Which Orange?
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cherrybomb
Old School Grand Master
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Konaglider":2nr68t8u said:
Or March '95. They swapped Month and year around some time in the early '90s, but I think they'd stopped making the Prestige frames by then.....not 100% sure though.
As for IDing from frame numbers you could, try an email to Orange, but they're a bit sketchy on early stuff.
Konaglider
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Doh...got my numbers mixed up. Not too fussed about year, lovely frame
have you seen the Prestige here: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/mai ... aaf4bf8a86
different colours but same idea.
different colours but same idea.
Wold Ranger
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Prestige
The Prestige was always an out and out race machine, taking steel to the boundaries of weight shaving with a steel frame. Many of these used for general riding simply broke, as that was never their purpose. Orange withdrew the model for this reason.
They felt this model could be justified, as they had the Clockwork, which was a good deal tougher for general riding and the P7, which was originally designed as Trekking/Expedition frame to carry heavy paniers and pull trailers on long multi day expeditions. Many were ridden around the Planet, across continents etc with no failures, very different from the modern P7.
If you weigh 15 stone and bearing in mind the frame has some age on it, I would seriously pass it on, or take it up with the seller, as it's not a Clockwork or P7 by any means, these weigh in excess of a pound heavier.
IMHO it would not be safe to ride other than very gently on the road.
I only weigh 11st and I would not trust it at all. An early or late Clockwork or P7 would be a far better bet? The "mid" production Clockworks around the C16r era were also a bit light and fragile tho, as they used well butted tubing for a while and suffered the same.
The temptation for builders is always to go lighter to tempt buyers, but this can be folly as only the very skilled top end craftsman can achieve light and strong, which always means very expensive, aka original Bontrager, Yates, Chris Dekerf, Paul Sadoff etc. I think Orange were after a slice of this market, from a UK built frame to appeal to UK riders, but took the boundaries just too far. There are limits with steel, which is where Ti then starts to come into play.
The Prestige was always an out and out race machine, taking steel to the boundaries of weight shaving with a steel frame. Many of these used for general riding simply broke, as that was never their purpose. Orange withdrew the model for this reason.
They felt this model could be justified, as they had the Clockwork, which was a good deal tougher for general riding and the P7, which was originally designed as Trekking/Expedition frame to carry heavy paniers and pull trailers on long multi day expeditions. Many were ridden around the Planet, across continents etc with no failures, very different from the modern P7.
If you weigh 15 stone and bearing in mind the frame has some age on it, I would seriously pass it on, or take it up with the seller, as it's not a Clockwork or P7 by any means, these weigh in excess of a pound heavier.
IMHO it would not be safe to ride other than very gently on the road.
I only weigh 11st and I would not trust it at all. An early or late Clockwork or P7 would be a far better bet? The "mid" production Clockworks around the C16r era were also a bit light and fragile tho, as they used well butted tubing for a while and suffered the same.
The temptation for builders is always to go lighter to tempt buyers, but this can be folly as only the very skilled top end craftsman can achieve light and strong, which always means very expensive, aka original Bontrager, Yates, Chris Dekerf, Paul Sadoff etc. I think Orange were after a slice of this market, from a UK built frame to appeal to UK riders, but took the boundaries just too far. There are limits with steel, which is where Ti then starts to come into play.
As 'retrobikers' all the bikes we ride are old, a lot of the parts that we put on our bikes were not designed to be ridden 15yrs after they were made (some of them weren't designed to last more than 2-3yrs) keep an eye on them though, retire them if they get crashed and inspect them regularly and there's no reason why we can't thrash these old things round the hills.
As discussed in another thread, we always get to hear about the few components that fail, never the thousands that don't. Of course, this is no consolation if you happen to be riding the one that fails, but then we're mountain bikers, and we're in it for the adrenaline.. right?
As discussed in another thread, we always get to hear about the few components that fail, never the thousands that don't. Of course, this is no consolation if you happen to be riding the one that fails, but then we're mountain bikers, and we're in it for the adrenaline.. right?
OrangeRetro
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Ahem... Its a clockwork frame.. The prestige was a purple silver fade and the P7 was never done it the colour scheme. The real give away... the 'C' on the headtube badge!
As for the weight issue... Its a big frame, even if it were a prestige it would hold 15 stone. Blimey, orange didn't sell prestiges with a warning BITD. Just build it up, get out and ride it!
Hope this helps!
As for the weight issue... Its a big frame, even if it were a prestige it would hold 15 stone. Blimey, orange didn't sell prestiges with a warning BITD. Just build it up, get out and ride it!
Hope this helps!
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