And now a quick update on DQ2, summarising work to date -
This could be a 'spot the difference' competition, comparing today's photo to the bike as it arrived. It would not be a very exciting one, however, so I'll just tell you what I've done:
1. Stripped and cleaned it all, though not to the nth degree, new grease now in clean headset, BB, hubs
2. Replaced the handlebar with an old silver alloy with slight pullback (the previous was a nice black alloy ITM one that had been gouged both sides from overtightened brake lever clamp screws)
3. Replaced the seatpost with an old silver alloy one (the other was so tight fitting it must have been oversized and rammed in)
4. Replaced the crankset with a second hand 300LX one as the pedal shaft was seized into the RH original and is awaiting surgery; original Biopace rings transplanted
5. Added some old VP pedals that have had a clean and new grease
6. Trued the wheels
7. Replaced the crumbly-side wall, probably original, tyres with second hand Kenda ones
8. A couple of new inner cables
9. New (old) grips
There are clear indications that this is a low mileage bike from the condition of the brake blocks, chain, sprockets (Uniglide!), and chainrings; all look original with little wear.
The unexpected finding was a bent fork end. I'd thought the front wheel obviously leaning towards the fork leg was due to it being out of true. This was a very small part of it. The bigger issue is that the RH fork dropout is about 3mm higher than the LH one. I've used tightly rolled and bent aluminium strip from a Coke can to create a packing piece to hold the wheel central in the fork so I can test ride the bike, The long term solution will be bending it all back in line, or a new fork. I wonder if a crash that bent the fork end put an early end to this bike's usability and it's sat for a long time since?
It's been for a short spin up the road today and all feels smooth and tight, with a bit of tweaking needed to riding position. It rides nicely and feels solid. As we might expect for what's essentially an Orbit Frontier.
And that's where we're up to! Needs some thinking about the fork. How easy to bend one of these (likely hi tensile steel) back into shape? Ideas welcome!
This could be a 'spot the difference' competition, comparing today's photo to the bike as it arrived. It would not be a very exciting one, however, so I'll just tell you what I've done:
1. Stripped and cleaned it all, though not to the nth degree, new grease now in clean headset, BB, hubs
2. Replaced the handlebar with an old silver alloy with slight pullback (the previous was a nice black alloy ITM one that had been gouged both sides from overtightened brake lever clamp screws)
3. Replaced the seatpost with an old silver alloy one (the other was so tight fitting it must have been oversized and rammed in)
4. Replaced the crankset with a second hand 300LX one as the pedal shaft was seized into the RH original and is awaiting surgery; original Biopace rings transplanted
5. Added some old VP pedals that have had a clean and new grease
6. Trued the wheels
7. Replaced the crumbly-side wall, probably original, tyres with second hand Kenda ones
8. A couple of new inner cables
9. New (old) grips
There are clear indications that this is a low mileage bike from the condition of the brake blocks, chain, sprockets (Uniglide!), and chainrings; all look original with little wear.
The unexpected finding was a bent fork end. I'd thought the front wheel obviously leaning towards the fork leg was due to it being out of true. This was a very small part of it. The bigger issue is that the RH fork dropout is about 3mm higher than the LH one. I've used tightly rolled and bent aluminium strip from a Coke can to create a packing piece to hold the wheel central in the fork so I can test ride the bike, The long term solution will be bending it all back in line, or a new fork. I wonder if a crash that bent the fork end put an early end to this bike's usability and it's sat for a long time since?
It's been for a short spin up the road today and all feels smooth and tight, with a bit of tweaking needed to riding position. It rides nicely and feels solid. As we might expect for what's essentially an Orbit Frontier.
And that's where we're up to! Needs some thinking about the fork. How easy to bend one of these (likely hi tensile steel) back into shape? Ideas welcome!
