So I’m on the market for a new road bike, that I’m slowly building up part by part and I’ve come across this GT Elite Carbon frame for a pretty sweet deal. A friend of a friend is asking 10-15K NTD, for frame and fork. The frame itself is brand new and should be a 2013-2014 year model.
From what I can gather from the internets, GT is a US company based out of Santa Monica, California. Well known for their mountain bikes. There’s probably only a handful of these bikes in Taiwan which I really like. However, not much user reviews for this bike in Chinese and in English.
Here are the specs for the above pictured:
Hi Mod Carbon Fiber
Conical head tube
Weight: 995g (frame)/ 405g (fork)
Top tube: 51cm
Head tube: 11cm
Seat Tube: 47cm C-T
Bottom Bracket: BB30
What I want to ask is, has anyone here ridden a GT Elite Carbon frame and can comment? I intend to use this bike as a back-up/race/climbing bike. I’m a little concerned about it’s stiffness since I’m used to riding stiff frames.
As you say, probably rare here on the island.
Should advise to post on one of the international forums, guess you will get more response there.
The frame looks a bit small, and top tube 51cm, I guess you checked your sizing, right?
Beautiful frame though!
It’s a GT and it’s Hi mod CF. The tubes are pretty short. Do you really think it wouldn’t be stiff enough? For 10k, I’d bite his hand off. Build it up, enjoy it. Even if it were half as stiff as what you are used to, do you really think that is gonna make much difference? Do you race? Are you a 1300 watt sprinter? Do you climb like Contador?
Seriously, I have 2 steel, one aluminium, one titanium and 4 cf frames. No doubt they vary in stiffness, but nothing that is discernible enough to detract from my enjoyment of riding them.
If he had one in my size, I’d take it in an instant.
It will make a difference because it will make me happy knowing I bought something that I am absolutely sure that I will enjoy riding because who knows if I’ll be able to buy another anytime soon.
Appreciate the input though, ColT. I saw some guy in Taichung selling the same frame, different paint job, with some extra components for around 14K.
I’m just trying to put some perspective on this. You say “I am absolutely sure that I will enjoy riding”… Why? Because A.N Onymous wrote a review and said it’s stiff/compliant/responsive… whatever? Surely, if it’s set up correctly, and is not significantly different to what you have now, I’d wager you’ll be lucky to identify “10% extra” stiffness, or whatever.
I train hard and race hard (for an old git), but in a blind test (if it were possible) I’m sure I’d struggle to tell the difference in my bikes/wheels once I’m out on the road. Indeed, I just built up a Canyon Ultimate CF SLX - on paper, waaaaaay better than anything else I’ve got now or had in the past. Sure, it’s nice, but it ain’t significantly better than the others. Perhaps this is because I am an old carthorse with little finesse.
My point is, just about any review you read will talk about how stiff a frame is, or how aero, or how fast… No doubt these can be measured in a lab, but aside from picking up a bike and feeling its weight, unless you are pushing a modern frame to its limits, you’ll do well to ‘feel’ any of these claimed properties. In the end, it’s down to the rider and his/her legs…
If you trust the source, and can be sure it’s not made of cheese and cardboard, I have little doubt you’d enjoy it, if it’s set up properly.
Edit: I’m 6’4" and 75kg, so that frame is way out of my reach.
Completely understand where you’re going. As a weekend warrior, there’s a very low probability that I would be able to tell even a 5% stiffness difference between my current bike and a new one.
I’m just a bit weary because most frame/fork sets cost around 20-30k. I’ve only seen second hand frame/fork sets go for 10-15k.
Thanks again for your input ColT. Hopefully it’ll bring me closer to making my decision.
That Canyon Ultimate CF SLX is one sweet bike. When will we see a picture of that being shared? Or all your bikes?
