I picked this bike up a few weeks ago for $30, I figured it didn't take up much space and it would be a fun winter project.
So far I have torn it all down, rebuilt the pedals, cleaned the bearings and pulled off the stickers. I have a few pics of the current state below. I have a couple of questions that maybe you guys could help with:
1- Where can I buy GT Mach Two stickers? I can find Mach One's all over but I am coming up blank on Mach Two
2- The sprocket has visible wear, I have found some sprockets on ebay but they are huge money and I am trying to not be in huge money town. Do you think this will be ok with a new chain?
I am in the polish the aluminum phase right now. The rear rim is bent so I am going to try to fix that before I buy a replacement.
IIRC Mach Two was '96 and '97 only and hard to tell which year other than serial # unless it was red which was '96.
My guess is someone added the front brake and swapped on the brake levers. The brake levers may not work well for the cantilever rear brake.
Check it carefully for cracks in the head tube area.
EDIT : Check the rear axle to see if it's still straight. since it's 3/8" and someone put axle pegs on along with the front brake to make it more like a freestyle bike. It's really easy to bend a 3/8" axle with cheap narrow pegs like that if you give someone a ride by letting them stand on the pegs if the rider doesn't bend their knees. And of course most kids don't know about bending the knees.
In reply to NOT A TA :
Good tip on the rear axle, I'll look. The rest of the rear wheel is a huge mess. I had checked the head tube already because I read they crack. I didn't find anything, I didn't do any dye pen test to verify but visually it looks good.
One thing that is interesting is back in the day GT's and Redlines and Haro's were the ticket. This thing is a heap compared to my Sunday. The construction quality is night and day. I do think this will look cool when I get done polishing and add a vintage repop number plate.
I was a big GT dealer at the time but we didn't stock that model because there was a similar bike in a different brand that had a better value. IIRC the other brand was made with a higher grade of aluminum or something like that. Been almost 25 years since then and I've been out of the biz for over 10 now. I think I was racing a Standard or an S&M Challenger for 20" myself at the time. I'm light and the aluminum bikes were too stiff for my liking.
Ebay or BMXmuseum will be your best bets for stickers. I sold all the NOS sticker sets I had on Ebay.
I looked hard at both of those places and came up blank. There was one at bmx museum from a few years ago. I tried I contact the seller but they are gone. I was thinking about buying a Mach One sticker set and having a vinyl shop scan the sticker that says Mach ONE and change the one into a TWO. It won't be 100% original but I just want something older and different to cruise around on.
Do you think the wear in that sprocket will give chain problems or do you think I can clean it up and re-use?
Can probably reuse. Doesn't look like teeth are starting to hook yet. Take a new chain and wrap it half way around the gear and you'll have your answer.
'96 and '97 aren't big years for BMX nostalgia as compared to say '84 or '87 so that's why you're not finding much decal-wise. I feel like there are other GT/Dyno chainrings that will fit that spider though. It wasn't the high-end setup, and people looking to switch to 3-piece cranks on their old Mach Ones, non-Team/Pro-Series bikes and steel rear triangle Auburns might have them. But a lot of them will be 43-tooth whereas most adults can easily pull 44 and are going to prefer that especially with 180-185-mm cranks.
update:
Everything that you all said was 100% correct. I finished it after letting it sit for a while trying to decide what to do. Since it isn't a valuable piece and I have no intention of entering any bike shows I cleaned it up and made it work and it's kind of cool and different.
I had never polished aluminum so I did some learning on that. I am not great at it but it was a wreck so this is a big improvement. The Mach Two stickers were unobtainable so I bought Mach One reproductions and called it good. I found GT mold tires and that is a neat touch. I replace the wheels because they were a wreck and not worth the effort since the bike isn't very valuable anyway. It is interesting to ride because the geometry is so different from my Sunday or my sons Kink. It is also the first bike I actually took 100% apart so that was a fun learning experience. Also Not A TA you are 100% correct on the brakes, I only put the rear on and it stops awful. more like a hint of stopping than a powerful brake!
Oh cool, those look like the low-profile GT logo tires. There were at least two kinds of the GT logo tires, the high and low profile.
I don't know which they are they didn't specify. I bought them from Bicycle Buys. They were ok to deal with but the tires were back ordered and I waited 4 months for them.
You may have the wrong brake lever so the pull ratio is wrong and no matter what else you do they'll never work great. If the pads are old they get hard & dry compared to new so they don't grip as well.
Setting the brake pads with the brake arms out farther creating a wider V so to speak changes the geometry and increases the pressure on the rim by the brake pads. Try backing off the barrel adjuster on the lever or letting a bit of cable back through the pinch bolt on the bridge cable then readjusting the pads. I see the pads are slid into the arm too much. Then you want the pad angled slightly so the front of the pad touches the rim first. Usually about the thickness of a dime space between the rear of the pad and the rim works well on those brakes. Even if that's the wrong ratio lever you should see significant improvement by changing the brake arm geometry. With the pads set the way they are the bridge cable is trying to pull the arms toward the seat post, after the change you'll see the bridge cable will pull more toward the rim. With a closer pic from behind of the brake (as is) I could give you more exact corrective measures as far as the bridge cable and brake cable geometry is concerned.
In reply to NOT A TA :
Thanks. Sorry for the delay I thought I was going to get right in and do what you suggested and give a response. I have been on another project all day so I haven't touched the bike as soon as I do I will take a pic and let you know how it worked.
