GT Zaskar FS Sport review

GT’s burly Zaskar FS Sport full-suspension trail bike has a lot to live up to given the Zaskar's history.

At face value, the bike certainly looks as if it means business, thanks to its modern geometry, featuring a steep 78-degree seat angle, slack 65-degree head angle and long proportions; reach is 447mm and the wheelbase 1,222mm (size medium).

Its 17.1kg weight (without pedals) slowed me down on the climbs but enhanced the descents by keeping the bike planted and tracking the ground well.

The modern geometry, together with the impressive performance of the entry-level Suntour suspension and stopping power of the Tektro brakes, inspired confidence on a variety of trails and jump lines at Scotland’s famous Glentress Forest trail centre.

GT Zaskar FS Sport frame and suspension

The Zaskar FS Sport’s frame features GT’s Linkage Tuned Suspension (LTS), which uses a Horst-link (4-bar) system with 120mm of travel.

The front triangle has two pairs of bottle bosses, one pair on the upper aspect of the down tube and the other underneath the top tube.

The vertical placement of the shock leaves plenty of room for a large water bottle and/or accessories, even on the medium bike.

The rear brake and gear cables are routed internally, exiting on the underside of the down tube to continue under the bottom bracket to their respective chainstays.

Thanks to SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger, upgrading the drivetrain is made more accessible because the hanger is designed to be strong and reliable with readily available replacements.

The 73mm BSA bottom bracket should make maintenance simple.

GT Zaskar FS Sport geometry

The 78-degree seat angle and slack 65-degree head angle mean the top tube has a moderate length of 578mm on the size medium bike.

Long chainstays (450mm) and reach (447mm) should equate to a bike that strikes an optimum riding balance between climbing and descending.

GT Zaskar FS Sport specifications

The Zaskar features a 10-speed Microshift Advent X drivetrain with an 11-48t cassette, 32T chainring and KMC 10X chain.

The WTB rims are built to Formula boost hubs wrapped with WTB Breakout Comp DNA 29x2.3in tyres front and rear.

Stopping power comes from Tektro M275 brakes with dual-piston calipers and two-finger lever blades. My test bike came with 180mm rotors, as opposed to the specified 160s.

The components are mostly in-house branded GT parts. This includes the 780mm alloy 20mm riser bar, with 5-degree upsweep and 8-degree backsweep, a 45mm alloy stem and fixed GT alloy seatpost. A WTB Silverado saddle is fitted.

An SR Suntour Raidon R shock with adjustable rebound damping is matched with a 130mm-travel Suntour XCR34 coil fork.

These come as standard with a medium-weight coil spring, also with adjustable rebound, preload and lockout dials.

GT Zaskar FS Sport ride impressions

Being a trail bike for anywhere, we tested the Zaskar FS on the variety of trails that the Glentress Forest trail centre has to offer, including everything from bike-park style trails to natural off-piste runs.

Testing in the winter, conditions ranged from slippy to grippy, with plenty of mud, rain and ice thrown in for good measure.

GT Zaskar FS Sport climbing performance

The FS Sport delivers a familiar, powerful upright ride position for the flats and climbs thanks to its 78-degree seat angle.

Although I'm usually a size small, the medium’s longer 447mm reach and 578mm top tube figures made me feel at home without being stretched out when seated.

I didn’t find the WTB saddle comfortable, but other riders’ backsides might suit it well – choosing a bike saddle is a highly personal process.

The cockpit felt good, thanks to the 20mm riser bar with its 8-degree backsweep, which oriented my wrists and upper body into a strong-feeling, comfortable position for both the ups and downs.

The WTB tyres rolled with little resistance on trail-centre climbs.

The Zaskar has more pronounced pedal bob compared to the Polygon Siskiu and Boardman MTR I tested it alongside. However, it wasn’t significant enough to warrant locking the shock out for seated climbing.

That being said, making use of the lockout lever firmed up the suspension for a slightly more economical climb, or for when I wanted to really put the power down.

At 17.1kg, it’s in a heavyweight class, sapping valuable energy and power once the gradient steepens.

This wasn’t helped by the gearing – 11-48t with a 32T chainring meant I couldn’t relax and spin up short, sharp and punchy climbing sections, especially when attempting to get up and over rock steps.

Fitting a smaller chainring or larger cassette, as featured on the Zaskar FS Comp model, would be a straightforward fix.

GT Zaskar FS Sport descending performance

The descents are where this bike performs best.

The aforementioned weight helps keep it planted and stable, while the long reach and wheelbase take care of stability and control.

The fork’s stock medium spring meant, at 58kg, I couldn’t use the full 130mm of travel, getting only 95mm despite some heavy impacts.

Ideally, I would opt for a softer alternative and different-weight aftermarket springs can be acquired from your local Suntour dealer.

At the opposite end of the scale, riders requiring a large or extra-large frame are likely to bottom out the fork and need a harder spring.

Despite how hard the fork is, both it and the shock performed impressively, soaking up heavy landings while keeping the bike settled over repeated harsh braking bumps and small drops.

The Zaskar is well suited to laps of bike-park style trails, and off-piste trails to boot.

Despite the tyres’ narrow 2.3in width, they inspire plenty of confidence, enabling you to lean the bike and rail through bermed turns and flat corners.

The long reach and slack 65-degree head angle allow for easy initiation of turns and changes of direction. The bike naturally leans into the turns.

Even though the Microshift derailleur has a good clutch mechanism, there was a lot of chain-slap noise on bumpy trails, caused by the lack of a chainstay protector.

In the same way, a dropper post would vastly improve performance, with an increasing number of brands featuring them on their budget mountain bikes.

GT Zaskar FS Sport bottom line

The GT Zaskar FS Sport is well-proportioned with all the foundations of an all-round, all-mountain bike.

The spec is competitive and it impressed for a budget build.

While the chunky 17.1kg weight saps climbing energy, it makes up for it on the descents. At this price, a chainstay protector and dropper post would be welcome additions.