The one and only "HOW MUCH IS MY xyz WORTH" thread

Re: Orange prototype

vidal130":143ms9o5 said:

Hello, I am trying to sell my Orange prototype, with a crack in it. It has orange ali forks on it and a few other bits and bats. I have no idea about the price.
cheers steve

Click to expand...

You might think with Orange being the UK's leading mtb brand and retrobike being the leading website for historic mtbs, somebody with a possibly unique historic Orange might be welcomed more warmly! But then you might think lots of nice things, but few of them would come true.

My own advice would be to spend a few minutes cleaning the bike, take a better picture of it, and post it in the Readers Bikes -->1997 sub-forum without asking for a valuation. My reasoning is that I don't think anybody knows what it might be worth anyway, but a discussion about it and where it sits in Orange history might tell you something useful. And along the way, I wouldn't be surprised if you received offers for the fork, stem and brakes. You do need to split it, because the person who wants the frame may not be the same person who wants the other bits.

My own starter is that it dates from 1992 or 93, and at that time the Prestige was coming to the end of its run so the lads may well have been evaluating alternatives. In the end, they decided on the P7 approach. If it was mine and if I lived close to the factory, I'd take it down there and ask them about it.

I don't think the frame itself is actually worth much as a work of art. There are collectors who keep bikes as museum pieces, but Oranges tend to be owned by people who ride them rather than by the garage queen types. It could be repaired easily enough, but Bob Jackson charges £70 for a new chainstay and then you've got paint to think about. The repaired frame probably wouldn't be worth as much as you had spent on it.

But if you want to sell it as an historic object, the more you find out about its history the better.

Cheers Anthony, I wll look in to it further and I will strip the other stuff off it. It is quite an interesting frame, if you flick some of the tubing with your nail you can hear how thin the steel is! As for 1992/3 I think you must be quite close.

1997 RM Altitude to

In origional spec except for the bars which I regretably swapped out for some Ti bars 10 years ago. I even have the origional tires kicking about somewhere.

Condition is good except for a few paint chips and a repair on the dropout that wasn't repainted.

Sorry for the first post evaluation demand but fruitless internet searches lead me to believe that this bike is fairly rare and you folks will be able to give me a good indication.


Pics can follow if needed.

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone, considering whether to keep my Diamondback Apex original or rebuild it as a single speed. So, I'm wondering how much I could get for the groupset... maybe enough to pay for some ss bits?

8spd LX (black finish) groupset: 4 x cantis (non-cartridge so non-original pads), 28.6 top pull front mech, rear mech, STIs, wheels on 238 rims (front good, crack in rear rim wall), Sugino Mighty cranks, Shimano XT bb

All in good working order with no play or roughness... what do you think I could get, roughly??

A picture of my 1997 RM Altitude to.

As previously stated, it's almost original except for the bars which I swapped for some Ti bars many years ago.
I still have the original Judy SLs, tires and pedals.
Bike is in middle of a cable revamp hence all the loose cables.

I don't have time today to take more detailed pictures but hope this one can give you an idea.

vidal130":2pylygfp said:

Cheers Anthony, I wll look in to it further and I will strip the other stuff off it. It is quite an interesting frame, if you flick some of the tubing with your nail you can hear how thin the steel is! As for 1992/3 I think you must be quite close.

Click to expand...

The question is, what's prototype about it, just looks like a Prestige with a broken stay.

dosvog, search through ebay finished listings include German market (.de) for the Altitude, I would split it up and sell if you want to make the most money though.
These have cropped up a couple of times.

Thinking of trimming the shed a little.

Planning to sell a handfull of bikes, and thinking this may go.

Early 90's S-Works M2 in 19" flavour. Recent powdercoat and new decals. No dents and only very, very minor scuffs (if you look really hard!).

To be sold as seen, so please no 'part it out' suggestions.

FluffyChicken":ksoywjvl said:

vidal130":ksoywjvl said:

Cheers Anthony, I wll look in to it further and I will strip the other stuff off it. It is quite an interesting frame, if you flick some of the tubing with your nail you can hear how thin the steel is! As for 1992/3 I think you must be quite close.

Click to expand...

The question is, what's prototype about it, just looks like a Prestige with a broken stay.

Click to expand...

Well it could be just the same as a Prestige in all other respects, but if it's made of a different tubeset that Orange only ever used that once, and it has an official Orange 'Limited Edition' top tube decal, then it's logical to think it's a prototype. Quite apart from its origins being slightly uncertain, he couldn't sell it as a Prestige with that decal, so selling it as a prototype seems a completely honest thing to me.

dosvog":1ux5uh7e said:

A picture of my 1997 RM Altitude to.
As previously stated, it's almost original except for the bars which I swapped for some Ti bars many years ago.
I still have the original Judy SLs, tires and pedals.
Bike is in middle of a cable revamp hence all the loose cables.
I don't have time today to take more detailed pictures but hope this one can give you an idea.

Click to expand...

Difficult to tell, partly depends on what country you live in. You could do a search in the for sale forum, as somebody had one for sale on there last year. Recall him asking quite a lot, something like 500€ for the frame, but that doesn't mean he actually raised that much for it.