wicked wrenching customs
1994 GT Psyclone Team Scream
This was a very unexpected build to say the least. While I knew of the Psyclone and it's lore among collectors, it was never on my radar due to it's scarcity. I had maybe seen one or two ever come up for sale, usually their owners do not let them go that easy!
I was searching the classifieds for some parts for a build i was working on, and the frame suddenly popped up in front of me. Wow. What looked to be a very clean and presentable 1994 Psyclone frame in 19'' in the rarest of all finishes- Team Scream. The price was not cheap, but fair considering the quality and presentation. It was roughly midnight when I found the ad, and I did for a second think "Should I sleep on it?" But I knew that it would be gone in the morning. So I quickly sent the funds over to the owner in Tennessee and went to sleep wondering how I was going to explain this purchase to the wife over breakfast!
The frame arrived, and the laborious task of component hunting was to begin. I did a quick search of other similar Psyclone builds, and they were not exactly what I had in mind, as these were only sold as frame sets- there is no 'standard' to the build. Every one is personalised and different, which is kinda cool. I wanted this one to be a little over the top, hoping to stand out from the crowd if possible.
I found a nice set of GT hubs that were made by Hadley Racing. These were the improved 4 pawl free body versions with sealed bearings instead of loose ball. Anodised red with laser logos. Perfect. The M900 partial group was next, and relatively easy to acquire. Next was the forks- it was going to be either rigid or Mag 21's. I searched for a while for the right Gt forks but it proved to be too difficult, so the Mag 21 SL Ti's went on with some GT logos to suit. I also found a original Renthal bar that was still in box and anodised blue. Matched with a yellow Kore Elite stem rounded out the cockpit. Things were getting close! It needed more colour, so next on the list were green wild gripper tires...
The best break I caught was the crankset. Originally I had planned for XTR, but just as how I had found the frame, a beautiful set of GT cranks appeared and I quickly snapped them up. They were a very rare set, a little more petite than the ones I usually see on bikes. I later found out that they were used on some of the LTS downhill bikes but were not machined for triple ring setups like mine were.
I have not seen another set like these!
The last part I found was a nice bontrager/san marco saddle (my personal favourite), that was issued to Julie Furtado. Even though she rode Xizang's and not Psyclone's, I felt it fitted the theme well. Other small touches were clear GT grips (so you could see the blue underneath!), assorted anodised fasteners and a shimano decal that was found in my race case that was used on team bikes back in that era. It was finished! I was quite pleased with the results and It did gain quite the attention. It has received more likes and wows online than any of my other builds so far...
Even though It was a great bike to ride, and I had just joined a very exclusive club of Psyclone owners- The bike did not stay with me very long. I had not planned for a build of this level at the time, and had used up funds that should have been assigned to the projects I was already involved with. I had become acquainted with another retro collector since moving to Queensland, and this collector was heavily invested into GT bikes (last count was over 30 i think!). I knew that he had some close calls securing a Psyclone in the past but they still eluded his grasp, so am happy to say that nowadays it resides in a more befitting collection among family in his GT museum.