Excellent heads up on the recall-TYVM.
Yeah GT used to throw down some great stuff. In 93 I had my MTB choices down to a GT Karakoram and the Jamis Diablo I ended up buying (and still have). It was a close call.
This Arette is a very decent bike but it was the low end of their hybrids at the time and it's a skosh heavy, and while it has served me well i'll move it along if something intriguing comes along.
Enter the Via Carisma I'm fooling with. I got it super cheap, and while it has some cosmetic scuffs and scrapes, the bike is mechanically 100% and all the components are good to go. It even has new tires so the bike was almost free.
I'm getting ready to do all the cables and play around with stems and handlebars to dial the bike in and then decide if I like it better than my Arette and then sell the 2nd place finisher.
And since I'm selling the other bike I won't have access to its parts for future changes. That's why I want to keep the rear wheel that make the most sense long term.
The wheels sets I am choosing between are as follows:
The joytech hubs on Araya PX-45 rims. These are in fantastic shape and have the sweet thin axles and, like you mentioned, look the best but its a freewheel.
The stuff that came on the Carisma is the hyperglide cassette on an unidentified freehub mated to a ETRTO rim and an Araya PX-45 front rim with a joytech hub like the first set.
Then I have the stuff off the GT I can switch out which is Araya PX-35 wheels with the Altus Parallax Rear already discussed with a matching front rim with a hub with no markings but in great shape.
So ultimately my question now is which wheel set is best for the future if any. It just seems harder and harder to find things to fit older bikes as time goes by and if I ever get too bored I could see myself going with a 1x? Setup someday as well.
Anyway I appreciate all you input. Thanks much
Last edited by bicycale; 08-05-20 at 01:38 PM.