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GT Sensor Bike Review

The GT Sensor is designed to handle long days on tough trails and challenging terrain. In other words this bike can handle almost anything (within reason, of course) that you might want to put it through.

GT Sensor 3.0 for 2014The GT Sensor bikes, like most GT mtn bikes, are designed well and are reliable and very durable. The GT Sensor has 4 price and component levels. All GT Sensor models have the same rugged aluminum frame, full suspension (with 120mm front travel) and hydraulic disc brakes.

The 4 price and component levels give you the option to select the best parts and components right out of the box or save some money up front and upgrade later or as needed. 

GT builds some of the best BMX and mountain bikes in the world and the Sensor line is their high-end, full suspension XC bikes. In addition to the GT Sensor 1,2,3 and 4, you also have three 29er models to choose from (the 9R Pro, Expert and Elite).

GT Sensor Model Comparisons:

The 2012 GT Sensor series has four price/component levels and three 29er price/component levels. For the GT Sensor, the price and component quality goes down as the level numbers go up (the Sensor 1 is the best and most expensive and the Sensor 4 is the least expensive).

For the GT Sensor 29er models, the 9R Pro is the best and most expensive, the 9R Expert is the mid-range model and the 9R Elite is the least expensive.

At the time of this review, not all of the 2012 GT Sensor models were available from our online merchants and although the specs were all available on the GT Bikes website, they did not have an easy comparison feature.

So in order to compare the GT Sensor models specs and features easily, I formatted the specs into the following PDF files:

About-Bicycles Review:

The GT Sensor series bikes come with durable Hydroformed Speed Metal™ Aluminum Frames and good to excellent components depending on the GT Sensor model. Even with the lower end Sensor models, you will still get a more durable bike than with many other manufacturer's models in the same price range.

GT mountain bikes, in general, are some of the best mountain bikes on the market and the Sensor series are, the best full suspension trail bikes that GT offers.

If you have read other reviews on this site then it is no surprise that I really like GT mountain bikes and usually recommend the GT bikes that I have reviewed so it should be no surprise that I would easily recommend the GT Sensor as a dependable and durable full suspension, all around good quality XC bike.

Customer Reviews:

There are plenty of reviews of the GT Sensor bikes to be found online. Most customers have rated all of the GT Sensor models very highly (4 stars or higher out of 5). At the time of this review there plenty of GT Sensor customer reviews. Although most reviews were for earlier model years, the GT Sensor has not changed a lot for this year so I believe that these reviews are still relevant.

For example the GT Sensor reviews at mtbr rate the GT Sensor 1.0 at 4.75 Peppers from 4 Reviews, the GT Sensor 2.0 at 4.5 from 2 Reviews, the  GT Sensor 3.0 at 4.8 from 5 Reviews and the GT Sensor 4.0 at 4.0 from 1 Review.

Bicycling Magazine lists the GT Sensor as one of the seven "best dollar-for-dollar trail bikes we could find".

Although there are plenty of more detailed reviews, one of the reviews at a popular review site summarizes the GT Sensor very well as: "Great bike, Great Price” – Jonathan H, Buzzillions.com

See the Performance and REI links (above) for specifications on the other GT Sensor models.