Very pink 1985 Orbit Gold Medal

[sjcprojects]

It's now cabled up with bar tape on and new levers – the hoods on the original levers were totally cracked, and the levers themselves were pretty ropey anyway. The new levers I pulled out of storage look nice, but turned out to have the old style of bar clamp where the nut you screw into to tighten the lever to the bars can separate from the part that goes round the bars – which of course happened on both. Once those come off, getting them back together is akin to nailing jelly to the wall. I managed it in the end with the help of some cable ties after much

Unfortunately I won't be getting the new wheels for another month, so an actual ride will have to wait until then.

 

[sherlylock]

I picked up an Orbit Gold medal this year and it certainly shares quite a few features with your frame....

Also the frame number of mine - 853020 - is similar format.

Also have the overhanging seat stay tops and the canti brakes..

Loving the pink! Bold.

 

[sjcprojects]

Thanks for that @sherlylock - I think that seals it that mine's a Gold Medal as suspected. Yours also has the light mount on the fork like mine, so pretty much exactly the same frame. Almost tempts me to put the right decals on mine. Or is the minimal look better? Not sure...

 

[sherlylock]

Thanks for that @sherlylock - I think that seals it that mine's an Gold Medal as suspected. Yours also has the light mount on the fork like mine, so pretty much exactly the same frame. Almost tempts me to put the right decals on mine. Or is the minimal look better? Not sure...

Decal sets available on Hlloyds - I've got a gold set waiting to go on mine. Not sure gold on pink works but you could request them in a different colour.

EDIT - just checked the Hlloyds website and you can request different colours for the orbit decals from a dropdown. Might be worth a look.

Interesting you mention the quality issue - my seat stay tops are dreadful where they meet the top tube - misaligned. Also had a cracked dropout too (that I had agriculturally welded - we'll see how that pans out).

It's a light frame though. Bare weight is 2050g and it's a 25" big 'un. I'll get a build thread up later to get me motivated to get it finished......

 

[sjcprojects]

Decal sets available on Hlloyds - I've got a gold set waiting to go on mine. Not sure gold on pink works but you could request them in a different colour.

EDIT - just checked the Hlloyds website and you can request different colours for the orbit decals from a dropdown. Might be worth a look.

Interesting you mention the quality issue - my seat stay tops are dreadful where they meet the top tube - misaligned. Also had a cracked dropout too (that I had agriculturally welded - we'll see how that pans out).

It's a light frame though. Bare weight is 2050g and it's a 25" big 'un. I'll get a build thread up later to get me motivated to get it finished......

Yes, I'd go for the black decals if I do go down that route. Might depend on whether I keep it or not.

Their reputation for some shoddiness is obviously well deserved! Though on the other hand, they also have a reputation for being nice rides. Not exactly a contradiction, but it's interesting that apparently they made essentially good frames, but poorly finished. Probably too focused on quantity over quality, I suppose.

I'll keep an eye out for your build thread. Are you keeping it as a tourer or going for something a bit different?

 

[sherlylock]

Yes, I'd go for the black decals if I do go down that route. Might depend on whether I keep it or not.

Their reputation for some shoddiness is obviously well deserved! Though on the other hand, they also have a reputation for being nice rides. Not exactly a contradiction, but it's interesting that apparently they made essentially good frames, but poorly finished. Probably too focused on quantity over quality, I suppose.

I'll keep an eye out for your build thread. Are you keeping it as a tourer or going for something a bit different?

Yeah black decals would work well.

Not sure what I'm doing with mine yet. It'll mainly be ridden backwards and forwards to work as that's all I seem to have time for at the moment....so I guess it won't be a "tourer" as such (no pannier rack or bags).

Fast commuter/racer at the weekends?

 

[sjcprojects]

Now all built up, just some fettling needed before a first ride (my dislike of canti brakes has not been diminished by building this bike so far, I must say). If there's any sunshine it's hard to get a proper photo, because the pink just overloads everything, but here it is looking about as neon as those bikes in Tron. For now there's a 28T 7 speed cassette on the rear, as that's what I had in the parts drawer. I kept the Conti tyres on which came with the new wheels, and I actually prefer the all black look with the pink and white, as much as I usually like gumwall tyres on retro builds.

The bike comes in at exactly 12kg, which is about what I expected (not that weight is really much that of a factor with this bike).

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Now all built up, just some fettling needed before a first ride (my dislike of canti brakes has not been diminished by building this bike so far, I must say). If there's any sunshine it's hard to get a proper photo, because the pink just overloads everything, but here it is looking about as neon as those bikes in Tron. For now there's a 28T 7 speed cassette on the rear, as that's what I had in the parts drawer. I kept the Conti tyres on which came with the new wheels, and I actually prefer the all black look with the pink and white, as much as I usually like gumwall tyres on retro builds.

The bike comes in at exactly 12kg, which is about what I expected (not that weight is really much that of a factor with this bike).


View attachment 683613

Great Job, my eyes are bleeding but good to see finished. Massive improvement

 

[sjcprojects]

I thought I'd take the chance to get a few more decent photos on a short test ride. Too short a ride for any real impressions other than the fact that the original Madison saddle is big and comfy (well, big compared to a Flite, which is the sort of thing I'm more used to), and that I need to get better at setting up canti brakes with road levers. Once that's sorted I'll be going up and down some proper hills.






One of these things is a lot more comfortable to sit on than the other...



The crowd gasp at Cocker's masterful control of the bicycle, skilfully avoiding the dog turd outside the corner shop...

 

[Mod-Master]

It looks like the pink frame isn’t in contact with the parts, like it’s popping out of the picture.

I would keep the pink, it looks wierd but fun