GT Avalanche 2.0 corrsion

djslade

I purchased a GT Avalance2.0 disc back last July 2005, been pleased with it overall
But it has rust/corrosion in most of the allen key fixings, also the forks have a couple of rust spots.
I have been told by the shop that I got the bike from that this is NORMAL. I had a old timberline before and that had less rust!!!
Has anyone got any sugestions, or experiences..........
I shall try and contact GT myself

davebee

Rust is not normal. it can be expected in nut heads if they are not stainless steel, titanium or aluminium as water can pond and this accelerates corrosion. This can be fixed by replacing with stainless steel of titanium fittings. Aluminium tends to round out a bit easy so best to avoid.

When you say rust on the forks I assume you mean on the actual stantions (ie the bits that go in and out of the piston casing). This may not cause performance issues but if my forks got that I would be spitting blood. Again it may be related tot he material the forks are constructed from (more expensive forks tend to use magnesium i think) and if it is a nonstainless steel constructio then there is not much you can do about it.

I think that to a certain extent you are suffering the symptoms of having a relatively low end bike where the manufacturer has lowered the cost by using components of a lower quality. I would not expect a mroe expensive bike to suffer with those kind of problems.

The only solutions I can suggest are to replace the bolts with higher quality ones (this in itself is not particularly expensive) and to sort the fork out by replacing it with a hgher quality one. Patches of rust will probably not cause you problems in the short term even if it is unsightly but you should keep an eye on it as it causes components to weaken as the corrosion eats the component.

Sorry I can't be of any more help. If you choose the replace everything option, you may be better off considering buying an entire new bike.