Nostalgia: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition


When I was at university about 20 years ago, I purchased a brand new 2000 GT Outpost Trail rigid mountain bike from a bike store in Hobart - I’m pretty sure it was in Bathurst Street. The Outpost Trail was close to (if not) the cheapest GT MTB at the time, but it had the sweet looking triple-triangle design and I enjoyed riding it around.

A few years later when I got an alloy framed Kona hardtail, the GT went to my parents place. I removed the front fork with the thought of adding a suspension fork; but being utterly clueless about bicycles was surprised to find that the threadless fork I had wouldn’t fit. The bike stayed disassembled in my parents garden shed.

After a number of years my father got sick of the abandoned GT and asked if I minded if he got rid of it. Feeling somewhat guilty about having my junk cluttering up their place, I said it was fine.

Many years later, I’ve had a few different bikes. The only one I wish I’d kept was the GT. Why? I’m not entirely sure.

I’ve been keeping a half-hearted eye on Gumtree for old GTs for maybe six months. Yesterday, a bike popped up.

Mountain/cruiser bike.
Great condition
It’s pretty old
$50

The bike is - I believe - a 1997 model. It’s a GT Timberline rigid, 18 inch frame. It’s a slightly higher spec model than my old Outpost Trail. The condition is good rather than great.

It’s now sitting in my garage; I’ll be hanging on to this one.