Testing the waters of Orbit

[mtbfix]

I think that my sister still has her circa 1990 Orbit mtb in her garage. It's sat there unused for years. As you might imagine for the vintage it is a rigid steel job, 501 tubes maybe. Groupset is Exage Mtn or similar. Rims are silver M6 Oxygen I think. It probably also as a Flexstem.

If anyone is at all interested I can ask her to take a couple of photos as she is visiting us this weekend and I imagine she'd not object to getting it out of the way.

 

[legrandefromage]

 

[danson67]

It looks pretty mid-range, spec-wise..but it's some fine British steel that's definitely under-represented here

All the best,

 

[mtbfix]

I know it is pretty middle of the road. I'd have had it otherwise.

 

[saulus]

 

[was8v]

There are a few orbits on here.

The all things orbit thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=221678
And the there is a catalogue here: viewtopic.php?t=220060&start=15&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

If its 531 would be worth upgrading

 

[mtbfix]

Well I have the beastie in hand now. It is a 1989ish Frontier, lugged 501, with bright pink and yellow paint. Groupset is Exage Mtn and rims are silver M6. There is a Flexstem in black on it. Size is 20". Frankly I think it is probably a tear or so too old, before the Frontier went TIG 531 with sloping TT.

 

[xxnick1975]

Cool bike. Sounds big, how tall is your sister.

 

[velomaniac]

Worst retro mtb I ever owned was an Orbit but that really wasn't the bikes fault. It had obviously been custom built to some individuals weird measurements. Really short top tube, steep steering angle and could only squeeze in 1.75" wide tyres. I always felt I was heading over the handlebars even on the flat. It was however beautifully put together, lugged 531 with lugged unicrown fork and a black with white paint fleck colour scheme. I sold it on ebay and within 6 months the buyer sold it on ebay to. Definitely a bike only the original owner could love.

 

[mattr]

Worst retro mtb I ever owned was an Orbit but that really wasn't the bikes fault. It had obviously been custom built to some individuals weird measurements. Really short top tube, steep steering angle and could only squeeze in 1.75" wide tyres. I always felt I was heading over the handlebars even on the flat. It was however beautifully put together, lugged 531 with lugged unicrown fork and a black with white paint fleck colour scheme. I sold it on ebay and within 6 months the buyer sold it on ebay to. Definitely a bike only the original owner could love.

Sounds like the orbit helium road bike i had. It was nominally the right size for me (all the key tubes were the right length) but the horrendous angles filled me with dread anytime i needed to brake or turn.

By the time i'd got it comfortable, and the contact points in the right place it was only any good for riding in a straight line with no one else near you. It also weighed more than any other bike i'd even owned.
It was still better than the ribble it replaced.