Orange. . . . .Formula?????

[Coleman]

more....

 

[Coleman]

That's all folks...

Thanks to the seller for letting me have a look and take the pics, hope it was of use to the high bidders out there

 

[sylus]

I don't see anything there that would worry me personally, it's pretty much as you would expect for the age.

 

[Dick Scruttock]

I don't see anything there that would worry me personally, it's pretty much as you would expect for the age.

I thought that. Its a old steel frame and I do not understand the whole "ooo its a formula malarkey around it.

 

[pete_mcc]

I don't see anything there that would worry me personally, it's pretty much as you would expect for the age.

Only if you were buying a beat to shit bike, for 1000 beans plus you would expect a bit more despite the rarity of this outsourced frame.
Now i am not one to shy away from 'challenging' bikes but at the end of the auction all that is truly worth bothering with is the frame and forks and that frame has some serious issues that will need some decent money throwing at them; the fastback cluster is a mess with the heavy rust and cracks and will likely be more so once that seat post is burnt, yanked or cut out. Once the post is out the extent of the rust in the seat tube can be checked and this is where there is a massive gamble on the part of the buyers replacing that tube would be fun especially if you wanted to keep that embossed orange at the top. The cable guide on the BB looks to be cracked (as a load of those did after years of use) so would probably need sorting. And after all that what do you do with the paint-nice to keep the original but will that be possible with all the brazing, welding and stuff going on. Finally, what is going on with this fillet; one side semi reasonable, one side a bit of a lopsided monster:

Good luck to the winner, rare bike and all that but that's far too rich for a tired old bike like that, I just worry that theres a fair bit of auction fever hitting some of those bidder!

I'm with the earlier comment regards the true Formulae being the matt black ones with the monostays and loop bars as ridden by Dan Cook et al- beautiful!

 

[sylus]

I don't see anything there that would worry me personally, it's pretty much as you would expect for the age.

Only if you were buying a beat to shit bike, for 1000 beans plus you would expect a bit more despite the rarity of this outsourced frame.

That would assume I would pay a grand for this bike ...which I wouldn't

 

[sausagefingers]

i'm glad i was out at £500.i would have been buying it to ride and then maybe over winter sent off to argos and put some decent kit on it.i wouldn't have been a happy bunny turning up and seeing that crack,bodged weld and stuck post (bottom bracket looks a bit mangled too,has that been in there 30+ years??)
at no point did the buyer give me any information on any of the faults,also he hasn't updated the ebay ad and people are still bidding - it's just gone over 1000 now.
if it's someone at orange bidding on the bike for their museum i can understand it but to anyone else it's not a piece of history - it's just a very rare old frame with bits of scrap bolted to it.i get the rare thing,i can vaguely remember these from when i bought my first clockwork and haven't given them much thought since but a piece of historical importance that's shaped the way we live our lives today it isn't.i'll get my tin hat

 

[Rich]

I kind of disagree, this frame is so worth saving and I can't believe people are saying it's not. We've had at least three threads on Retrobike in as many years about the elusive Formula, now there's another one that's come to light, we should be trying to save it. People spend good money on saving Yeti's and Fat Chances from their rusty brink, really can't understand why someone shouldn't with this piece of UK MTB history

Rich

 

[sylus]

To the person who wins it they clearly feel it is worth it and I hope we see it in here soon

Me.... I'd rather spend the money on slimjoes possible sale of his 92 Zinn

 

[JeRkY]

No one has said its not worth saving, simply that fighting over it with such large amounts of money is insane.

It would be easier and more cost effective to have a frame builder build a replica from scratch, "embossed" orange logo and all than to bring this crumpled heap back from the dead. I admire any one for taking on the challenge and doing a good job, and know there are members here who could do it justice, I just potty them having to outbid those who have built the price so artificially high in order to have a chance.

I too think its a bit auction fever-ish and there could be a major letdown for the buyer when the condition is realised, or some swift bid retractions/ adjustments after seeing this thread. Also think it was potentially a bad idea to tell the seller it was worth £1000 before any one had seen the condition.