Everyone Is Talking About GT Bicycles

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  • Опубліковано 29 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 76

  • @michaelwolf8781
    @michaelwolf8781 Місяць тому +10

    In 1980 GT was very popular in Germany. I always wanted a GT BMX. Never got one. It was too expensive😩😂

    • @LawrenceMacMacster
      @LawrenceMacMacster Місяць тому

      When I finally got my brother's GT BMX to replace my constrictor from Sears I discovered mountain biking. They were the coolest, in my neighborhood at least

  • @Sixbillion1
    @Sixbillion1 Місяць тому +2

    Thank you for being the one voice of reason on UA-cam. So many freak outs and speculation going around.

  • @steve_exclamationpoint
    @steve_exclamationpoint Місяць тому +4

    I raced bmx in the early 90's mostly in the Illinois areas. Lots of good times and I loved my GT Power Series. Had a bunch of purple anodized parts on it w/ Profile 3 piece cranks. Wish I still had it! Those were some great times for bmx brands
    .

  • @kennethwellington9547
    @kennethwellington9547 Місяць тому +1

    I still have my RTS1 frame, that was when GT was an innovator.

  • @Cavecreekgoat
    @Cavecreekgoat 29 днів тому +1

    As an old BMXer myself (Still have my ELF Doublecross cruiser), I am a bit sad about the GT debacle and understand where you are coming from. However, saying that they have been trash since the turn of the century is not actually 100% accurate. Case in point is the GT Grade Carbon gravel bike. The GT Grade Carbon has been recognized in the past by multiple publications and websites. One notable award was given by BikeRadar, which named the GT Grade "Gravel Bike of the Year" in 2020 and the GT Grade Carbon Pro LE in 2024. They also had to fire many pro riders they were sponsoring, showing they were at some level supporting the industry. I just think they deserve credit where credt is due. In the end, I realllllly hope they come back with a bang!

  • @bhoop4076
    @bhoop4076 Місяць тому +5

    100%, and it’s not just confined to the bicycle industry. Everything seems to be getting diluted down to a strictly-for-profit end.

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      Yeah, I just heard Arctic Cat is shutting down and they too were purchased by some investment conglomerate. So sad to see.

    • @chadfren
      @chadfren Місяць тому +1

      our activities are under attack

  • @charliemartha4455
    @charliemartha4455 Місяць тому +1

    I literally just sold a 86 GT Zoot Scooter in light purple in color last week.
    I do wish I had my GT Preformer from back then though

  • @martinschwartz7342
    @martinschwartz7342 Місяць тому +4

    The smaller companies are usually the best, but can be so expensive. I do love my Industry Nine Hydra Hub but it cost me over half of my Social Security check.

  • @hitman6191
    @hitman6191 Місяць тому +1

    Hence why mongoose was sold at Walmart. Now it all make sense.
    I just bought a GT Pro Performer Heritage in black. Decent bike so far

  • @johnsheetz6639
    @johnsheetz6639 Місяць тому +4

    That triple triangle. I know it's not BMX but I've had every brand of mountain bike maybe around a 96 GT aggressor is on my list and from what I've heard it isn't the greatest frame out there Gahh damn it looks cool though!

  • @stevenpatrick6104
    @stevenpatrick6104 Місяць тому +2

    That GT Voelker bike in the early 2000's was fantastic- there was some great stuff going on there then, too.

  • @a.k.vollmer5200
    @a.k.vollmer5200 Місяць тому +2

    My first “real” bike as a kid was a 1994 ish GT performer. Bright green with black splatter paint and mag wheels. I was the coolest kid in hood 😁. I sure do miss those days

  • @kidsafe
    @kidsafe Місяць тому +3

    Also DiamondBack and Raleigh under Accell ownership. It all went so badly 6-7 years ago when they decided to blast their product across every type of sales channel including Amazon, Sports Authority, direct-to-consumer, etc. And then Fuji and Kestrel at ASI, though that was more the near bankruptcy of Performance Bike threatening to erase all their debt they owed.

  • @ChrisAnderson0320
    @ChrisAnderson0320 Місяць тому +1

    I miss the GT Dyno days in the early 1990s late 1980s. I had a Dyno my friend had the Dyno Air. We rode everyday even though we had cars. Also had a Mongoose Decade and a Gary Fisher Pure Bender Kick. Miss when they made freestyle bikes you could just cruise around on now they just design them to do the tricks not just cruise around and really ride longer distances. Use to ride my 10+ miles on a given day

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому +1

      I have a modern freestyle bike. I run a rear brake and an S&M Long Johnson post with the S&M quick release. This allows me to ride my bike longer distances if needed while being able to raise and lower my seat as needed. Brakes come in handy for well..... stopping.

  • @nickroth593
    @nickroth593 Місяць тому +2

    Funny the say after I buy a GT my feed is flooded with this info. So, how does my phone know to suddenly give me this info? Such a weird time to be alive.

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      Our phones not only track our Internet searches, they also listen to us. If your phone is nearby and you talk about a certain subject, your news feed or ads will show up related to that subject. It has happened to me many times.

    • @cameronhoyle3735
      @cameronhoyle3735 Місяць тому

      Ask about me... My Name is Cameron Hoyle. Jamie Berwick will know my bud Shaun Allison. It's nice to know a fellow rider

  • @anthonymasluk2295
    @anthonymasluk2295 Місяць тому +4

    I have a gt 29 world tour Maui blue big bike bmx it’s in mint condition maybe it will only go up in value

  • @daytch9485
    @daytch9485 Місяць тому +4

    Now would be the time to buy GT

    • @humiditysaC
      @humiditysaC Місяць тому

      PON isn't selling it yet. They have over a year of glut inventory to sell off before they can think about that. The bike industry is in a huge downturn, so it is tough for even the best brands out there. Now is NOT a good time to be selling bikes. Hope it gets better...

  • @Ketoandkilts
    @Ketoandkilts Місяць тому +1

    I really liked Ragley for mountain bikes I guess they went under also

  • @eemers3005
    @eemers3005 Місяць тому +3

    Nice video, thanks for saying it how it is.

  • @greg1083
    @greg1083 Місяць тому +4

    Lynskey out of Nashville Tenn.

  • @realvaughnfelix
    @realvaughnfelix Місяць тому +3

    I loved my first GT, Interceptor! That it got stolen… Sadness… 1991...

  • @Trailripper07
    @Trailripper07 Місяць тому +1

    Re: Kona, it was in fact Dan & Jake the original founders who bought it back from PE.

  • @steveratajek8231
    @steveratajek8231 Місяць тому +3

    I agree, I don't think GT has made a quality bike/parts since 1999. They should just give the name back to Gary Turner, that is if he even wants it.
    Daylight Cycles is another high quality bike compony that is made in the US i believe. Very cool stuff.

  • @Holeshot260
    @Holeshot260 Місяць тому +3

    Profile Racing, TNT, ELF, S&M, BOSS Racing, Crupi BMX, Some Supercross frames, Bullseye BMX

    • @ZippyLikesZippers
      @ZippyLikesZippers Місяць тому

      The only US made item TNT makes are the stems.

    • @Holeshot260
      @Holeshot260 Місяць тому

      Website said their frames are.

  • @XCRiders
    @XCRiders Місяць тому +2

    I had a 1988 GT all Terra Avalanche
    hand made in Japan.

  • @philfortner1805
    @philfortner1805 Місяць тому +1

    Santa Cruz must be in trouble because the founder joined Specialized.

  • @markbooth6745
    @markbooth6745 Місяць тому +1

    So true, its all about marketing. 😃👍

  • @LawrenceMacMacster
    @LawrenceMacMacster Місяць тому +1

    My first MTB was a 1991 zaskar, I also had a 1996 LTS the company was on fire back then, up to the idrive bikes and the bad buyout I loved the brand.
    When Pon brought them back along with Cannondale I had hope but they never had the same ressources and backing from Pon, like an afterthought to Cannondale. They screwed up big time, so much brand value but so poorly exploited.

  • @teenoltae
    @teenoltae Місяць тому +4

    Craig Turner is doing GT1972 .

  • @3rdWorldNola
    @3rdWorldNola Місяць тому +2

    yea, S&M bought a lot of the old BMX manufacturing stuff like the handlebar bender from GT when they sold all the USA factory stuff in Cali.
    Also, seems like the death of the bike shop was followed by the death of the bike shop brands and GT, Mongoose and Diamondback were the BMX brands shops used to carry when local bike shops were still carrying BMX.
    Recently, GT wasnt seen as core especially when they seemed to push the Bike life SE wheelie bikes more than anything. The 20' BMX brand was more for retro builds.

    • @chadfren
      @chadfren Місяць тому

      in my opinion, the "bike life" community is an absolute disgrace to the human race. I've been riding BMX for 36 years. I'm 39.

  • @johnsheetz6639
    @johnsheetz6639 Місяць тому +2

    Taiwan's had their hand in bike making for years! I know because I think I have one of the first ones a 1988 trek 900 I took one look at the welds I knew something was up no lugs, pinholes in the welds it does have a tange sticker on it but it doesn't say anything about butted lol I will say the bottom bracket pieces were top notch Sugino just tells me it was a place that was just learning to build frames and it wasn't in Wisconsin 😅

  • @g_mack
    @g_mack Місяць тому +4

    rocky mountain might be going down too

    • @hammertime7740
      @hammertime7740 Місяць тому

      Yep,so many rumors. I heard trek too

    • @shawnbarstad3308
      @shawnbarstad3308 Місяць тому +1

      @@hammertime7740 I heard Rocky Mountain too but Trek? If Trek would shutter then it’s all over with.

    • @bikdav
      @bikdav Місяць тому

      @@shawnbarstad3308I heard that TREK had a close call because of their size (probably due to the COVID fiasco). But, I understand that they are on smooth ground again.

  • @javi3_14
    @javi3_14 Місяць тому +2

    lbs said theyre restructuring and going higher end like santa cruz

  • @JoeSmith-ig3pr
    @JoeSmith-ig3pr Місяць тому +3

    I had an I Drive. Cutting edge at the time but sometimes unreliable.

  • @Wannaridebikes
    @Wannaridebikes Місяць тому +2

    That pacific brand they did buy bike companies up. I don’t know if gt was in the mix but kinda think so. And yes I heard the pause. But yet GT was the bike to go to steel frame the triangle I own some steel frame GT. And yes I own cannondale and yup out sourced. And a lot has done that.

  • @coltonowens2742
    @coltonowens2742 Місяць тому +2

    Were bikes as expensive pre investment firms?

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      You could get a complete USA Made Pro Team Model for about $800 back then. That would be the highest quality US Made Frame, Fork, Seat Post, Crankset, Sprocket, Pedals, Bars, and Hubs. That was a lot of money in the mid to late 90s, about $1500 adjusted for inflation, but worth it.
      Today a top of the line all Asian made BMX bike is around $1300 for freestyle and even more for a racing bike.

    • @coltonowens2742
      @coltonowens2742 Місяць тому +1

      @@ShadLife Thanks for the answer. I was a little kid in the 90's, so I had no idea. $1500 bucks for a top shelf USA made bike is very reasonable.
      Investment firms have done tremendous damage to all aspects of cycling. Outsourcing production to cheaper parts of the world, and dumping money into BS marketing so consumers fall for the latest trends. Road cyclists fell for it the hardest, followed by MTBers.
      At least that's my opinion.

  • @saddleweary2777
    @saddleweary2777 Місяць тому +2

    Most bikes unless it's very high end, that says it's made in the U.S. means it was put together in the U.S. They are all fabricated in Asia except for small boutique brands

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      They generally don't say, "Made in USA" in that case. They will say, "Designed in USA" or simply have a US flag sticker somewhere. I don't know of a brand that says, "Made in USA" when it's actually manufactured in Asia.

    • @saddleweary2777
      @saddleweary2777 Місяць тому

      @ShadLife yea, that's right, I didn't think about that. I figured you knew, I was wanting others to see so they don't get fooled by the deception that is on so many labels. In the honey business if it doesn't read 100 percent pure honey they are allowed to use corn syrup without putting in the ingredients even though the label states it's 100 percent honey.

  • @coletrick8748
    @coletrick8748 Місяць тому +2

    I agree GT bikes have been absolut garbage after 1999. No loss to hear this news.

  • @brokentapedeck
    @brokentapedeck Місяць тому +2

    Im pretty sure the buy out was from Seattle bike supply. Mongoose and shwinn stopped being good in the 80s. GT/Gary Turner is being ran by his son. Gary Turner is still riding. Gary Turner is still riding big wheeled bikes. They are hand building there frames them selfs. There not interested in mass production at the moment.

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      Seattle Bike Supply owned Redline and Torker for a while. I don't ever recall them owning GT, Mongoose, or Schwinn.

    • @brokentapedeck
      @brokentapedeck Місяць тому +1

      @@ShadLife yea that era was a giant cluster F GT changed hands a bunch. At 1 point a Bavarian company from over seas owned most everything under different company names.

  • @AmazingChinaToday
    @AmazingChinaToday Місяць тому +3

    Haro should buy GT

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      That will likely never happen.

    • @anthonymasluk2295
      @anthonymasluk2295 Місяць тому

      @@ShadLife it should though May bring them back. Big time

  • @liquidSpin
    @liquidSpin 20 днів тому

    GT killed itself for many reason but not because they moved their frame building overseas. The main reason which I agree was "quantity over quality" was their downfall in the late 90's.
    But let's be real. Bike brands moved to having their bikes built overseas in Asia isn't a bad thing. Sure we lose jobs over here but guess what? In the US labor costs is more expensive. Continue to build here in the US then most bikes will be out of reach including the walmart/target bikes. The other thing is, Asia produces the best bikes. Their R&D and factories are better as they are years ahead of us. So not only is it cheaper but better for the consumer over all.
    Brands like Enve and Chris King are still made in the US but guess what? They still are a small fraction of the bike industry and they also cost a lot and they don't offer "entry level" bikes which brands like Trek, Cannondale, Giant and Scott do.

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  20 днів тому +1

      Actually, back when bicycles used to be mass produced here in the United States people were paid better liveable wages and the bicycles were affordable. Remember Schwinn? Huffy also used to make their bikes here. Yep, affordable and US made before they started outsourcing to Asia in the late 70s and early 80s.
      GT and Cannondale mass produced affordable bikes all the way through the 90s. When you have the facilities to be able to mass produce products you can make them affordable in the United States. The problem is, bigger companies wanted to make higher profits. It's the shareholders and those who want to not just make a profit, but continue increasing them that cause outsourcing.
      They want you to think it's because of higher labor costs, but it's not and it never has been. It's far more closer to greed. And the bicycle industry isn't the only industry impacted by this.
      It's pretty sad really. And yeah, today Asia makes the best quality bicycles because the U.S. companies basically handed to them. They literally sent experts over there to show them how to do it and they did quality control.

    • @liquidSpin
      @liquidSpin 20 днів тому

      @@ShadLife Yeah, but I remember my parents telling me the Huffy that I wanted was too expensive but yeah totally agree with what you said about if we had more factories here to make the bikes then they would get cheaper.
      It makes me wonder what bikes would be like today had most major American brands stayed in the US.
      But I can't help but think about how things would cost the american consumer if it wasn't produced overseas....such as clothes. Definitely not advocating for sweatshop labor but would clothes made in the US (due to capitalism be even more expensive?)
      This world isn't fair sometimes haha

  • @donparsons1237
    @donparsons1237 Місяць тому +2

    There are 1000's of better quality bikes that can easily replace the gt junk,,, the quality of them suck. Cheap hubs and crank sets... garbage brakes rims and spokes... The world won't miss them since theres better units with better quality parts at a lower price... bike shops don't sell junk...😂

  • @jasoncrandall
    @jasoncrandall Місяць тому

    Newsflash….. every brand was created to make money. You just didn’t realize it till now. Outsourcing had to be done to stay competitive. True for every business. If they kept producing in America an aluminum bike frame would cost $10k

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      There is a difference between making money doing something you enjoy and are into vs making money to please shareholders.
      When making money doing something you enjoy, you will be okay if sales go down some, you will also likely plan for this to happen from time to time. As long as you make enough money to make a living and pay employees it's all good.
      But for shareholders, it's about always growing and always making those shares go up. The moment there is a downturn and the shareholders are losing money on their stocks, the companies will want to liquidate their assets (companies in this particular case) as quickly as possible so the shareholders don't lose much money. It's not just about making a profit, it's about growing those profits to fill the pockets of people who literally do nothing for the company nor do they care about the company. The company can still be making profits, but if those profits are less than they were 6 months or a year ago they want to do drastic things to make those profits go up again. It's simply not a sustainable model and shareholders are the reason companies do massive layoffs and stop manufacturing or in this case, dump entire brands.
      So yeah, investment firms buying bicycle brands, or any other type of product brands, is a very bad thing for the industry.

    • @jasoncrandall
      @jasoncrandall Місяць тому

      @ your competition doesn’t share your version of reality. Sure there are frame builders in the USA that do it cuz they love it and their frames cost many thousands. So they’re not being altruistic at all as you suggest. The “cool” frames cost big bucks. The “cool” builders aren’t building in exchange for hugs.

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      Sure, that is likely the state of things today because the factories that used to mass produce frames at an affordable cost have all been shut down, with the exception of a couple of BMX brands.
      GT Bicycles manufactured affordable US made frames in the 80s and 90s because they had a factory capable of doing so. The only reason we see US made product frames costing so much is because it is small boutique brands doing it. They have limited resources and they don't produce in large enough quantities to keep costs down.
      But S & M, a BMX company, produces frames, forks, bars, and other US made products and is able to sell them at nearly the same price point as the Asian made brands.
      Unfortunately, the state of things today, and not just in the bicycle industry, is that the United States has completely lost a massive chunk of its mass production capability. When products are mass produced and a high level of productivity can be achieved, you can sell stuff nearly as cheap as it is to import things. It's the investors that want to maximize profits and much as they possibly can that want to outsource to cheap labor.

    • @jasoncrandall
      @jasoncrandall Місяць тому

      @ the USA lost its mass production capability because the middle class spent the last 50 years voting itself handouts. So their jobs left to where it’s cheaper and less regulated. Now the middle class can’t afford to live in the nice parts of the country so they’re getting pushed to the rural areas while the wealthy people in the countries where the middle class jobs went to decades ago move to the USA to escape the 3rd world dump where they built their factories. In 100 years America will be the Aspen of the World all because the American Middle Class voted for “fairness” over hard work.

  • @matthewgates4130
    @matthewgates4130 Місяць тому

    The top shelf stuff from the Wilton CT crew were really good products.
    Don't be so "old school snob".
    They got a lot of people into cycling of all disciplines.
    And it was the bad business practices of the old original GT that put it out of business.

    • @ShadLife
      @ShadLife  Місяць тому

      🤣 Investment firms are never a good thing for the bicycle industry or any industry for that matter. That's my entire point here.