thank you for taking the time to watch and comment, all in all this is a great bike. I think you will be happy with it as well. Thanks again and have a blessed week. Keep us posted on how you like it etc. Dale
Thank you for the kind words brother, I am having so much fun riding again, I know it is not the same as when we all used to ride around in the metro area together, but I still love it and it brings back some very fun memories for me, and reminds me I have gotten out of riding shape hahhaha. I will get it all back soon. Thanks agian brother and have a blessed weekend. Dale
just bought a GT zskar lt expert for my son. I ride the new Pivot Switchblade but had to test drive the GT. I haven't been so entertained by a bike in a long time. You can simply do anything with it. One beautiful toy.
I so agree, it is a fun bike and one a guy might do some sillier stuff on, not to wreck a more expensive bike hahah. I love it for what it is. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us all and I hope yall have a blast riding them around together. Dale
Hey, Dale. Great video! I will tell you this. GT was an independently owned company in the mid 90's. The Zaskar LE was the bike to have back then and a rocket race bike. Unfortunately GT was sold to a huge conglomerate that owns several brands now including Schwinn amongst many others. GT is not the same anymore and cost cutting measures as you found out are prolific. I found the best bang for your buck in Scott bicycles. Check out the Scott Scale 760. It's right at a thousand but doesn't have a dropper seat post but does have a quick release through axle on the front. Scott is huge in Europe but faces a marketing uphill battle with more popular brands like Trek and Specialized.
Thank you for the kind words my friend, it means the world to me. Yes sir, I do recall GT being a brand to have back in the day and it makes sense. I didnt know that about the company selling etc. Ha, you have risen with me on more than one occasion so you know I wont be fast and I wont be racing hahahah. But I still love to ride and enjoy the nature. Thanks again for sharing this with us all and I will check out the Scott Brand as well. Thank you and have a blessed weekend my friend. dale
@@stephensmith8987 You too Brother, stay safe and healthy and I look forward to us all meeting up again one day, may need to make it at broken bow or somewhere that's about half way for all of us.
Hell yeah. Got this beaut end of February. Had looked for videos on it. Either I didn't look for long or... your video just wasn't showing up. Anyway, I'm really glad to see this video. Thanks for the content! & happy biking! : )
Oh thank you so much my friend, it Is a pretty decent bike for the price range. I am enjoying it, Dun times my friends and I hope you have a blessed weekend. dale
I just picked up this bike in the Elite for $799. Nothing below 1k had everything I was looking for. I wanted a tapered fork, 12 speed with clutch, tubeless wheels, boost hubs, dropper seat, hydro disk brakes, and internal cable routing. I plan to upgrade the fork and get tubeless tires down the road. That should improve the ride dramatically and get me under 30 pounds. The cheaper bikes don't have the tapered fork. This bike is super upgradeable. I do wish they had some better color options and removed that big GT logo.
Oh man, I am glad you got fixed up and that is a great purchase price to boot. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed weekend. dale
Wow you really out done yourself on this video. Should have showed Angie instead of Buster though 😂. Geez that ride across the log would have me eating dirt. I never knew some of these bikes seats drops and lowers like that. I really appreciate your honesty on if you would buy this bike or not. Most guys will claim whatever they have is the best and I get it, no one wants to admit they messed up. If they build it to fit me they better have overload springs 😂.
Thank you for the kind words my friend. Ari, the company that will build the bike for you has an air fork in it, so you pump it up to match your weight, it would be a better fork, especially if it had a lock out on it. Thank you for the kind words and thank you for taking the time to watch and comment, Yes sir, the dropper seat post is designed specifically for going over obsticals and or jumps, you lower the seat to get the clearance, so your not hitting the seat, the secondary part for me is using it like a stool if you are just riding around doing easy riding. Thanks again for watching and have a blessed weekend. Dale
Thanks for the review. Mine should arrive tomorrow (I'm in the UK) and I'm looking forward to giving it a good test. Not had a GT since my Aggressor XC2 and I loved that bike. I cracked the frame on my current bike but it has a nice set of Rockshox Revelation forks which will drop straight on to the Zaskar, but I'll keep it stock to start with and see how it goes.
Oh man, good for you, I am sure you have been able to ride it by now, I am so sorry for the delay in my reply, this message got lost with my internet for a while and I apologize for that. Keep us posted on your bike, it is a really fun bike in my opinion, good times. Dale
Great video. I just recently sold my carbon fiber skinny tire road bike and bought a used Trek Procaliber 8 from the bike shop here in Abilene. I decided that at 59, I prefer to be sitting more upright and having more fun riding. To tell you the truth... I will probably swap the flat bars for low profile BMX bars, and I'll have it painted 1972 Formula Firebird orange at a later date too!
Oh thank you for the kind words as well as sharing your story with us. I can't wait to see the new pain job on it as well, How fun is that going to be,. I agree on the more upright sitting position as well. I am not doing hard core mountain bike stuff, I am rolling around hoping to see some deer and or fish off it. Thanks again and I hope you have a blessed week. Dale
I crashed on my gt avalanche a few years back and did not get any scratch on the rear frame because of the qr. That may be the reason for that thru axle qr.
Oh man, I am sorry you crashed , that's not good, Oh yeah, that may well be, I had not thought about that. Thanks of taking the time to watch and comment, and I hope you have a. blessed week. dale
I have the previous model. It’s identical only difference is mine is blue. I haven’t had issues with the dropper. And the replacement coils that fit these is the RockShox Domain. I bought a domain coil that was too long, but was able to find a short coil that fit.
Thank you so much for the feed back my friend. Yes sir, I found the right coil for you and I agree, it is so much better. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed week my friend. Dale
I thought that as well, and have pulled some slack into the seat post after a major adjustment and it appears to just be a flaw to me. I will recheck it again and thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed week. Dale
Perfect, that is so exciting, You are gong to love this bike, it is a fun ride. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed week. dale
hahha, no I am 6 foot and its a large. I think hahhaha Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed week. Ha, in fact, will go look it may be a med, but I doubt it, I will go look, I didnt say it in the video, but I also have been helping some others learn how to do some light mountain bike trails, so this is more specifically for a loaner bike for a buddy wanting to try if that makes sense. Thank you again and I Hope you have a blessed week. Dale,
Great video, but I want to know about your glasses, I had a pair but lost them 😀. Where can I find them ( not the ones I lost but a new pair 😄. Thank you.
Ha, thanks for taking the time to watch and comment, I have enjoyed this bike minus a few quirks. Ha, my Harry Potter Glasses, yeah, I keep loosing them as well, so I order them a few at a time now, this is an affiliate link to the ones I keep buying, they are just readers amzn.to/3wxfDIq I hope you have a blessed weekend my friend. Dale
Thanks for the video I enjoyed it but I do think you're being a bit harsh on your lovely GT Zaskar. The dropper post problem is most likely the cable routing as someone said. All droppers have some movement. The quick release on the back wheel just needs to be done up to correct tightness before closing and it will never come loose in normal riding. The Rockshox fork you have is way better than a Suntour xcr 34 which is one of the most basic cheap air forks and not well regarded. Get the correct spring for your weight in the Rockshox and it's a much better fork. But the best part of your GT Zaskar is the frame with the floating seatstays to give a smooth compliant ride. As for the fezari or ari or whatever they call it this week its a basic old fashioned geometry frame with mostly average parts on it. Not saying the Ari is a bad bike but your Legendary GT Zaskar is way better imo especially with some upgrades. Sorry for the rant but would like you to give the GT a chance 🙂 and keep the videos coming please.
Yes sir, I will agree with all of that. I have thought more about it this morning and I am currently working on a video for my wife's new bike and I did try to say, it was my mistake on the front fork (by overlooking it being a coil fork). Looking at hers which is an air fork, I think led me to some frustrations and when I do a more in-depth review on the bike after I have some decent milage and time on it, I am sure It will be a better picture. I do agree on the sun tour, it may never be as good as rockshox, I have never owned one of them so that was a partial guess on my end I was mostly interested in sharing the upgrade program with others and I guess I should have worded that better. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with us and I Agee, the rear axle could very well have been a mistake on my end twice. Over-all, I believe it could be a decent bike, for the right person and I know it will be getting a lot of use. I pulled this off Jenson Website for this bike on the hubs etc WTB ST i30 TCS 2.0 32H, Tubeless Ready Rims, Formula Boost F/QR R Hubs I do think it is odd for a QR on the rear, Is that something new over the past couple of years, I was not able to be riding, what's your thoughts on it? Dont make sense to me.? Thanks in advance as well, and thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment. I am constantly trying to improve my content and thank you for the constructive criticism. I truly appreciate it more than I can say. I hope you have a blessed week. dale
OH PS, the front fork has the new spring rate in it. It took me a while to find the correct one, rockshox doesn't have a link to them, it just says they make them? The fine folks at worldwide Cyclery helped me by measuring the spring etc to make sure my second one I ordered does fit. Next weeks video will be a quick install video with a link to them. Believe it or not, that was a heck of a challenge to find the right one hahahah. Thanks again my friend for the constructive criticism. I appreciate your mindset. Dale
Yes I've heard good things about Worldwide Cyclery. I still reckon it's a great bike to have some fun on before moving to something better. Look forward to the next video Cheers Art.
QR is an older standard now as bikes designed to do more serious off road have what they call thru axles same as what you have on the front. The screwed in thru axle locates the wheel better and its what the Gt specs say your model should have. I think the factory may have just been trying to cut costs and gone back to the older QR
Hahahha, you have seen some of my bikes in the past this one is the cheapest one I have bought in many years. The specialized StumpJumper I used to ride at work, was probably the most expensive bike I have ever ridden. It was truly a work of art and was pre-dropper seat post days, or at the very beginning of the dropper seat post days, I loved that bike and wish I still had it, it was some of the stuff we had to sell to make the move. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed weekend. Dale
Ha, that made me smile. So thank you so much for that. I do miss it. I won’t lie. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope y’all have a blessed weekend my friend. Dale.
This is a good bike for what it is. You can make no mistake I am not making this stuff up. It’s a real what it cost me review and for what it is. It’s a decent bike. Just know some of the stuff is junk. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed weekend. Keep us posted on what you decide. Dale.
Thank you for this video. I ordered on Jenson USA. I’m excited for this one! Cheers!
thank you for taking the time to watch and comment, all in all this is a great bike. I think you will be happy with it as well. Thanks again and have a blessed week. Keep us posted on how you like it etc.
Dale
Great video Dale. Has me motivated to get the bike back out
Thank you for the kind words brother, I am having so much fun riding again, I know it is not the same as when we all used to ride around in the metro area together, but I still love it and it brings back some very fun memories for me, and reminds me I have gotten out of riding shape hahhaha. I will get it all back soon. Thanks agian brother and have a blessed weekend.
Dale
just bought a GT zskar lt expert for my son. I ride the new Pivot Switchblade but had to test drive the GT. I haven't been so entertained by a bike in a long time. You can simply do anything with it. One beautiful toy.
I so agree, it is a fun bike and one a guy might do some sillier stuff on, not to wreck a more expensive bike hahah. I love it for what it is. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us all and I hope yall have a blast riding them around together.
Dale
Hey, Dale. Great video! I will tell you this. GT was an independently owned company in the mid 90's. The Zaskar LE was the bike to have back then and a rocket race bike. Unfortunately GT was sold to a huge conglomerate that owns several brands now including Schwinn amongst many others. GT is not the same anymore and cost cutting measures as you found out are prolific. I found the best bang for your buck in Scott bicycles. Check out the Scott Scale 760. It's right at a thousand but doesn't have a dropper seat post but does have a quick release through axle on the front. Scott is huge in Europe but faces a marketing uphill battle with more popular brands like Trek and Specialized.
Thank you for the kind words my friend, it means the world to me. Yes sir, I do recall GT being a brand to have back in the day and it makes sense. I didnt know that about the company selling etc. Ha, you have risen with me on more than one occasion so you know I wont be fast and I wont be racing hahahah. But I still love to ride and enjoy the nature. Thanks again for sharing this with us all and I will check out the Scott Brand as well. Thank you and have a blessed weekend my friend.
dale
@HeartlandMakesAndOutdoors always good to hear from you Dale!
@@stephensmith8987 You too Brother, stay safe and healthy and I look forward to us all meeting up again one day, may need to make it at broken bow or somewhere that's about half way for all of us.
Hell yeah. Got this beaut end of February. Had looked for videos on it. Either I didn't look for long or... your video just wasn't showing up. Anyway, I'm really glad to see this video. Thanks for the content! & happy biking! : )
Oh thank you so much my friend, it Is a pretty decent bike for the price range. I am enjoying it,
Dun times my friends and I hope you have a blessed weekend.
dale
I just picked up this bike in the Elite for $799. Nothing below 1k had everything I was looking for.
I wanted a tapered fork, 12 speed with clutch, tubeless wheels, boost hubs, dropper seat, hydro disk brakes, and internal cable routing.
I plan to upgrade the fork and get tubeless tires down the road. That should improve the ride dramatically and get me under 30 pounds.
The cheaper bikes don't have the tapered fork. This bike is super upgradeable. I do wish they had some better color options and removed that big GT logo.
Oh man, I am glad you got fixed up and that is a great purchase price to boot. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed weekend.
dale
Wow you really out done yourself on this video. Should have showed Angie instead of Buster though 😂. Geez that ride across the log would have me eating dirt. I never knew some of these bikes seats drops and lowers like that. I really appreciate your honesty on if you would buy this bike or not. Most guys will claim whatever they have is the best and I get it, no one wants to admit they messed up. If they build it to fit me they better have overload springs 😂.
Thank you for the kind words my friend. Ari, the company that will build the bike for you has an air fork in it, so you pump it up to match your weight, it would be a better fork, especially if it had a lock out on it. Thank you for the kind words and thank you for taking the time to watch and comment, Yes sir, the dropper seat post is designed specifically for going over obsticals and or jumps, you lower the seat to get the clearance, so your not hitting the seat, the secondary part for me is using it like a stool if you are just riding around doing easy riding.
Thanks again for watching and have a blessed weekend.
Dale
Thanks for the review. Mine should arrive tomorrow (I'm in the UK) and I'm looking forward to giving it a good test. Not had a GT since my Aggressor XC2 and I loved that bike. I cracked the frame on my current bike but it has a nice set of Rockshox Revelation forks which will drop straight on to the Zaskar, but I'll keep it stock to start with and see how it goes.
Oh man, good for you, I am sure you have been able to ride it by now, I am so sorry for the delay in my reply, this message got lost with my internet for a while and I apologize for that. Keep us posted on your bike, it is a really fun bike in my opinion, good times.
Dale
Great video. I just recently sold my carbon fiber skinny tire road bike and bought a used Trek Procaliber 8 from the bike shop here in Abilene. I decided that at 59, I prefer to be sitting more upright and having more fun riding. To tell you the truth... I will probably swap the flat bars for low profile BMX bars, and I'll have it painted 1972 Formula Firebird orange at a later date too!
Oh thank you for the kind words as well as sharing your story with us. I can't wait to see the new pain job on it as well, How fun is that going to be,. I agree on the more upright sitting position as well. I am not doing hard core mountain bike stuff, I am rolling around hoping to see some deer and or fish off it. Thanks again and I hope you have a blessed week.
Dale
I crashed on my gt avalanche a few years back and did not get any scratch on the rear frame because of the qr. That may be the reason for that thru axle qr.
Oh man, I am sorry you crashed , that's not good, Oh yeah, that may well be, I had not thought about that.
Thanks of taking the time to watch and comment, and I hope you have a. blessed week.
dale
I have the previous model. It’s identical only difference is mine is blue. I haven’t had issues with the dropper. And the replacement coils that fit these is the RockShox Domain. I bought a domain coil that was too long, but was able to find a short coil that fit.
Thank you so much for the feed back my friend. Yes sir, I found the right coil for you and I agree, it is so much better. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed week my friend.
Dale
Thank you for this video
Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment and sorry for the delay, I didnt see this until now. I hope you have a blessed week.
Dale
I'm pretty sure the dropper post issue might be because of the cable actuator tension. It might be slightly pulled, therefore engaging it
I thought that as well, and have pulled some slack into the seat post after a major adjustment and it appears to just be a flaw to me. I will recheck it again and thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed week.
Dale
my zaskar arrived with shimano M401 breakes, they great too tho
Perfect, that is so exciting, You are gong to love this bike, it is a fun ride. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed week.
dale
Youre 6'2 and u got a medium?
hahha, no I am 6 foot and its a large. I think hahhaha Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed week.
Ha, in fact, will go look it may be a med, but I doubt it, I will go look, I didnt say it in the video, but I also have been helping some others learn how to do some light mountain bike trails, so this is more specifically for a loaner bike for a buddy wanting to try if that makes sense. Thank you again and I Hope you have a blessed week.
Dale,
Great video, but I want to know about your glasses, I had a pair but lost them 😀. Where can I find them ( not the ones I lost but a new pair 😄. Thank you.
Ha, thanks for taking the time to watch and comment, I have enjoyed this bike minus a few quirks. Ha, my Harry Potter Glasses, yeah, I keep loosing them as well, so I order them a few at a time now, this is an affiliate link to the ones I keep buying, they are just readers amzn.to/3wxfDIq
I hope you have a blessed weekend my friend.
Dale
@@HeartlandMakesAndOutdoors Thank you so much !
Thanks for the video I enjoyed it but I do think you're being a bit harsh on your lovely GT Zaskar.
The dropper post problem is most likely the cable routing as someone said. All droppers have some movement. The quick release on the back wheel just needs to be done up to correct tightness before closing and it will never come loose in normal riding.
The Rockshox fork you have is way better than a Suntour xcr 34 which is one of the most basic cheap air forks and not well regarded. Get the correct spring for your weight in the Rockshox and it's a much better fork.
But the best part of your GT Zaskar is the frame with the floating seatstays to give a smooth compliant ride.
As for the fezari or ari or whatever they call it this week its a basic old fashioned geometry frame with mostly average parts on it.
Not saying the Ari is a bad bike but your Legendary GT Zaskar is way better imo especially with some upgrades.
Sorry for the rant but would like you to give the GT a chance 🙂 and keep the videos coming please.
Just looking at the specs on your bike and it says it should have a boost 148 thru axle on the rear.
Somethings strange.
Yes sir, I will agree with all of that. I have thought more about it this morning and I am currently working on a video for my wife's new bike and I did try to say, it was my mistake on the front fork (by overlooking it being a coil fork). Looking at hers which is an air fork, I think led me to some frustrations and when I do a more in-depth review on the bike after I have some decent milage and time on it, I am sure It will be a better picture. I do agree on the sun tour, it may never be as good as rockshox, I have never owned one of them so that was a partial guess on my end I was mostly interested in sharing the upgrade program with others and I guess I should have worded that better. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with us and I Agee, the rear axle could very well have been a mistake on my end twice.
Over-all, I believe it could be a decent bike, for the right person and I know it will be getting a lot of use.
I pulled this off Jenson Website for this bike on the hubs etc WTB ST i30 TCS 2.0 32H, Tubeless Ready Rims, Formula Boost F/QR R Hubs
I do think it is odd for a QR on the rear, Is that something new over the past couple of years, I was not able to be riding, what's your thoughts on it? Dont make sense to me.? Thanks in advance as well, and thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment.
I am constantly trying to improve my content and thank you for the constructive criticism. I truly appreciate it more than I can say.
I hope you have a blessed week.
dale
OH PS, the front fork has the new spring rate in it. It took me a while to find the correct one, rockshox doesn't have a link to them, it just says they make them? The fine folks at worldwide Cyclery helped me by measuring the spring etc to make sure my second one I ordered does fit. Next weeks video will be a quick install video with a link to them. Believe it or not, that was a heck of a challenge to find the right one hahahah. Thanks again my friend for the constructive criticism. I appreciate your mindset.
Dale
Yes I've heard good things about Worldwide Cyclery. I still reckon it's a great bike to have some fun on before moving to something better. Look forward to the next video Cheers Art.
QR is an older standard now as bikes designed to do more serious off road have what
they call thru axles same as what you have on the front.
The screwed in thru axle locates the wheel better and its what the Gt specs say your model should have.
I think the factory may have just been trying to cut costs and gone back to the older QR
You’re insane Dale. 1K for a bike with no motor. I wouldn’t pay over $100 for a bike. 😂😂
Hahahha, you have seen some of my bikes in the past this one is the cheapest one I have bought in many years. The specialized StumpJumper I used to ride at work, was probably the most expensive bike I have ever ridden. It was truly a work of art and was pre-dropper seat post days, or at the very beginning of the dropper seat post days, I loved that bike and wish I still had it, it was some of the stuff we had to sell to make the move. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed weekend.
Dale
Goodluck on that one..even walmart bukes are like around $200
It's almost sounds like you were a professional rider at some point...
Ha, that made me smile. So thank you so much for that. I do miss it. I won’t lie. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope y’all have a blessed weekend my friend.
Dale.
I was looking at kona unit its around the same price
This is a good bike for what it is. You can make no mistake I am not making this stuff up. It’s a real what it cost me review and for what it is. It’s a decent bike. Just know some of the stuff is junk. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and I hope you have a blessed weekend. Keep us posted on what you decide.
Dale.
@@HeartlandMakesAndOutdoors oh wow thanks Dale
Very poor bike..better looking at the merida big trail 600
Way better bang for your buck
Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment. It is truly appreciated. I hope you have a blessed weekend.
Dale.
He couldn't have got a Merida anyway as they are not sold in the states.
@@inthebush3 interesting. Was not aware of that!
Merida owns 49% of Specialized so it's some sort of agreement not to compete with them in the states