Ricochet Plus Sport 27.5+*

Resurrecting an old thread for fun. 

March 2019 - I walked into Dick's the other night and they had a PILE of the Medium size (17") and one Large (19") sitting there. They were marked $499.97 PLUS 30% off. I could not resist a $350 deal, so I impulse-bought the 19". Folks may want to check their local stores, since online Dick's says they only have 17" at $599.

I have a lot of bikes, but none of them are over $1,000. I'm kinda a lower-end guy who strives to have a fleet of lower end hardtails to loan to others, take kids riding, etc.

Since this is the Beginner's Corner, here's my synopsis. The most expensive upgrades are Forks and Wheels. The GT has a tapered headtube, so it can accept any modern fork. You can get as much use out of the cheap fork, and then upgrade. The front hub is normal 110mm Boost which is very popular. If you buy a new fork, the front wheel will still work, and if you want an upgraded front wheel, they are easy to find. The REAR hub is trickier. It is 141QR (quick release) Boost, which is far less popular than regular Boost 148 thru-axle hubs. I have read (no experience) that SOME Boost hubs can be used to upgrade, you just have to find "end caps" from that brand's family of hubs for their regular 135mm QR hubs that will fit onto the 148 Boost hubs, and you would have created 141QR Boost. If you are a beginner, try not to blow up your rear hub! (Consider the Dick's protection plan!)

There's a company I've googled called AlpKit Sondor that builds hardtails around the 141QR system and they sell wheelsets that look reasonable. I have no experience with them.

The rims on the GT wheels are 40mm wide, which is plenty to support the 2.8" wide tires. I doubt they can be set up tubeless, at least not safely for Beginners. You'd have to do a "ghetto tubeless" conversion. The cheap wheels in general are, no doubt, contributing to the heft of this inexpensive bike.

One more analysis is the Bottom Bracket (BB) that the crankset rotates on. They call it a 73mm wide BB. This is one of the two old standards on regular mountain bikes, so the PARTS will be VERY easy to obtain. BUT the limitation is this GT frame isn't going to take more than a 2.8" wide tire. That's because the chain is going to hit the side of the tire in 1st gear, if you try to stuff a wider tire into the bike.

One selling point is the frame has rack eyelets, including what looks like TWO sets down at the axle... presumably so you can adjust the height of the rack? I have a unique situation where I like to pull my youngest on a Burley Piccolo. I think I've found a mid-fat bike that will accept that rack!

Not sure if I have buyers-remorse or not. Just a bare Sonder Frame costs $216, so for $350 I got this cheapo-GT frame that happened to come with a bunch of 9 speed parts. Hmm.


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## Doublestuff (May 30, 2019)

I bought one of these for $350 and it was a GREAT buy. I agree with what has been said about Dick's and I have fixed several of their mistakes, but an awesome ride and bike for the money. The fork isn't great - admitted, and the CLANG I hear when the rebound bottoms out isn't great, but I will run it to failure and put a good fork on it and still be sub $600. 

If I could find a similar deal on a FS I would do it in a second!!


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

mack_turtle said:


> don't buy a bike from Dick's. it's not a bike shop and they don't know/ care about assembling and setting up the bike correctly.


Dicks does sell Diamondback bikes and some of those bikes are actually rated quite high for the best bike for the price to get, like the Haanjo, the Release, the Clutch, the Andean, as well a couple of others that escape my memory.

The issue with Dicks is you don't know if the store you buy the bike from had a confident mechanic or just some snot nose kid like Walmart hires to put bikes together. Which is fine because all the other bike related stuff Dicks sell is crap, so just take your repair and parts and accessories buying to a real bike store. But Diamondback represents a great deal.


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