1993 Orange Aluminium Elite-Advice needed please!!

[Grinkgav]

Hi all,
Newbie to the forum & loving it! I've recently dug out my old Orange for a holiday in France,where I rediscovered my youthful love of mountain biking on some superb fire tracks in the Morvan Forest(well recommended). Anyway I've got the bug again and feel its time to try & restore my beloved Elite to its former shiny glory(I bought it new back in 93 & have had more than my moneys worth,they really were the mutts nuts of machines) .Its totally original except the hot rods & seat have been replaced. I plan on stripping it down & carry out the painstaking task of removing the laquer(any suggestions welcome!) then rebuilding & replacing components as needed. As I've got older,unfitter & seem to have developed a sense of self preservation I would like to make the ride slightly more comfortable to suit my senior years! Can anyone recommend a good quality shorter stem,perhaps riser bars & decent front suspension forks to suit & do my beloved 'O' justice??. Any tips or advice gratefully received as I'm no bike mechanic but very practical & keen & I just cant bring myself to get rid of my trusty old steed.
Will post some pics as soon as I get chance.
Many thanks,
Gav

 

[jonnyboy666]

hey Gav,

i have an elite myself, like yours it's a 93, finding a shorter stem may be an issue as it will 1 1/4 and they are getting pretty rare let alone in the shorter lengths. also regarding suspension forks the type of fork you could get for this frame may not give that much usable travel.

so this leads me to my point, i would suggest a more modern 1 1/8 fork in the more modern aheadset style set up. you can do this by fitting some 1 1/4 reducers to make the headset 1 1/8 that way you can fit a more modern fork and have a huge amount more choice in stems. some people would say this is wrong to modernise and older bike in this way but if it keeps it riding then i say do it. i seem to remember there is someone on here who has done this conversion. the only other issue you may come across is the front brake, you'll have a canti and any modern fork will not accommodate this brake, so you may have to upgrade to v brakes.

with regard to the lacquer, nitromorse will remove it but you'd then have to polish it like hell and then get it re-lacquered other wise it will tarnish quite quickly.

 

[brocklanders023]

Agree with Jonny about the stem/forks. Replace the headset with 1 1/8th and get a reducer. Plenty of choice then.

I stripped and polished an Elite I had and it came up really well. Gil-M has superb reproduction decals on file. Dig out boy"O"boy's old build thread for his Elite as he added loads of info and a guide to polishing

 

[boy"O"boy]

.....as brocklanders and JB666 said ^

Gil_M for the decals, loads of elbow grease and make sure you lacquer it for durability. Link -

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... highlight=

Screen saver for Inspiration?

Cheers,
boy"O"boy

 

[Grinkgav]

Thanks fellas,really appreciate the info,I'm gonna get the frame checked out by Simon at Albany Cycles in Coventry(loves his retro bikes) as there is a slight concern regarding wear on the frame at the bottom bracket. He also suggested the same as you guys regarding reducing down to 1 1/8 to give more choice of stem & fork & to get the geometry of the bike right for this old time rider! Here's hoping alls ok with the frame...will try and post done pics this weekend. Thanks again for your help. Cheers Gav

 

[feetabix]

b'o'b'.....that is still ridiculously lovely!....i presume i am allowed to hog that as my screen saver for purposes of lust, as opposed to inspiration......i raced an elite for several years and it brings back good memories!.....gav.....where are you in warwickshire?.....we have a great little scene going on in the northern part of the county (admittedly its a little too heavily based around spence's brewery, but we are working on that!), and you will be made most welcome!....daz

 

[Grinkgav]

Hey Daz,thanks for the very kind offer mate...I may well have to take you up on it as I to am a North Warwickshire lad,based in Baddesley Ensor...about 3 miles from yourself!! What are the chances of that eh?! Will defo keep in touch & certainly like the brewery base!! Im just struggling to find time to get my bike sorted,I've got an old Ali Carrera I got for my wife I could use in the mean time & bearing in mind I've not done alot of riding for quite some time,you may have to have a few extra pints at the brewery while you wait for me to catch up!!
Finally does anyone know how I post pictures from an iPhone??

 

[Grinkgav]

Cheers b'o'b,that pic is inspiration enough,looks awesome! Just read thru the link....£30!!...will defo be using this ad a reference mate,Thankyou.
Gav O Lar (!!)

 

[Archemist]

hi

yep they're not bad those 'lites

(see sig for mine )

And