Mystery Orbit frame

Hi. I've recently bought a rather nice Orbit frame off eBay. However, I'm not sure exactly what it is, or how old. I'd had my eye on it for around a week, and did as much online research as I could. There isn't much info about Orbits full stop, as they're fairly rare, so I'm hoping that the Retrobike road crew might know something

This much I do know: it's a 58cm lugged and brazed steel frame and fork, has possibly the skinniest top tube I've ever seen, and is beautifully made and finished. According to the kitchen scales the frame weighs a fraction under 1.7 kilos, or well under 4lbs in old money. It doesn't have any frame material decals, and I'm fairly sure it never did. It also doesn't have a model name decal, which should be at the front of the top tube. Close inspection reveals it never had these either, as I'm sure the paint would've been slightly faded if they'd recently been removed. And who would remove a 501/531/653 decal? I guess it could've been resprayed, but it still has the 'handmade and brazed in England by Orbit' sticker, which might be hard to come by. Any ideas?

Regards

Marge

Could be a respray by Orbit of another frame?

Top tube diameter is more or less standard, otherwise they wouldn't fit 'standard' lugs. Why do you say it is 'skinny'? Looks 'normal' to me

But what do I know about 'normality'.................... :roll:

Re:

That is entirely possible. Even though I've seen pics of other Orbit frames with the same cast seatstay bridge, the way the stays are finished where they meet the dropouts is different. Any frame builder could get hold of said bridge too. However, I'm not sure they'd put their own 'handmade....' sticker on it, if it wasn't one of theirs. Anyhoo, I've emailed Orbit with the frame number to see if they have any records of it. Although given how many changes of ownership they've apparently had, I'm not overly hopeful...

Regards

Marge

I wonder what make the rear dropouts are?

Shaun

Check the frame carefully for "anomalies".

The early Orbits were rather good, but the changes in management and personnel led to a decline in quality at times: I had one where the seat tube had been fitted upside-down!

No tubing decal often means there's nothing to shout about: what size seat post does it take?

Re:

Hi. I've just been measuring with the vernier. The seatpost size is 27.2mm. The dropouts for both the frame and fork are by Gipeimme. I've been researching about average frame weights for various Reynolds tubesets, but haven't found all that much really. Nothing from Orbit yet either...

Regards

Marge

If it's 27.2mm then it's at least "decent".

Gipeimme were second-tier, ie "decent", not "great".

I'd guess 531 or similar from Columbus.

Nothing wrong with gipi dropouts at all

Re: Mystery solved!

Hi. I've recently been in touch with Orbit, and I finally know what I bought. It's a 1991 Orbit Illusion, which at the time was made from 531c. It's been resprayed by themselves sometime in the last 5 to 10 years. As to why the previous owner didn't want the tubing decals applied is anyones guess. Think I can feel a build thread coming on.....

Regards

Marge

Re:

The Illusion was made in 653, I remember, at least for 1992. The 531C model was the Anerica. It looks a lot like my old Anerica. 531C frames weigh about 4.5lb bare. If it's 4lb it's 653.

QC was a bit iffy at Dudley and stickers could have been forgotten. Most people requested custom paint jobs, a bargain £40.