Help identifying my bike - Atom, 90s road bike

[colonelorbit]

Hi, have recently bought a lovely road bike from my local secondhand dealer in Somerset and getting back into road biking. It's from the 90s with old school geometry and a mix of Dura ace and Ultegra components.

The frame was painted over and decals removed, but I can see shadow of the name Atom. Also the original owner said it has a 'shocking paint scheme' am thinking black with splsheshes of bright colours and leopard print bar tape.

Also the frame is unusual, was told its steel, but it's very light and not convinced it's not alu. But frame tubing is unusual, its egg shaped in section, oval, narrower at top than bottom, unground welds.

Would love to find out more about the bike, brand, model, frame maker, original spec, decals etc. May even try to undo the red DIY paint job.

Will upload photos in replies.

 

[colonelorbit]

Link to photos:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12xwE7c ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12gL3TO ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12la8PW ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12hRKmX ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/136aXiB ... sp=sharing

 

[chrisv40]

Re:

Looks like aluminium to me, does a magnet stick to it?

 

[colonelorbit]

Re:

Did consider doing a magnet test, but it's been a while since ive my hands on a steel bike, wasn't sure if a steel alloy would still be magnetic.

They're is some paint scratched off the bb and there's with some corrosion but no signs of rust, so who knows.

 

[legrandefromage]

Definitely aluminium with those welds and doesnt look to be anything super exciting.

Very likely to be Oria tubing but it could be from any one of countless manufacturers

 

[colonelorbit]

Re:

ouch! Thanks, I guess

Does anyone know much about Atom bikes, not been able to find much about them, anything that might match this from that era?

John

 

[legrandefromage]

Why the 'ouch'? What were you expecting it to be?

 

[colonelorbit]

Re:

No blunt and honest is fine - I guess, as I had been told it was steel, and because of the usual (to me) tube shape and it's lightness, and the fact I had not been able to find much about the bike make (Atom) but had heard a little bit about them, I was not expecting but I guess half hoping for something, if not special, a little different - but if it turns out to be very run of the mill I am still happy, as it's doing my training no end of good.

But would still like to know more about Atom bikes from this era, you know any more?
John

 

[legrandefromage]

Unfortunately there are many people who sign on just to see what a bike is worth never to be seen again which is ok but when 'yet another' bleedin' bicycle turns up with X Y and Z stuck to it, answers may be a little turse, especially before the first coffee... :mrgreen:

Anyway

The only cycling related 'Atom' that is well known is a company that produced parts decades ago. They made hubs, freehwheels and that sort of thing
, disappearing sometime in the early 1980's

http://www.velobase.com/ListComponents. ... 036e4d1614

As for your frame, ignoring the components as they could have been fitted at any time, it looks to be early/ mid 1990's and looks to be reasonable but nothing super special.

If it were steel and had welds like that, I would have run away as that would be scaffold pole territory! Aluminium can be run light but needs certain tubing sizes to retain a similar strength to the equivalent steel, thats why it looks biggererer. You do get larger diameter steel tubing but its usually very specialist with varying widths and shaping to keep up strength whilst going extremely thin walled - we're talking 'nths of a millimetre

So yours is definitely aluminium. If the steerer is 1 inch, its early to mid 1990's, if it is 1 1/8 it will be a later frame

 

[colonelorbit]

Thanks and no worries - after looking a this and another forum, I was under the impression that Andy Thompson, of Orbit bikes etc, may have made some frames/bikes under the Atom label, but am happy to be corrected - it could be that a seller, to the previous owner, had some Atom decals and passed the bike off as a bit more special than it was (?)