Project 1994 GT Team RTS

Story behind this project

Back in 1993, I made a game-changing move by ordering the GT Team RTS (Rocker Tuned Suspension) from my local bike shop. Most mountain bikes were still hardtails with measly 1″ travel up front, if you were lucky. So, getting one of the first “Fully Suspended” MTBs was a bold leap into uncharted territory. I took my RTS back to Melbourne, where I tackled my final years at Uni. It wasn’t just a weekend warrior; I used it as my daily commuter, proving its versatility on and off the trail. Feast your eyes on this photo of my trusty RTS. I didn’t hold back; I swapped the rims to accommodate the disc brakes on my STS. And just before this snapshot, I was on the verge of installing the eye-catching Magura HS22 red brakes! Sure, the photo’s a bit blurry, but hey, digital cameras hadn’t even been invented back then.

I built the RTS from ground up, it’s original spec was:

Frame: Jan 94′ GT Team RTS
Forks: Rockshox Judy SL
Headset: Chris King
Stem: Ringle “Zooka” Stem
Bars: bontrager Titec Titanium straight bar (ODI grips)
Shifter / brake lever: Shimano XTR Rapid Fire
Brakes: Shimano XTR Canti with pads
Rims: Mavic M231 Black (W Spokes)
Hubs: Ringle “Hubba Bubba” Purple
Tires: Tioga Factory DH 2.10
Quick Release skewers: Ringle Purple
Crankset: Shimano XTR FC-M900
Rear Casette: Shimano XTR
Front derailleur: Shimano XTR
Rear derailleur: Shimano XTR
Seatpost: Ringle “Moby” Purple
Seat: Selle Italia Flite Titanium Saddle
Seatpost clamp: GT with Ringle Skewer
Ringle water bottle holder
Dave’s chain device
Rockring

Around the year 2000, a colleague at work (and now good friend) discovered my love for MTB’s and inquired about a “spare bike” to purchase. That’s how my RTS found a new home and embarked on a new journey. I believed it deserved to be ridden and cherished rather than gathering dust on my living room wall. After several years, my colleague moved to Malaysia, Dubai, and then Perth, taking the RTS along. It became a source of joy for him and his two sons over the years. If you’ve been following my blog, you’d know my deep affection for vintage bikes. Upon acquiring a 1991 Klein Attitude and sharing photos on Facebook, my friend commented on the post. This led to a conversation about the RTS. He mentioned that some parts had broken, and he attempted to give it away at a garage sale, but thankfully, no one took it. He was considering disposing of it and offered it back to me. Needless to say, I eagerly seized the opportunity!

So here we are now…

Day One – 2014/03/06

Box arrived and unpacked

The seat post exhibits a stress crack, as do the skewers. Fortunately, the majority of the Shimano XTR drivetrain remains in good condition. The cranks continue to spin smoothly, and the chainrings are still in excellent shape, thanks to the Rock-Ring. While the derailleurs have some rust on the chrome plated parts, they remain functional.

Day Two – 2014/03/08

Today I continued taking the frameset apart, removed the rear shock and rear triangle, and cleaned the drivetrain parts. The rear cassette and derailleur cleaned up very well, however the front derailleur has seen better days and have rusted up pretty badly, I might try the coke method and see how that goes or I will replace it later.

After removing the Noleen rear shock, I noticed a complete loss of damping. I’m considering the option of rebuilding it, if indeed it’s possible. It seems I’ll need to dig into some research for this. Edit: Incredible! I cleaned up the shock, cycled it several times, and it appears to be fully operational now! I’ve reached out to Noleen, and it turns out they offer a service kit and a softer spring. I think I’ll go ahead and get a set just to be safe.

Day Three and four – 2014/03/11

Before & After

After Finished

Day Five – 2014/03/12

This morning I dropped off the front part of the frame at my friends garage to get repainted professionally, I could have done it myself but I am sure he’ll do a better job, plus he is not charging me much and it’ll probably cost me more to buy primer and paint, but I just need to wait for a matching black colour car to come in! Also got some original GT RTS frame decals, although not the Team ones they will do until I find the correct ones.

Also found an early Judy XC forks, just needed a quick wipe down and looks (nearly) as good as new, I’m stoked!

Looking in my scrap box I found a couple sets on Chris King Headsets, so I’m set in that department just need to choose a colour.

Also cleaned the derailleurs today they were a mess, the chain was rusted and it spread onto the front derailleur chain guide, took me a while to clean but they came up quite nice, so I won’t need to find new ones.. just need to look for the brake levers and rapidfire.

Day Six – 2014/03/15

Continued cleaning up and polishing the crankset this evening, some people have been asking me what I use on Facebook so I thought I’d share the products here as well, I use 800-1200 wet and dry to get rid of the major pittings and scratches, then I use Vitalsol, followed by Meguiar’s Metal polish and finish with the cleaner-wax. There are no short-cuts it’s a matter of the more time you spend, the better the result.

Day Seven – 2014/03/17

Today I took the Rockshox apart for a clean and rebuild, they were still running the original cartridge damper and elastomers, however everything seems to still be in working order so I put everything back together after a quick clean. I’m considering changing the elastomers to springs and hopefully find an adjustable damper cartridge somewhere.

Day Eight – 2014/03/18

Spotted some Judy SL’s on ebay last night in very good condition and just had to have them, this would save me the time and effort to repaint the XC’s I have, find the correct decals and change all the hardware, damper and springs.. I worked out it would cost me a fair bit to rebuild so I thought I’d try my luck on ebay.. there was already a bidding war going on so I had to stay up till 4am and place my bid at the final seconds, I’m glad I did because it

was close, and the Judy SL’s are on the way. Will keep the XC’s as a spare for now.

Day Nine – 2014/03/23

De-laced the original wheelset because the Azonic Worldforce rims still have plenty of life in them, just need to find some suitable hubs at an affordable price.. meanwhile thanks to Eric at CHRONiC BiKE who had a set of spare wheels in the shop, which are newer XTR M950’s laced to Mavic D521 rims, so I grabbed those to use for now until I get the old wheels laced. The Carbon Ti skewers are new. Still waiting for the frame to be painted, and waiting on some final parts to arrive to begin the build.

Day Ten – 2014/03/30

It’s been a busy week at work so I haven’t done much on the bike, plus the frame only just got painted today and it’s baking in the oven, so I’ll only be picking it up on Monday, just as well because I’m waiting for the final parts to arrive from the States and Belgium before I can start on the build..

Even managed to keep the 6061-T6 sticker

Day Eleven – 2014/04/01

Picked up the frame today and it’s back together, just waiting for the final parts so I can start the build 😀

Decals applied!

Day Twelve – 2014/04/09

Final Mockup of the bike before assembly on Friday, can’t wait!

Day Thirteen – 2014/04/11

Today was bike shop day, my man Wan@The Bicycle World in Wan Chai built this bike for me 20 years ago, so who else better to do the honours. Also found a used 95′ Selle Italia Flight saddle which matches the RTS perfectly.

And the finished product.. Pretty close to the original.. I’ll get better pics over the weekend : )

Current spec:

Frame: Jan 94′ GT Team RTS
Forks: Rockshox Judy SL (Modded springs and damper)
Headset: Chris King
Stem: Kore Stem
Bars: 94′ FLITE aluminium straight bar (AME grips)
Shifter / brake lever: Shimano XTR M900 Rapid Fire
Brakes: Shimano XTR M900 Canti with pads
Rims: Mavic D521 Black (DT Spokes)
Hubs: XTR M950
Tires: Onza Aggro 26×2.10
Quick Release skewers: Carbon Ti
Crankset: Shimano XTR FC-M900
Pedals: Onza High Output Ti axles
Rear Casette: Shimano XTR M900
Front derailleur: Shimano XTR M900
Rear derailleur: Shimano XTR M900
Seatpost: 94′ Zoom GT stamped micro adjust post
Seat: Selle Italia Flite Titanium Saddle
Seatpost clamp: GT with Ti Bolt

First Test ride – 2014/04/19

What a glorious day it has been on this Easter holiday! The sun was shining brightly as I took my dear old gal for a test ride in the bush. It’s been about 15 years since we last rode together. The feeling of the RTS was absolutely fantastic, though it did take a little while to get accustomed to the rocker tuned suspension. As I rode, the memories came flooding back of the initial days when I first got her. In comparison to modern standards, the rear felt quite different, and those canti brakes seemed more for show than actual use. Oh, how I longed for disc brakes back then!

Rear Shock Issue – 2014/04/27

After a couple rides on the restored RTS, I decided it was a bit scary riding downhill with the rear bouncing out of control and bottoming out, so I decided to tried and find someone locally who could refill the Nitrogen and maybe service my Noleen NR3 rear shock, but no luck.. then I got in touch with Clark at Noleen J6 and he said he could give my shock some OEM love needed. I’ll ship it out tomorrow and hopefully it comes back working like new 🙂

Rear Shock Issue – 2014/05/20

Finally receive the serviced shock from Noleen and it look like they swapped out the body for me, either way it’s back and good as new.

Rockshox Issue – 2014/06/3

Today I received some goodies in the mail for my Rockshox Judy SL, a nice new aluminium adjustable damper and some springs to replace those tired old elastomers on another pair of SL’s I found