85 USA Gt Performer more desireble ???

[senzo milano]

 The US made Performers are more desireble    Why is that.. That pulls the price's up    and make a differance between the Usa made and  Japanees / Thaiwan made's in price...  

1985 GT Performer usa made  




1985 Gt Performer Thaiwan/Japan made  






IMO there all very nice..  

[Retrodan72]

I agree, IMO a Performer is a Performer regardless of where it's from.

I had my white one which was a Tai made frameset, I loved it just as much as the US one I have now, I just really wanted a yellow one.

[matsoki]

I thought the geometry was a little different? I had both at one point an the head angle was slack on the Jap version.

But when it came to selling one, I sold the Jap version and kept the US one.

[Gnarlyscoots]

IMO Senzo, what I have come to gather about these frame sets and why the US version is more desirable is, the US version has a straighter head tube, is superior in the welding techniques, they originated in the US and have a far better re-sale value than a Jap made version.

I have never owned one, although I am seeking a 84/85 chrome one as we speak, and with the points above, I am biased in seeking a US version.

I would prefer an 84 frame set though    

[brummie]

its an old chestnut this
larger tubing, inferior welding heavier etc
i have had quite a few performers and i couldnt tell the difference tbh esp from my 85 us made and the 85 tai made versions
yes the design did change slightly on the 84 to the 85 where the standing platform was raised level with the top tube and cable guides added to the forks for potts routeing
all freestyle rider improvements

i havent had a japanese made one but like the japanese stuff so defo would

always makes me laugh that people think tai performers are not that desirable and gen 3 onwards haros which are tai made make big big bucks

which do i find more desirable, well the us made ones of course but purely because they were made in fewer numbers and originated there
would it put me off a tai or jap one absolutely no
i love performers they ride great, look great
iconic imo
whats not to like 

[That Swan Guy]

Aren't US made all Cr-mo tubing whilst the foreign ones are three main tubes only?

Fork leg diameters are different too. Some are 1" others are 1 1/8". that is the diameter of the fork leg not the head tube before anybody pulls me up for that old chestnut
therefore finding the correct size fork standers can be a drama if you have the fatter fork width.
Head tube angle thingy as previously mentioned.

US ones are more expensive because the Americans have a stigma about foreign built bikes....even British. Just glance over the sale threads on the Museum and US Fleabay. If it doesn't say US made it ain't worth shit in their opinion. 

My first one was a foreign built 87 because it was yellow. It was heavy!
Now I have a US made 84 and 85. I think the 86 I have is foreign. Either way I love them all for what they are............... bloody kids bikes

[GTnumber1]

Yep head angles are different  on u.s models to foreign made ones 85 -86..what I also noticed on the u.s ones I have when striped, the tubing was a darker colour and had 4130 printed on the tubing with a white pin stripe going through the tubing ( no bullsh1t) tbh my favourite one Ive ridden is my foreign made 86 world tour I could do sitting down wheelies peace of piss so easy to pull the front up and chuck the bike about  but not ridden a u.s model yet to see if there's any difference

[stidds]

US ones are more expensive because the Americans have a stigma about foreign built bikes....even British. Just glance over the sale threads on the Museum and US Fleabay. If it doesn't say US made it ain't worth shit in their opinion. 

To me this is the real difference between US made bikes and 'others', for some reason people from the US think that the ONLY people in the world who can weld a bike or produce metal are people from the USA.  I really admire how patriotic they are, but at times they are blinkered to anything outside of the USA.

Lets face it Curtis bikes are stronger, better welded and better built than anything the USA has ever produced.  But nobody from the US cares about Curtis because they are from the UK.

[Funkyworm]

US ones are more expensive because the Americans have a stigma about foreign built bikes....even British. Just glance over the sale threads on the Museum and US Fleabay. If it doesn't say US made it ain't worth shit in their opinion. 

To me this is the real difference between US made bikes and 'others', for some reason people from the US think that the ONLY people in the world who can weld a bike or produce metal are people from the USA.  I really admire how patriotic they are, but at times they are blinkered to anything outside of the USA.

Lets face it Curtis bikes are stronger, better welded and better built than anything the USA has ever produced.  But nobody from the US cares about Curtis because they are from the UK.

Ha-ha where's the (LiKE) button when you need one.

Very witty but valid point !  I have an 87 performer the geometry of the head tube is supposed to be different to the 86 & apparently they have try-moly construction even though they are covered in stickers saying 4130 chro-mo all over them! I hear some of the 87's still apparently came out of the us factory & were full chromoly so you'd have to assume these had the same geometry as the 86? but with the additions of the cable guiding on the down tube for the rear brake etc. The parts spec seemed to change all of the time as well, some came with dia compe others Chang star & even odyssey brakes on others along with different seat post clamps.. A performer is a performer, Cant wait to get mine up & running ! 

[GTnumber1]

no 87 performers were chromoly apart from the u.s and foriegn made  s-bend pro performers, as far as im aware all 87 performers were tia built as they moved away from japan as it was cheaper plus they were all trimolly. they  were just a basic entry level GT (money spinner) although they used the old style frame, if you look at the GT stamp behind the seat mast on the 87 performer there not stamped 4130, the 4130 decal on them was just a selling ploy which GT and HARO did with foreign made frames... geometry changed each year to suit riding especially flatland,plus foriegn made frames were different in geometry to u.s made what ever the year was...    

a performer is just a performer and not a "PRO" performer  

 but here in the u.k every performer despite what ever year it is,  ends up being a 85 pro performer    

[senzo milano]

Thank you all for the explaning 

 I also like them all.  Us made or not..

The fact is only that when i was BMX active with a GT Performer     was in 1984 /1985.. so thats why i love that age so much.

What the price differance between them 

[senzo milano]

what would be the value  of a 1985 performer f&f ... i do know what a thai version for goes..

but does the people pay really much more for a US version..

I  know that a 1984 is very  high priced