Hello and could you spare your expertise?

Hi all,

Got a new (ish!) bike today, mentioned that I was after a bike for commuting and my dad has given me one that was in the back of the garage ! It needs a clean !


It is fairly high spec'd from what I can see, with XT from and rear mechs, XT hubs with Mavic rims, XT shifters and I think XT Canti Brakes (not sure on that though). Titec seat post.

So, my plan is to make it a capable commute machine. Road tyres, possibly change the fork so I can put a different stem on it and mabe some more modern brakes.

So, if any one can tell me what sort of frame it is I would be grateful ! My dad did not know and the guy he bought it off also did not know. My dad said he took it to the LBS and they said it was a good quality frame but they did not know what it was either, so at the moment it is a mystery !

Also, would I need a new (A)headset and forks to change the stem?

And, I know it wont take disc brakes, as no mount, but can I fit V Brakes to it, or Maguras?

And finally, where would be the best place to shave some weight off of it by replacing with lighter parts?

Thanks in advance !

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It wont let me post pictures yet so I will do it in a mo...

I get the feeling someone may need to re size them as I dont know how, I apologise in advance...

I'm guessing it's an early alloy Orange frame. Elite, possibly?

EDIT: Having said that, the stays are wrong for an Elite and I'm not sure the dropouts are right for an E3. I'm not convinced it is an Orange, what was the first wishboned alloy canti frame they made?

What's the reasoning for changing the stem

It should be pretty light now and why do you want to make it lighter ?
(probably change the bottom bracket, depends what in it now though)

You can fit v brakes etc, but you'll need new levers as well. But for a commuter, why bother, just set the current ones up with new pads and they'll stop you fine.

Welcome.

In summary, what he said^

Just get out and ride it. You'll be changing stuff for the sake of changing it otherwise. Treat it to a good clean and lube. Replace pads and cables and stick the slicks on for road use and you're away.

That is most likely a Muddy Fox

Id go along with that
Very foxlike!
Where abouts in northwest are you?
Welcome

cheers for the replies people, much appreciated...

I am in the Warrington area.

I was thinking of things I could change on the bike, but I will be just changing the tyres for now, after cleaning it of course !

I am considering doing some (much) longer rides in the future, so would be possibly using the bike to ride from Amsterdam to Copenhagen over 5 days.

I will need to do a fair bit of training, but do you think the bike will be up to it? The other guys doing the ride will be on a mixture of road bikes (Bianchi, Specialized Allez) etc, and Hybrids (Cannondale Bad boy for example). Do you think I would be comfortable keeping pace with this ride? I thinking I should be ok with the correct rubber...

"It's not about the bike" as a certain chap once said. If it's well looked after the bike will be fine.

Remember you have asked the question at Retrobike, we're biased

From experience it depends. If everyone's on skinny wheeled road bikes and wind the pace up then you may well struggle. If there's a mix of road, hybrids and MTBs with slicks then you'll be fine, you'll probably find you'll arive in more comfort too thanks to a relaxed riding position. It depends more on the people you're riding with than what you're riding. Most groups take the approach that they'll ride at the pace of the slowest rider.