We had a glimpse (and a quick spin on) some of the 2010 GT bikes line-up earlier today and to be honest we were really impressed with what they have on offer for 2010.
There’s obviously a huge range of full-sus wonders and carbon fibre bling on offer but one bike really stood out, not for it’s groundbreaking design, Ferrari-esque looks or wallet withering price tag; no this was simply a well thought out, well spec’d urban/commuter/leisure bike.
The 2010 Traffic 3.0 has a pleasantly racy looking aluminium frame featuring GT’s trademark triple triangle frame with a full compliment of bosses for racks, mudguards and bottle cages and very neat internally routed cables, aluminium rigid forks (nothing to go wrong here), quality Alex double wall rims make a good strong, light wheel-set and Shimano Acera 24 speed gearing; all this is good if not exactly groundbreaking.
What really makes this bike stand out are the clever spec choices that aren’t immediately obvious. All the graphics/stickers on the frame are made of a highly reflective material that both looks good and is an excellent safety feature, the saddle has a neat built-in red LED light meaning you will never forget your light, the tyres are the excellent Schwalbe Roadcruiser’s which as well as having reflective sidewalls also have the best puncture protection in the business.
There’s also a couple of really clever features you wont see on anybody else’s bikes this year; firstly there are two neatly sculpted rubber ‘bumper strips’ running along either side of the top-tube, these are to stop your frame being scratched when it’s leant against a lamp-post to be locked up. Continuing with the security friendly theme the bike comes with a complete set of Pin-Head security skewers, these use a special key unique to each set of skewers meaning that only the owner of the key (the bike comes with 2 keys and replacements can be ordered) can remove the wheels, seat-post or handlebars meaning that all you have to do is lock your frame.
Pin-Head skewers are available separately but at around £60 for the set, so having them supplied with a bike that retails for £380 represents a great deal.
All these simple but brilliantly thought out features go to making this one of the best urban bikes available, this deserves to be a success, nice one GT.
