orange E3 or E4?

[marc two tone]

i hav'nt contacted the seller but im sure its an e4, pretty sure E3 models were polished finish.

what say you? nice frame all the same.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Orange-E3-MTB-Fra ... 500wt_1156

 

[The Vicar]

e3 i think exactly same colour as the one i had stolen in 98 when i stupidly locked it by front wheel only because the cycle racks were those silly ones where you put the wheel into it.never ever used those racks since; mind you the e4 i nearly replaced it with was that colour too-i bought a 10th anniversary clockwork insread

 

[Anthony]

It is an E4 in fact, and it is 1999 as the seller says.

You can tell that it's an E4 from the Easton Elite sticker on the seat tube (the E4 was the first Orange to use an Easton tubeset) and from the seat, top and down tubes all being different sizes, 31.8, 35 and 44.5 (on the E3, built up to 97, they were all 35mm tubes). You can tell that it's a 99 E4 rather than a 98 from the orange colour, rather than red, and the complex dropouts.

I agree though that the colour is very similar to the earlier orange E3s, see example below.