Submitted by
Troy kittle
a Cross Country Rider
from Bowdoin, Maine, U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: April 1, 2005
Strengths: Tough frame, the judy c isnt actually that bad,
Weaknesses: Heavy frame, Really heavy judy c fork, weak truvative crank, BB not worth a penny spokes came loose rather soon, so rims were a tad warped..
Bottom Line:
i wouldnt get it if your out to bomb rocky hills, or even use it for long trails, but for somone who just wants to get out im sure it would be perfect. after 01 i think the components were replaced with alevio or some crap like that, dont bother with that stuff, the deore stuff it came with is ok, i replaced it all with xt, which is much smoother and stronger. i wouldnt pay more that about 600 for it. good deal though.
Favorite Trail: bowdoin's snomobile trails, sometimes im out there before the snow completley melts.
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$650.00
Purchased At: Raibow Bicycle in Auburn, Maine
Similar Products Used: an older cannondale, not a clue what model
Bike Setup: nothings stock anymore. manitou black elite fork, irc mudmad dh tire (rear), Xt everything, newer avid front and rear discs, sun rims 6061 disc spesific rims, shimano dx clipless platform pedals, replaced bb, casette, tektro brake levers... ect.
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Submitted by
Randall
a Cross Country Rider
from Blacksburg, VA, USA
Date Reviewed: April 23, 2004
Strengths: Its a good beginner bike. Its solid, pretty light, good specs. Overall a good bike.
Weaknesses: Harsh ride (but considering the frame material thats to be expected. Very short effective top tube, feels cramped after a while.
Bottom Line:
Its a good bike. I am upgrading for a longer/larger frame but I learned how to mountain bike on this bike and don't regret buying it. I don't know about GT quality now, but this bike was a good buy.
Submitted by
David Goh
a Weekend Warrior
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: February 19, 2003
Strengths: Price, durability, colour combination
Weaknesses: None.
Bottom Line:
Great value for it's original setup. Had plenty of fun rides with it for the past 1 year. It managed to survive the few falls I had, indeed a very tough frame. Definitely recommended for beginners.
Similar Products Used: Scott Comp Racing, Scott Yecora.
Bike Setup: GT Avalanche 2.0 with Marzocchi MX Comp fork, Mavic 517 rims with Deore XT hubs, XT F&R deraileur, Thomson stem, Easton Monkeylite XC handlebar etc...
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Submitted by
Daniel White
a Weekend Warrior
from College Station, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: October 15, 2002
Strengths: Solid light frame, decent braking power, good starter package with lots of room to grow
Weaknesses: Rims, Reliability and smoothness of drive train
Bottom Line:
I was confussed when I posted my first review a couple of weeks ago. I knew that my component group and features didn't line up with the other reviews here. I've come to realize that GT went through this whole getting eaten up by pacific process with schwinn and that what I have is not a custom built 2001 GT ave 2.0 but a 2002 model. Just so you people out there looking at these know, and are aware the new GT line is a quality shift. What you know as a 600-800 dollar Ave 2.0 is now a 350-450 Ave 2.0 I'm still very happy with my bike, and enjoying building it up to my own specs. The frame seems like a really good platform to build on. I'll post again when something fails on me or after I get some months on this thing. BTW I replaced the Rims right off the bat, the 'xrims by alex' that came on the bike weren't worth a damn, I threw them outta true in the parking lot of the bike shop the day I bought the bike.
Similar Products Used: 2001 Trek 4500, 1996 Scott summit
Bike Setup: stock 2002 model plus deore 9 speed drive train, deore disc hubs (haven't gone to disc brakes yet, just getting ready), with sun rhyno lite rims, selle italia saddle and a deore class crank and BB
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Submitted by
Jason Miller
a Cross Country Rider
from Tulsa,OK USA
Date Reviewed: September 16, 2002
Strengths: Durable Frame and Syncros Rims Avid Disk Clean look (Brushed Aluminum) Price
Weaknesses: Snapped spring in Judy C fork Pedals gt? Seat
Bottom Line:
For the price, I couldn't pass up on the deal for my first mountain bike. It is easily upgradable and has been pretty durable to this point. The seat was way hard for my taste and the thudbuster smoothes the bumps even more. I would like to add another avid disk on the back - the front works awesome with no problems with hydraulics. I haven't had any probs with the BB like I read from other reviewers but would like to upgrade anyway. Also the Big Box rims have been really tough -haven't trued yet.
Bike Setup: Cane Creek thudbuster post Time clipless pedals Oasis gel seat
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Submitted by
Daniel
a Weekend Warrior
from College Station, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: September 15, 2002
Strengths: I'm VERY impressed with the tektro v-brakes. I had a trek4500 with similar brakes that I rode for 6 months, assuming the brakes on the GT would grab in the same way I was thrown from the bike during my test-ride. I managed to land on my feet - with a smile on my face for how effective the brakes were.
Weaknesses: From what I hear the BB and Crank look shady, I'm also going to replace the saddle and grips off the bat, but that's a personal preferance.
Bottom Line:
Bottom line is I about had a heart attack when the guy told me the 380 dollar price tag for the bike after I test-rode it. I had assumed it would be at least a 500 dollar bike. Bonus!
Similar Products Used: '01 trek 4500, '96 hand-buildup scott summit
Bike Setup: stock - judy TT, acera up front, no name crank, acera out back, xrims by alex with noname hubs.
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Submitted by
XC_Michigan
a Cross Country Rider
from Troy, MI
Date Reviewed: July 23, 2002
Strengths: Outstanding frame stiffness. Most components are very impressive for a bike at this price point. Avid disks are excellent.
Weaknesses: As many reviews here point out, the bottom bracket failed at about 4 months, mine was no exception. The Judy C fork had a coil spring snap on me.
Bottom Line:
Awesome bike for someone fairly new to the sport. Inexpensive enough to warrent some future upgrades as things start to go on you. I find the bike to be well balanced and a blast to ride, it's held up to some pretty good punishment so far. It's certainly not the lightest XC bike out there, but the frame itself isn't overly heavy, so upgrading along the way will yield a great bike. Guess this review is of no real point if they don't decide to keep producing them, but i'd like to see GT get back in the game.
Bike Setup: Stock except Duke XC fork, new BB and eggbeater pedals
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Dan of the Desert
a Cross Country Rider
from The Mojave Desert, CA
Date Reviewed: June 28, 2002
Strengths: Avid CPS mechanical disc brake Durable frame and wheelset
Weaknesses: Crankset and Bottom Bracket Weight - this is a HEAVY bike
Bottom Line:
For $500.00 bucks this was a great bike. If you haven't tried Avid's CPS mechanical discs you raelly ought to - they are inexpensive (about $80 each at Supergo or other mail order - and work better than most hydraulics. They were the best thing about this bike.
The frame and wheels are solid and ready for more abuse than most peoplre will dish out. The geometry leans toward the aggressive end of the scale. I had no complaints about the Rockshox Judy XC that came with the bike, but I have ridden lighter and more responsive shocks.
My complaints lie with the crank and bottom bracket. Like another rider who posted a review earlier, I bent the middle chainring just riding normally - whatis that about? Further, the bottom bracket creaked and got rough after a couple months of use - a cheap no-name part!
For an entry level ride, I would say that it is more than satisfactory. I will always thank this bike for introducing me to the wonders of Avid's mech discs. My GT met an unfortunate end - it was stolen on a vacation trip to San Diego. RIP, my friend!!
Weaknesses: Front shock (Judy TT), Crank and BB (Truvativ FireX), Syncros Big Box rims, cage pedals, skinny Tioga tires.
Bottom Line:
Great bike, yea it's a little on the heavy side if your into cross country or paved trail riding. But if you enjoy being hard on your bike then you need the extra beefyness. My biggest regret is I didn't get the origional wheel set swaped for a disk compatible one. BIG MISTAKE. These rims can only take a small amount of abuse. After 1 year they are bent. If you want to get this bike make sure you replace all the weaker components listed above. You'll save alot of money and fustration in the long run.
Bike Setup: Axiom short stem, Rock Shox Pyslo XC, Deore shifters, LX front derailer, XT rear derailer, Avid V brakes, Truvativ Hussfelt crank, RaceFace SRX BB.
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Submitted by
Bryan
a Cross Country Rider
from Athens
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2002
Strengths: Great price, love the front disk brake, frame is real strong, velociraptor tires stick to anything
Weaknesses: could be lighter, cranks come loose all the time and will probably cause the bb to get ruined, thats about it
Bottom Line:
Great deal, you wont find a bike like this in the price range, im a little worried if i have to use the warranty cause GT isnt doing to good this year. Great bike
Submitted by
Logan Riggs
a Cross Country Rider
from Bronx, NY
Date Reviewed: May 22, 2002
Strengths: Frame is lightweight. Good body geometry. Great overall handling (ascending, descending, accelaration). The judy fork and avid disc brake are awesome. Even though others have reviewed against it, I found the WTB Velociraptor tires to be pretty cool.
Weaknesses: First and foremost, the Syncros rims are crap! (I had to get the rear wheel trued at least 4 times!) The pedals sucked. So did the factory handlebar and stem. The real shocker was the poor performance of the Truvativ crank. The bike surprisingly came equipped with a Suntour (eech!) cassette (which I immediately replaced!) Did I mention how lousy the rims were? (LOL!)
Bottom Line:
Overall, despite the weaknesses I found on the bike, it handles extremely well. I weigh 250lbs and you know that's alot of weight to put on a hardtail. But if you plan to not do too heavy a ride, then this is the bike to use, otherwise, I go to full suspension. I found the $850 price to be a little excessive, but I managed to enjoy the bike nonetheless!
Bike Setup: The strengths and weaknesses explain it already! But I now have the bike set up with an azonic riser bar, Kore stem, I kept the SDG saddle, and I XT'd the drivetrain. Add to that A set of Alex Rims (both disc and V-brake compatible, since I plan to put a disc brake in the rear!) And a set of Kenda kinetics, or Hutchinson tires.
Weaknesses: Cheap factory pedals. Front fork springs were shot after about 3 months of weekend riding and replaced them for $40. Had a lot of trouble shifting from the middle chainring to small chain ring on front sprocket. Turned out derailluer was bad. Shop replaced it at no charge. Works great now.
Bottom Line:
Great bike for a beginner. I weigh about 210 and tend to ride it hard , not much technique but just tend to plow over stuff. I have fallen over a lot (especially after going clipless) and the bike has held up well with only minor adjustments being required. All in all a good sturdy bike for entry level riders.
Strengths: This bike has taken a thorough thrashings on Trail 100, submarine rock, and (nasty)Trail 307 in Prescott. No bb grinding yet which seems better than par for the course. Big box wheels are heavy but have not gone out of true at all! The deore/lx combo is a great deal for the money just keep them adjusted. Great multi purpose velociraptor tires. A great deal for the money.
Weaknesses: My right pedal shaft was stripped out, but this was most likely poor assembly by my place of purchase. There was some odd lacing in the rear wheel but I have had no problems with it. I did manage to bend the 2 smaller chainrings and knock the deraillers out of what but they were happily adjusted by the place of puchase. (1 yr warranty)(Why buy online?)Stripped out crank also replaced at no charge. Heavy wheels but very strong. (I could probably drill out the wheel where the stem comes out and forget all about those stupid presto valves)
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the money. Don't buy online. (no customer service) Disk/v brake combo is nice.
I had stripped this bike last year to build my Santa Cruz Bullit, but alas, I found myself not wanting to sell the frame. It's just so nice. I thought it would make a great race Read More »
Hey guys,
I have a 2001 GT Avalanche 2.0 that came with 2.1 WTB Velociraptors front and rear. I'd like to replace them with something a bit more beefy, and have looked at the 2. Read More »
