Hand brazed British Steel: Orbit 531 circa '90

Really looking forward to seein this mate :cool: Mine's still wrapped in a dust sheet in the shed!
 
Terrible quality pic, my iphone struggles with the colour of this:

fXRFZl.jpg
 
You don't hang about do you! Looks great mate
 
raidan73":3ka6qm9o said:
You don't hang about do you! Looks great mate
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Thanks! 10 mins after I took this it was in the garage and had mechs chainset, brakes and wheels on.

If anyone is thinking of getting a cheap powder coat job done, then I will reiterate the importance of protecting threads during blast and powder stages - ideally you need a set of taps (m4 / m5 and m10 fine for rear mech). I'm lucky enough to have access to an engineering workshop at work.

Its not so much the powder but the little bits of sand / shot get EVERYWHERE and need carefully cleaning out of threads. I spent an age cleaning out my seat tube, head tube and BB threads. In the small threads (e.g. stem bar clamp and brakes) its very hard to get bits out and gently running a tap through helps a lot.
 
I was a little disappointed with the decals, the white is printed on clear and is not totally opaque. Hence I didn't lacquer them on. Maybe I'll re-do them one day printed onto white vinyl instead.

raidan73":38p88adt said:
Looking great :cool: I think those 2.1's might be tight judging by the 1.95 on mine.
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2.1 Wildgripper sport folding are on with enough clearance :p

legrandefromage":38p88adt said:
am not jealous
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;) I'm sure your garage full of bikes is some consolation!

Just the cabling to do on this, built it up with a carefully selected mish mash of Shimano M730, M735, M550 and even some MT60. Wheels are a little more modern (M900 hubs) to give me a wide 8spd range as this will serve on touring duty as well as MTB.
 
Taken a while, but its fully built, please excuse all the crap but I'm refurbishing the house at the same time:



Now to get it dirty....
 
Looks really nice mate. Which photos are closest to the true colour - the frame only pic looks like a much darker orange?
 
raidan73":2f4yyear said:
Looks really nice mate. Which photos are closest to the true colour - the frame only pic looks like a much darker orange?
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Its in between the two! There is a distinct lack of daylight in the evenings these days... Will try and get some decent pics at the weekend.

Spec list indicates this is a rider not a a garage queen, will get used for mudguards and racked up touring duty as well as the odd off road foray. Gearing choice reflects this - I wanted skinny hubs & 8 speed so settled on M900, the bike needs a wide range of gears for touring and MTB so I have fitted an 11-32 cassette to go with the non compact chainrings.

Frame: Orbit 531 fillet Handbrazed in the UK
Fork: Orbit 531 Magnum

Headset: Shimano Exage
Stem: Tioga T-Bone Prestige colour matched
Handlebar: Tioga Alloy (need a black bar...)
Grips: Toad Stool

Brakes: Deore II MT62 / XT M732 cantilevers
Brake Pads: Aztec / Kool stop
Brake Levers: Deore MT63

Shifters: XT 7spd ( 8 ) Thumbies
Front Derailleur: XT M735
Rear Derailleur: XT M735
Cassette: HG50
Chain: Sram
Cranks: XT M730 / LX M550
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Exage
Pedals: Valliant

Hub Skewers: M900
Rims: X717 X719
Hubs: M900
Tyres: Michelin Wild Gripper X Sport

Saddle: Charge Spoon Wiggle Orange edition (need a black turbo)
Seatpost: Delta Hardbody
Seatpost Binder: Italmanubri

Weight: Just shy of 28lb
 
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