GT Mallet Copy

[Wayne Ryder]

I just received an eBay-bought stem, styled in the manner of a GT Mallet. The buyer said he thought it was a Pro-Lite, I've no idea. I bid because the price was good.
It looks for all the world like a Mallet, but lacks the GT stamp on the front. There's evidence there was once a sticker there, but what it said is now lost forever. The only markings on it are on the shaft: "96  -  A"

Were copies around, or is this the genuine but unstamped article?

[mark 2]

I believe the stems were made for GT at a Taiwan factory called Jae Hwa Vehicle Material Co, it was a stock one from their range with the GT logo added for their purposes. Like with many other products, it's cheaper to find a factory with the existing machinary and products being knocked up and to be rebranded. Skyway Hot seats is another example, Velo made those,  Anlun stems for Haro Group 1......

[Lazarou]

The Pro-lite brand name was associated with a lot of crap in the 90's unfortunately.

[harris]

handle bar crushers

[darkersomeday]

s&m copied the gt mallet stem for the s&m redneck 

[rakas17]

have a look at this, about halfway down
http://home.comcast.net/~rinisbikeshop/seatstem.htm

[SaMAlex]

wow, they have got almost every design of stem, but without the logos on them. Well ... Im guessing its just stems that were made in the far east and the people who made them just knocked of a few 100 brandless copies.

[zed4130]

that cys1(code) one is odd 

[Wayne Ryder]

have a look at this, about halfway down
http://home.comcast.net/~rinisbikeshop/seatstem.htm

Yep, that's the one. Right down to the faint white paint around the circle on the front. Well done that man.

[teamsano]

i recall seeing those fake gt stems in the nineties, and i seem to remember that they came with the little holes for brake adjusters for a rotor, unlike the original stems. they were certainly far different to the original eighties gt stem as they were much more rounded, definately not from the same mold.

[brettnai]

That website is bizarre http://home.comcast.net/~rinisbikeshop/

[rakas17]

it is a weird site but he's got some pretty good random stuff , i've had a few bits from there and they always arrive on time

[spinmaster]

yep that is a good site to get parts from