GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc 2010 XC Mountain Bike Review

Strongly Built Hardtail Bike

GT mountain bikes have unique “triple triangle” frame design which one can readily identify in most of its hardtail designs. They are known for their innovative frames that are specially designed to reduce vibration from the rear wheel. GT bicycle is a large manufacturer of BMX bikes, mountain and road bikes. They have hands on experience of launching various types of specialised frame designs suitable for the racing industry. GT mountain bikes give a balanced performance and are known for their mid price range bikes that give great value for the money. GT Avalanche is the most popular cross country or XC mountain bike and its latest version Avalanche 2.0 Disc 2010 is solidly built and is a well equipped smooth trail bike.

Frame Design

Generally XC mountain bikes should have a light weight frame to excel its true characteristics of quick manoeuvrability in any form of trail. GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc mid level hardtail mountain bike is made with light weight aluminium frame with hydro formed down tube and top tube. Its solid frame gives controlled ride and fully enjoyable performance. This cross country mountain bike is just a mid level hardtail that gets real punishment on serious trails with strong frame and soft fork that collectively perform in an average level.

This trial bike has hydro formed frame architecture that has some interesting design cues. Reinforcing flanges nicely moulded into head tube and the top tube. The down tube wraps around the head tube with maximum welded area. The entire junction of the head tube along with top tube also has a long weld area. Triple Triangle seat cluster of top tube and seat tube passing through the top tube are the trademark of GT mountain bike. The BB Shell gives good support along with down tube.

Frame – Riding Performance

This GT mountain bike does not show up any whacky frame design or deviation near the welding part. With non-twist around big tubes, this frame delivers smooth ride that you could feel under your grip from the rear wheel. This light weight aluminium frame does its job by consolidating the power along with sturdiness. When you push hard and try to get most out of this frame, the rear wheel would only go spinning with quick acceleration but not enough for serious trail and it moderately helps powerful riders. The top tube seems to be short and the rider would feel cramped when they determine to pump up their pace. The best part of this aluminium frame is the over all setting which comes to around 13.5 kg which cruises your ride over any trail with improved acceleration.

As soon as you get into a challenging trail from the meadow, this supersized frame would produce the power flow through the chassis. Some riders like to try drop-offs astride the machine. One just needs a short rocky trail to decide which free wheel teeth in the cog set is going to be consistent in driving power for your drop-off ride. This XC mountain bike has good ground clearance that is well ridden on a furrow.

Compromising Head Portion

This GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc 2010 trial bike has a contemporary design that showcases 100mm of stem on the longer side. When it combines with 660 mm of low rise bar, this mountain bike would give confidence to less experienced riders and it totally avoids twitchiness by giving full control under the grip. This compromising head portion is also well accompanied by 69.5° influential head angle for calming and assured steering control even on the hard trail that puts you in a challenging spin with sudden slides and twists. Stability is evenly distributed at the bottom brocket and it gives full confidence even when the short rear end pushes the bike faster if your want.

Active Front Fork

This cross country mountain bike has 100 mm of Suntour XCR-LO front fork with predetermined adjustment level of riding comfort. Its internal soft coil spring is comfortable enough to cruise over unconditional bumps and rides. When you fine tune harder it quickly digests all the stress with a solid action and removes spike like force to deliver a puffy ride. There is no topmost clang inside the fork. Rather you can feel the control in your palms and the fork works hard for any riding style.

Decent Specs

This GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc 2010 XC mountain bike has a stout chainstay and the triangle portion of seatstay is maintained proportionately thin to minimize the impact of bumpy rides. It has neatly fabricated dropouts with three point rack mounts and disc brake for any trail riding. With the short tyre space you would drive a narrow 2.1 widest rubber on the ground. The Shimano cranks are bold enough to pump the acceleration and the rear derailleur accompanies the accelerated power well. Cable disc brakes are quick and responsive and they give instant stopping power with the help of 6″ rotors. Rimmed wheels and fat tyres put this GT mountain bike right on track.

Our Analysis

GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc cross country mountain bike is reasonably priced around £570. Buying a full suspension bike at lower price range would not give you the expected performance. Instead you can go for the mid range hardtail designed XC with light weight frame and solid forks. At this price range, GT Avalanche trial bike provides surefooted riding and you can expect to ride on any trail condition whether it is up or down with ripple bumps.