1993 Orange Dynamo

[jimo746]

I bought this '93 Dynamo a few weeks ago as a little Xmas present to myself, i collected it from a very nice chap who'd advertised it on the Facebook retro Orange owners group.
I believe it was previously owned by @Cheshire1980 ? and remains almost identical to that build bar the tyres & pedals.

I'd been doing some Google searching but there's not a great deal of info out there on the Dynamo. Literally a few build threads and a handful of For Sale listings, of which many of the image links no longer work...

I believe the frames were made by A-Pro in Taiwan, in what numbers I'm unsure of ?
There was the Dynamo, and the later Dynamo2 which had a wishbone rear seatstay design, what years the two models were produced I'm not sure?
I also believe the Dynamo was raced by Jonny Clay & Chris Young, I would have thought there'd be more info/pics online about this, but I've found very little?

If anyone has any Dynamo info to share please feel free to add it to this thread, I'd like to know more, and it might help anyone searching in the future.

Build wise I did think about swapping an 11-speed groupset from my current bike onto this, but I think the Ultegra groupset already on the Dynamo works very well and looks suitably "retro" even though the groupset is a few years younger than the frameset.
A period correct Shimano 600 groupset would be nice, but for the moment the only changes I'll make will be fitting a Flite Ti saddle, and some different wheels, I have some 600 hubs with grey Open 4CD rims so will see how they fit with the bike.

 

[Cheshire1980]

This was my Dynamo previously.. Bought it in 2015 via EBay (Frame, Forks, Seat post and saddle) From a guy called Jonny in Leeds. Remember having a conversation on the phone with Jonny, regarding details, and he stressed he was the original owner. Only a few years later, it occurred to me it could of been Jonny Clay, as I believe he lives in Leeds and works/ Worked for British cycling. However, I don’t know for sure, but it does seem a coincidence.. Who knows. Anyway, I believe only around 100 of the Dynamo’s were built, from 1993/94. Had a repetition for the forks being weak, Ie failing, so something to be mindful of, but a light stiff frame. The group set I put on it, dates from the early 2000’s, Shimano Ultegra, the same with the Rigida wheels. It’s a real beauty this, glad it’s gone to another great home. Enjoy

 

[jimo746]

This was my Dynamo previously.. Bought it in 2015 via EBay (Frame, Forks, Seat post and saddle) From a guy called Jonny in Leeds. Remember having a conversation on the phone with Jonny, regarding details, and he stressed he was the original owner. Only a few years later, it occurred to me it could of been Jonny Clay, as I believe he lives in Leeds and works/ Worked for British cycling. However, I don’t know for sure, but it does seem a coincidence.. Who knows. Anyway, I believe only around 100 of the Dynamo’s were built, from 1993/94. Had a repetition for the forks being weak, Ie failing, so something to be mindful of, but a light stiff frame. The group set I put on it, dates from the early 2000’s, Shimano Ultegra, the same with the Rigida wheels. It’s a real beauty this, glad it’s gone to another great home. Enjoy

Thanks for the reply, I'd read your build thread, nicely done.
I had read about possible issues with the aluminium fork, I guess any old aluminium fork would be the same nowadays, I'll keep checking it as I'd like to keep the more classic look of the original fork & quill stem, though I do have a carbon fork I could use but it would mean a change to Aheadset system (which wouldn't look too far out of place for me as my '93 mtb was running Aheadset back then, it just took a while to gain popularity in the road fraternity).

 

[Cheshire1980]

I would personally stick with the alloy forks, the frame and forks had little use, so an easy life overall, there should not be any problems. A bit different, if you were perhaps planning to race on it, or big mileages with it, then another fork option might be a good choice. The stem and bars are not original, but period correct, added from my parts bin. The saddle is original. although not particularly comfortable, and agree another saddle, such as a flite, is a better option.

 

[brocklanders023]

Dibs on the saddle if you sell!

Can't really add more than Calum has but they are sweet bikes.

 

[jimo746]

I've been busy making changes to the Dynamo recently, I'd always wanted to get it looking loosely along the lines of the one in the picture below...



Currently I'm fitting a Shimano 600 Ultegra groupset to it, along with some Mavic 350 handlebars & Cinelli stem, all from a donor bike I picked up.
The wheels I have are 600 hubs on Mavic Open 4CD rims, these currently have a 9-speed freehub fitted to suit the outgoing 6500 groupset, so I'll probably just go 7-speed cassette with a spacer to fit.

I'm just waiting on some flat washers so I can fit the downtube shifters.
Unsure of what pedals to use, the ones in the pic above look like Shimano M737 MTB pedals to me? It's possible I'll stick with double-sided pedals, maybe more modern ones....

 

[legrandefromage]

How's about a nine speed Ultegra lightweight cassette and some DA 9spd down tube shifters?

The 600 mechs will run fine and you'll have the original look with a bit of practicality

 

[legrandefromage]

<looks up prices for 9spd DA shifters>

Run away! Run away!

<hasty rethink involving thin screwdrivers>

 

[jimo746]

How's about a nine speed Ultegra lightweight cassette and some DA 9spd down tube shifters?

The 600 mechs will run fine and you'll have the original look with a bit of practicality

That would be nice, I guess the 600 shifters could give me 7 (or 8?) Gears on the 9 speed cassette anyway?

<looks up prices for 9spd DA shifters>

Run away! Run away!

<hasty rethink involving thin screwdrivers>

Yeah . I've looked already, they're more than I paid for the donor bike with the 600 groupset on it! .
Plus, isn't there some weirdness involving DA 9-speed shifting/shifters?

I dunno, I'm going to try & keep it simple with 7-speed I think.