Orange Prestige frame, how tough?

[reanimation]

RB Member 'DestroyerjumperDMR' has managed to break a new (not sure what brand) Tange Prestige frame after like a couple rides!
:shock:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=63806

pic, you're only getting one. I'm busy drowning my sorrows with lager.

So the light weight Orange Prestige is likely to be the same kinda tubes?

How tough are they?

I've trimmed down my own weight to less than 11.5 stone recently and I'm not likely to hammer this bike too much, will treat it as 'fast' XC only, would an extra 1lb of 'meat' on my other frames make them more reliable?

The previous owner appears to have looked after it, or used it sparingly, despite it coming with 80mm Marzocchi forks that were fitted for a few rides.

My old prestige in 1992 lasted the year I had it as a teenage boy before it got sold, I did leave MTB for robust BMXs though...

 

[Khane]

i rode my '92-93 prestige for nigh on 15yrs very hard and didnt look after it well.

restoring it i found a crack circling the seattube.
rusted from the inside out.

if the frame had been properly looked after it would probably still be in a very rideable state.

i think its all in how the frame is put together.

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

it seemed like my 1993 was made from very thin tubing to save weight

possibly a good thing? or not? :?

 

[reanimation]

Aye, quality made perhaps but thin tubing is a bit scary when ya like things over engineered. Not a lot of response on this thread so thats gotta be a good sign. Theres a lot of lightweight frames on this forum that get used.

It was suggested that DJDMR's frame snapped on the internal butting, but later someone on that thread suggested it was actually a design fault of that frame (not an Orange) as they had welded the cable stop on the thin bit or on the butting rather than the thickest part of the tube, which created a weak spot for stress to cause havoc.

Going for a full light build on mine (within reasonable budget). Will be interesting to see how it goes.

 

[otherself]

'DestroyerjumperDMR' with a name like that I'm not surprised he bust his stead.

 

[perry]

i have similar concerns as im about to get something considerably lighter than my trailstar but i have to keep reminding myself that davedownhill regularly beats full sus bikes to the bottom of hills in scotland on a dynatech

 

[reanimation]

'DestroyerjumperDMR' with a name like that I'm not surprised he bust his stead.

Sorry I edited the name!

currently looking at my light weighter as mile munching, training, 'family ' outings with the GF, and light duty fun, and of course retro bike jaunts.

 

[Anthony]

Tange Prestige is made in different gauges, but provided you are using a tube made for mtb, it should withstand normal xc forces/shocks with no problem. High-end tubesets like Prestige are thinner-gauge than standard db 4130, but that's because they're heat-treated and that makes them stronger, so e.g., a heat-treated 8-5-8 tube might have the same strength as a standard 9-6-9 tube.

People sometimes talk about scarey-light, but that would only be if a frame builder used a road-gauge tubeset for an mtb frame, contrary to the manufacturer's instructions. I think you can rest assured that Orange wouldn't do that. The classic Orange Prestige was made out of Tange Ultimate Superlight, which is an 8-5-8 heat-treated mtb tube that is plenty strong enough for all xc racing and similar. If you want to go jumping, get a heavier frame.

The picture on the other thread doesn't look like a design fault to me. The cable stop is close enough to the weld to be on the butted part of the tube and anyway stops are only brazed on, which isn't as hot as a weld. I would have thought it was most likely a manufacturing fault on the tube, but definitely a warranty issue. Normal xc shouldn't cause that kind of failure.

 

[Xesh]

Bitd I used to hear lots of rumours about the last generation of Orange Prestiges (the ones just before the P7 came out) snapping because the tubing was too thin. I had one of those frames and raced it for 2 years and sold it to a mate who used it up until a year ago when it was run over by a tw*t in a car. I also know of 2 other people who used to own the same frame and they never had any problems either.

I wouldn't be surprised if the snapped ones were caused by doing things they shouldn't be (ie jumping).

I'd say the frames should be OK to use but don't do anything apart from XC with them. The occasional rough DH should be OK, but if you do that sort of thing regularly you may be better served with a slightly heavier gauge tubing.

 

[reanimation]

Great knowledge and advice. impressive and appreciated.

DH is sometimes part of XC, not real DH of course with heavy duty rock pools, sick drops and freestylin gaps! Then theres only so fast you can go on a rigid old machine unless you are mental, or really really talented!

I think our fellow retro biker was just unlucky, must be a defect in that frame somewhere.