GT Bicycles, Inc. GTR Type CX

Price Paid:  $1100.00 at Performance Bike

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
anything involving a bike.

Bike Setup:
Stock, competely stock

Summary:
Well first of all this is the 2008 cream colored model. It is full rival with the exception of the crankset and the brakes. THe rival is very nice for a cross setup with the under the handlebar routing. The ergos of the rival shifters are about as comfortable as i have ever had.
Since i cummute everywhere i plan on putting massive miles on this bike towing my bob trailer.

Strengths:
Fit and finish is absolutly perfect on this bike. As a 20 year bike mechanic i have seen my share or perfect bikes but this one was absolutly flawless out of the box. On the road the bike is very quick and responsive, the kenisis aluminum is both supple and stiff. The fork comes with a lot of spacers so tuning your height is very easy. The tectro brakes are as strong as my original pauls and will stop you plenty fast.
Oh and light, very light. One of the lightest cross bikes i have every ridden.

Weaknesses:
Well for one, there is no barrel adjuster for the rival front der, so it makes tuning the front shifting a very iffy thing. I am working on adapting a inline adjuster for this problem. The other issue was the lengh of cranks for the XL version. It came with 177.5mm lenght cranks which are way to long for me. Not a weakness per se, but there are no rack eyelets on this bike at all, zero, zip, nada. THis bike is for going fast, pure and simple.

Similar Products Used:
Surley cross check, bianchi Axis

Price Paid:  $1299.00 at Performance Bicycle

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
Capitol Crescent Trail

Bike Setup:
Stock except for Specialized toupe saddle, my saddle of choice.

Summary:
Bike is actually a 2008 model, and a fantastic bike for the money. Rides incredibly well for an all aluminum frame, including the ability to soak up trail imperfections without too much vibration and roughness. I was very surprised by the frame, it accelerates with aplomb with a nice stiff BB and chainstays. This frame is proof that there is life left in aluminum, as I tried a couple of cross bikes with carbon stays and one with the same wheels and the GT feels as good in terms of vertical compliance.

Components are very high quality for a bike of this price, Aside from truvativ cranks and tektro brakes the drivetrain is all SRAM Rival. The shifting is crisp and accurate and the gearing well selected for cross. The cockpit parts are all easton EA70 and are very nice, if a little bit heavy. The stock SDG saddle was not to my liking but few stock saddles are. The Easton Vista SL wheelset was a big selling point for me, I like these wheels and consider them to be great road training wheels and pretty light for cross use. They have been bombproof so far.

Strengths:
Wheelset, components, fork... Ride quality is phenomenal for all aluminum frame.

Weaknesses:
Tektro brakes lack stopping power, but I am relatively sure it is the stock pads, not the brakes themselves... This would be the only area of the bike that seems less than ideal.

Similar Products Used:
Fuji Cross Pro (Owned), Jamis Supernova (Demo'ed)
Trek X0 (Demo'ed)