not sure if many others saw this pop up in the for sale section yesterday (09/04/12) afternoon , i went and fetched it there and then and was up at 6.45 am today wiping the dust away along with fitting a pr of worn Schwable tyres and new tubes and brake pads all round and a clean up and general lube of the chain and rear mech , and a saddle swap .
and after covering a whole 3 miles tonight on initial test ride i can honestly say its great just got to decide re handlebars . but 2moro onwards this will be my new commuter .
below is a quick life story of the bike from its previous owner
' I made this bike for my dad back in 1986 when I was MD at Orbit Cycles. He only ever rode it once to the shops and then abandoned it in his garage. I've left it exactly as I found it with no restoration. The tyres and tubes 27" are perished, the paintwork and decals have suffered a little but mechanically it's a new bike. The period Huret mileometer reads 3.4 miles!
It's unique because back then the Thompson name was only used for race bikes and Orbit on the tourers but I thought my dad would appreciate a bike with the family name. It's not a custom frame, I just used one off the production line, but it was assembled to a custom spec. It's 531 C throughout and the seat tube is 23" centre to top.
It's a European spec apart from the Suntour rear mech, (I think Huret had just gone out of business). The brakes are from the now defunct CLB factory '
what do you all think
and after covering a whole 3 miles tonight on initial test ride i can honestly say its great just got to decide re handlebars . but 2moro onwards this will be my new commuter .
below is a quick life story of the bike from its previous owner
' I made this bike for my dad back in 1986 when I was MD at Orbit Cycles. He only ever rode it once to the shops and then abandoned it in his garage. I've left it exactly as I found it with no restoration. The tyres and tubes 27" are perished, the paintwork and decals have suffered a little but mechanically it's a new bike. The period Huret mileometer reads 3.4 miles!
It's unique because back then the Thompson name was only used for race bikes and Orbit on the tourers but I thought my dad would appreciate a bike with the family name. It's not a custom frame, I just used one off the production line, but it was assembled to a custom spec. It's 531 C throughout and the seat tube is 23" centre to top.
It's a European spec apart from the Suntour rear mech, (I think Huret had just gone out of business). The brakes are from the now defunct CLB factory '
what do you all think
