Kudos Wife Build GT LTS 2

[kudos]

The wife was getting jealous of my ebikes and demanded that I create one for her.....

Her only requirement was that it had to be at least partially pink!

So I set about searching for a frame that had a large empty triangle to fit a falconev frame bag in but still had rear suspension. This is actually quite difficult to find.

As luck would have it fleabay came up trumps and I managed to get a GT LTS 2 frame dirt cheap which was advertised as a 1996 (more on that later).

Some guy had actually rescued it from a skip....

I then set about stripping it down completely, refurbing and then painting it black. Always black.

I then searched everywhere for pink bike parts and found a seat, pedals, cable outers and very luckily a pink headset.

I had to buy a load (more) tools to deal with square taper bottom brackets. This bike hobby seems to need never ending tool buying in my experience.

I'm trying to keep the costs down as much as possible so I'm sourcing the cheapest good quality kit I can find.

I managed to pick up some Marzocchi forks going cheap on chainreactioncycles.com, they were silver so I removed the decals and sprayed black. Always black

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=96107

I decided to donate my Mac 10T to this project seeing as I'm thinking about upgrading to a 8T anyway.

On went the 26" Mac - dm24 rim - all black wheel with Hookworm. Always hookworm.

This bike does not have disc brake mounts only v-brake bosses so I bought some nice black v-brakes but soon discovered that they fouled against the seatstay.

Queue lots of searching the net to find out what was going on with the brake setup. As it turns out from 1996 onwards the brakes bosses were angled such that you could use v-brakes, before this 94-95 the angle is such that you can only use canti-brakes. So the seller of the frame got the year wrong.

So I bought some nice canti brakes - avid shorty 4 and soon found that they also did not fit basically the wheel is not central because it's a hub motor and so brakes don't have enough room to pivot.
It would require specially dishing the wheel just for this purpose which I'm not prepared to do.

Onto the third brake option. I bought a disc brake adaptor off fleabay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350793003667?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

This just arrived today and i'm trying to figure out how to install it. I'm using a standard 160mm rotor so I offered up a brake caliper attached to a 160mm avid mount adaptor attached to the brake adaptor but it doesn't seem like it's anywhere near fitting. It seems I also need to adjust the rotor spacing so it is further from the motor.

I've ordered two more avid mount adaptors which are 40mm IS and 60mm IS. Hopefully some combination of these will work.

As a fourth option I've ordered a A2Z universal disc brake mount:

http://www.biketart.com/62/products/a2z-universal-disc-brake-mount-adapter.aspx

I've also ordered a 26" Halo combat front wheel which seem to be difficult to get hold of now. Should look good wrapped in with a hookworm. Always hookworm.

That's the progress so far...

Kudos

 

[sanford]

Great looking build! I might keep an eye out for one of these frames, would make a nice commuter.

 

[whereswally606]

Lovely build kudos,
+1 on the hookworms
+1 more on the black
She is a lucky lady, nice touch with the hint of pink, very classy San Diego.

 

[kudos]

The Halo Combat turned up today.

These Halo wheels are awesome, just a shame they seem to be difficult to get hold of. It seems if you like something and its available you need to buy multiple in case they become discontinued.

I have the high-end SAS wheels on my second build. Next best thing to mcycle rim.

Kudos

 

[kudos]

Hookworms on. Always Hookworm.

Avid cleansweep g2 160mm rotor.

Kudos

 

[kudos]

Wheel on:

I had to deflate the tire to get it through the v-brake bosses!

This is how I like to setup my mac controls:

Kudos

 

[kudos]

Well, as always the rear braking has been an extreme PITA.

I tried the A2Z universal mount but it didn't fit due to the shape of the dropout. It does fit another frame I have on the back burner though so not all is lost there.

After checking alignment for the brake caliper the rotor needed to be spaced a substantial distance from the motor. I went from 3mm to 6mm to 7mm then 8mm. At that point I'd used all my spacers and the outside of the rotor was just touching the seat stay.

So I used a spacer on the inside of the dropout too to spread a little, this seems to have done it. When I hold fit the rear bracket it looks like its going to align.

I also had to go through three different IS rotor mounts to find one that fits, started with IS 20mm, went to 40mm then finally 60mm before it was far enough away from the bracket to fit a 160mm rotor. Of course none of ths information is given by the bracket seller. Maybe my trial and error will help someone else.

Also, because I'd used 8mm of spacer, I needed to use longer rotor bolts, I had some 16mm M5 bolts handy which seemed to do the job.

Now I need to drill holes through the dropout to mount the bracket. Hopefully get that done this weekend.

Kudos

 

[cal3thousand]

Wheel on:
I had to deflate the tire to get it through the v-brake bosses!

Kudos

I had to do the same thing to get the CST Cyclops 26x2.4 on this Trek frame I'm playing with. Just enough room, 2.5 would have been a different story, I'm afraid.

 

[kudos]

I drilled through the dropout up to 6mm.

Attached the bracket and disc adaptor.

And this is what the bike looks like now.

Now I need to dial in the brakes and gear shift before I add controller and battery.

Kudos

 

[NeilP]

Interesting you had to buy a new tool for the crank removal. The type fitted on mine were what I'd call the standard MTB BB multi splined 'dog tooth ' tool.


If you do find the link to the elastomer to spring conversion kit, please do let me know.

For others interested in another GT LTS conversion..see mine here.

Rough compared to this beauty though. Paint, polish ..colour cordination ...what s that all about ? does not appear on any of my bikes