[GT Urban Warrior]

G'Day all,

I have GT hardtail with a polished alloy finish. I just wated to know what types of polishes are available to clean up my bike and reduce the appearance of cable rub?

Cheers,
GT Urban Warrior (Melbourne, Australia)

 

[EJ]

I have GT hardtail with a polished alloy finish.

You mean the ball burnished finish?
I use Mother's mag & aluminum polish on mine. Works great. Then I spray some window cleaner or Simple Green on a rag to clean the black residue off the decals.
Looks like Mother's is available in Australia according to their website - www.mothers.com

 

[GT Urban Warrior]

You mean the ball burnished finish?
I use Mother's mag & aluminum polish on mine. Works great. Then I spray some window cleaner or Simple Green on a rag to clean the black residue off the decals.
Looks like Mother's is available in Australia according to their website - www.mothers.com

Thanks GT_guy,

My bike is an avalanche 0.5 2005 model and cable rub really sucks. It rubbed off the clear coat polish and its rubbing in bare alloy now. I just wanted to give it a cost of polish to shine up those rubbed bits and reduce the appearance of them before I place some protective cable rub stickers on it.

Thanks for that.

Cheers,

 

[EJ]

My bike is an avalanche 0.5 2005 model and cable rub really sucks. It rubbed off the clear coat polish and its rubbing in bare alloy now. I just wanted to give it a cost of polish to shine up those rubbed bits and reduce the appearance of them before I place some protective cable rub stickers on it.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same kind of finish. On the old GT's (like mine) there is no "finish" applied other than the ball burnishing, which was tumbling the frame in a big washing machine sort of device that was loaded with brass pellets (like BBs) to make it shiny. It is still bare aluminum, which oxidizes a bit and gets dull. Applying the Mothers polish removes that oxidation (it turns it into a black residue) and returns it to its original shine.

It sounds like your new GT has a clearcoat of paint applied over a bare or annodized aluminum frame. If that's the case I'm not sure what the polish will do, but it might not be good. Since it's a new frame you might try contacting Pacific to see what they recommend. Or, if you try the Mothers, try it somewhere where you won't notice it (like the bottom of the BB shell) in case it doesn't work as hoped. I'd hate to see you mess up the finish on your new bike.

 

[bidaci]

Polishing the frame may inhibit the stickers from adhering properly. You may try just cleaning the area with soapy water and then put on the stickers

 

[MiggityMac]

Not Ball Burnished

Hey GT Urban Warrior,
Your frame is not Ball Burnished. That is a painted frame. It looks polished but is really a paint that looks like polished aluminum. Don't use the Mother Mag. Its only good on True Ball Burnished frames. It you want to polish a painted frame use a dust cleaning product such as Pledge. It cleans the frame and leaves a nice glossy look.

Good luck,
Miggity Mac

 

[gm1230126]

You mean the ball burnished finish?
I use Mother's mag & aluminum polish on mine. Works great. Then I spray some window cleaner or Simple Green on a rag to clean the black residue off the decals.
Looks like Mother's is available in Australia according to their website - www.mothers.com

NevrDull is another great product for bringing the shine back to GT aluminum and Titanium frames. We have a rare 24" wheel Zaskar, 2 Xizangs and an Avalanche in our house. I just finished cleaning them all up and getting them ready for spring.

 

[GT Urban Warrior]

thanks for that

It is true, its a paint that looks like polished alloy. So I guess no alloy polish will eliminate cabl rub marks.

What i did was i got creative. I designed a sticker in which i got it computer cut on high quality outdoor vynil (should arrive tomorrow in the mail). It will be place on the head tube in which the GT badge will sit nicely in the middle and the flames on the sides will hide the cable rub.

Pic attached of the sticker design. Once I place it on the bike I will post another pic.

Cheers,

 

[gm1230126]

Check the pic to see results

I cleaned this GT Xizang Ti frame with NevrDull and Mothers polish before rebadging with original decals. Puts a nice shine on both Ti and Aluminum.

 

[streetpro0323]

what year?

I cleaned this GT Xizang Ti frame with NevrDull and Mothers polish before rebadging with original decals. Puts a nice shine on both Ti and Aluminum.

Nice looking frame, what year?

 

[gm1230126]

Nice looking frame, what year?

1991 was originally built up with 7spd top mount, the rigid fork that came with it, McMahon Ti seatpost and stem, Rolled down Mavic MA2 bontrager rims and ultegra hubs.
In 1991 there was no Rock Shox mass market just the top Norba pros, Rapidfire was not yet available, and XTR had not yet been released. I have done two complete upgrades to 8spd XT with a Prototype Mag21 and then 9spd XT with the current Judy XL. It's a light,responsive, awesome, forgiving ride. It will go with me to my grave. There still hasn't been a better hardtail brought to market.

 

[finger51]

In 1991 there was no Rock Shox mass market just the top Norba pros, Rapidfire was not yet available, and XTR had not yet been released. I have done two complete upgrades to 8spd XT with a Prototype Mag21 and then 9spd XT with the current Judy XL. It's a light,responsive, awesome, forgiving ride. It will go with me to my grave. There still hasn't been a better hardtail brought to market.

I bought my '91 Zaskar new with a mag20, and XT rapidfire check this timeline out:

http://www.firstflightbikes.com/shimano.htm#1991

rapidfire was available in 1990.