1990's Orbit Italia

[Illaveago]

Here is my Italia taken today at Reybridge on my test ride.

 

[rogerzilla]

I believe that would have been made after they moved to Sheffield.

It has Sheffield-era decals (the Dudley ones were upper-case and a bit psychedelic). It could have been repainted, though.

 

[Illaveago]

It has Sheffield-era decals (the Dudley ones were upper-case and a bit psychedelic). It could have been repainted, though.

Thanks . I had a look at the Shimano bits for the date codes and I have dates from the 90's. The front mech is 1990 and the rear 1994.
I was trying to pin down the style of graphics and it does seem later .
From what I can see by looking at the lugs it was well put together. The paint finish is good but there are rust spiders underneath. I should imagine that the salty air has had an effect like it has done on the chrome forks and cranks .

 

[Illaveago]

I was looking at my crank arms and they had me confused! The drive side crank arm is bent whereas the non drive side is straight. Coupled with this was the amount of corrosion each one has led me to think the the non drive side had been replaced. I have just been looking at the backs of the arms and I can see what looks like the words "Tracer" on both arms . This seems to confirm that they are a pair.

 

[Illaveago]

The cranks aren't chromed, it's either a paint or anodised finish which has corroded and flaked off. A bit of judicious scrubbing with Scotchbrite or a green kitchen scourer should improve the look

I think they are chromed ! I have just been scraping off the loose stuff. Underneath is a lot of corrosion like icing sugar . I scraped off as much of the plating as I could with my knife and a wood chisel and treated it with some lime juice . Some of the stubborn stuff I couldn't remove and so have left it for now . I then had a go at polishing the crank with some Meguairs metal polish . The ally was starting to shine but I noticed that the edges of the chrome had gone a copper colour with the polishing . This would tie in with the other crank which isn't so bad which has bright green pock marks which must be verdigris.

 

[chris667]

It has Sheffield-era decals (the Dudley ones were upper-case and a bit psychedelic). It could have been repainted, though.

Yes, that's what I was basing it on, along with the parts. That's a nineties bike, not an eighties one.

 

[Illaveago]

I have been out on my bike again. A virus and bad weather stopped me from going out again but a break in the weather allowed me to do another 12 miles. I picked up a puncture halfway round but luckily I made it to my brother's to do the repair.
My last ride was really interesting as I managed to see a Kingfisher at Reybridge. Sadly it didn't stay perched long enough for me to get a good picture of it. I did get a blurred one of it in flight though.
I am enjoying riding it . It handles well and it is smooth and agile. I like the 7 speed rear sprockets which seem to give me the right ratios. The stem will have to be swapped though. I will continue with the wide bars for the time being .

 

[Illaveago]

I managed to fit a shorter stem yesterday. It couldn't be just a simple job of just swapping the stem but had to be bars as well! The old bars were 0.6 mm too thick to fit in the stem . So it was a bit of a faf not helped by the Allen screw in the brake levers becoming dislodged and had to shake it free before I could refit it . So now I have shorter bars and stem the riding position feels more comfortable . I haven't had a chance to try it out yet as it was dark by the time I finished . It is raining here today so it looks like I won't be testing it later. It will give me the chance to polish the stem and do some touching in .

 

[Illaveago]

I have now done 36 miles on my bike and I'm liking it. There are just a couple of niggles which need sorting . The front mech needs adjusting as it doesn't want to go up onto the large chainring. The other niggle is the feel of the brakes. I think that the return spring in the calipers is too weak. There is a lot of slack before you get any braking . I might see if I could fit a Campag pair on for now . There doesn't seem to be enough pull on the spring to pull the cable back after operation. I'll have a look at them to see if some piano wire could be made up as a replacement.
I like the 7 speed cogs on the back , the ratios seem just right so that I don't suddenly have my knees hitting my chin from over revving as I change down a gear . Just waiting for some fine weather .

 

[Illaveago]

I have now done over 80 miles on my Italia and am enjoying it. I have swapped the handlebars and stem for a shorter pair. Refitted the original front wheel with new tyre and tube and sorted out the front brake which turned out to be a kink, so I replaced the inner and it works fine.
There has been some debate over what finish was applied to the cranks. They have Traicer 170mm cast into the back of them. The original finish would have been a mirror finish. I believed that they were chromed but some people have insisted that they are anodised. Yesterday a placed a piece of the plating into some acid and left it to soak. This morning the red of the copper plating is clearly visible.

 

[Moon bunny]

Have you tried a magnet?

 

[Illaveago]

Have you tried a magnet?

It is definitely an aluminium or magnesium alloy.

 

[biggs682]

The more I think about it I am pretty sure that some Giant had a similar finish to the cranks they used on the early alloy framed Peletons .

 

[Illaveago]

I have dug my Orbit out again after swapping my bikes around. A bit of cycle rotation . I have recently done 24 miles on the bike. I looked up the total mileage and it is now 144 so it shows that I liking how it rides, especially since I changed the bars and stem to something shorter and narrower.
Having rested the bike for some weeks and ridden several of my other bikes in-between has given me a better chance to appreciate how well it rides. Here is a picture of it out on a ride with the bar swap recently. The weather hasn't been too good

.

 

[Illaveago]

Bright sunshine and clear blue sky today was too good to resist so i rang a friend to see if he was up for a ride. He was so we arranged to meet and set off at 11. Within half a mile I was almost taken out by a white van driver on a roundabout who overtook me as I was crossing the exit and immediately turned left across my bows!
My friend and I continued our off the main road and down the quieter lanes. It was peaceful until a creaking sound started coming from my pedals or so I thought! I had been through a flood a few days before so I assumed that water had got in.
We stopped off halfway round for tea and cake. The creaking noise had stopped so I had put that out of my mind. We set off for home using a different route. The creaking noise started up again but this time it was louder. It started to feel as though I was in a higher gear. The noise was becoming intermittent. I then felt the crank lock up! It freed and I could pedal again but now and then it would become stiff. We stopped to see if the wheel was rubbing the frame but it was still centred. the crank could be turned backwards freely but pedalling forwards there was resistance. I suspect that the bottom bracket cage has broken up. I cycled back the 4 miles home in a low gear.
Once home I tried to remove the cranks, the previous photos of the corrosion didn't bode well! Boiling water poured onto the crank in a hope to free the crank. The puller just wound itself into the tread in the axle shaft. It looks like I might have to cut the cranks off.
A view from our ride showing how nice the weather was.