GT Bicycles is an American company that designs and manufactures BMX, mountain, and road bicycles. GT is a division of the Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings, which also markets Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, IronHorse, DYNO, and RoadMaster bicycle brands; all manufactured in Asia. GT was founded in 1972, by Gary Turner and Richard Long in Santa Ana, California, and was noted at its inception for spearheading the prominence of BMX bicycles, later for developing a range of bikes around its "triple triangle" design, and at the end of its independent history, winning a commission to manufacture a $30,000 carbon fiber "Superbike" for the 1996 Summer games. GT sponsored numerous race teams and individuals, including noted riders Rebecca Twigg and Juli Furtado. In 1998, the company went public and subsequently merged with Questor Partners, then owner of Schwinn. The conglomerate went bankrupt in 2001 and was acquired by Pacific Cycle, which was in turn acquired by Dorel Industries in 2004. GT is noted for innovative BMX designs and their "triple triangle" hard-tail mountain bike frame design — where seat stays are parallel to the downtube and attached to the top tube forward of the seat tube, rather than directly at the seat tube. The company often uses a frame design where the bike's top tube extends rearward past the seat tube, claimed to reduce the vibration transferred to the seat from the rear wheel. Later versions would have "GT" stamped on the end of the extended top tube. Company History Origins 1972-1979 GT bicycles began in 1972 when professional drag racer and experienced welder Gary Turner makes a frame for his son Craig Turner in his Fullerton, California garage to race at the BMX track. Most frames used during this period were modified Schwinn Stingrays which were heavy and broke easily under the stress of BMX racing and jumping. Gary Turner made his frames from 4130 chrome-moly tubing, the same tubing used in building chassis for dragsters which is stronger and lighter than regular carbon steel. Craig's bike gets noticed at the BMX track and Gary starts making frames for other kids. In 1976 Gary Turner begins producing frames for Pedals Ready, a Pro Shop at the Western Sports-A-Rama BMX track in Orange County, California named and marketed as Pedals Ready/GT. These are the first commercially distributed Gary Turner produced frames and one of the first sponsored riders to use them was Greg