ORBO Rough and Ready Redline

[Pondo]

A couple of months ago I dragged home this little jewel with the intent of fixing it up, riding it and learning some tricks.

The guy I bought it from thought it was an early 90s Redline Proline. His kid took the bike apart to paint it and then it sat in boxes for several years. It’s not a Proline, those have aluminum frames. It’s also newer than the 90s. I was hoping it might be a Chromoly frame but after some research I think this is more like a 2000s Redline Romp which is an entry level BMX with lower end parts and no Chromoly. The single wall rims and heavy 8 spline cranks indicate low end also. So I’m fixing it up to give away. Some kid will love it. I picked up this cool Eastern BMX on a good sale to thrash on myself. Chromoly and decent parts. I love it.

I figure I better get this cleaned up and painted if I want to finish it in time. Today I have the time but the weather has other ideas. Cold with rain and snow on the way this afternoon.

 

[Pondo]

Since I don’t have good painting weather I brought the parts and paint in the house overnight to warm up a bit.

This morning I cleaned off the rust and old paint as best I could and hit it with some leftover paints I have lying around.

By prewarming things and using the heat gun I’m hoping it will be good enough. It looks ok so as long as it cures I’m good with it.

I’ve got most of the parts I need to build it up. I’ll let it cure for a week or 3 and then assemble.

There had been some questions on tires. Do we need to run Offroad oriented tires or are street tread skate park tires ok? I'm thinking of using the tires from my Eastern on this one.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

There had been some questions on tires. Do we need to run Offroad oriented tires or are street tread skate park tires ok? I'm thinking of using the tires from my Eastern on this one.

Went to the rulebook for an official ruling. The tires are good
"BMX suitable for an adult to ride, can be set up for park/race/dirt/freestyle. Dealers choice"

 

[twojs.bike]

Paint job is great!! Well done.

 

[Pondo]

Dealers choice

I was hoping that's what that meant.

Paint job is great!! Well done.

Thanks! I got to do the handlebars twice due to dropping them in the dirt the first time.

 

[Captain Awesome]

There had been some questions on tires. Do we need to run Offroad oriented tires or are street tread skate park tires ok? I'm thinking of using the tires from my Eastern on this one.

Use whatever

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Looking good so far! Digging the paint fades.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Paint fades came out great. Looking forward to the progress!

 

[OddJob]

Great paint color choices! Fade paint job is primo! You are on your way to a great build brother.

RaT oN~!

 

[Pondo]

Great paint color choices! Fade paint job is primo! You are on your way to a great build brother.

RaT oN~!

Thanks OJ!

Life and house projects have been keeping me pretty busy, and will stay that way for a while. I think the paint is cured enough at this point to begin assembly. This bike is really growing on me, I hope I don't wind up deciding to keep it.

 

[metalchewy]

Thanks OJ!

Life and house projects have been keeping me pretty busy, and will stay that way for a while. I think the paint is cured enough at this point to begin assembly. This bike is really growing on me, I hope I don't wind up deciding to keep it.

I always end up keeping the bikes I build for awhile. Then give them away to friends and family and they come back broken. Seems like a cycle for the bicycle that I build.

 

[Pondo]

I always end up keeping the bikes I build for awhile. Then give them away to friends and family and they come back broken. Seems like a cycle for the bicycle that I build.

That's a good healthy life cycle for an old bike. A number of my old ones have found their way back to me to fix up and give away again.

 

[Son of Kradus]

That paint looks great man! and the...."just grab some paint thats lying around"...Thats me too bro! Good on ya!

 

[Pondo]

That paint looks great man! and the...."just grab some paint thats lying around"...Thats me too bro! Good on ya!

Thanks man! I love fade paint jobs and I want to experiment more in the future. I'd like to learn how to do a fade like on the 90s Klein bikes.

 

[Pondo]

I made a little progress today. I added my cheap eBay headset and seat/post. The sealed headset is pretty nice for $13. I’ve got it mocked up with a stem and bar that probably won’t stay on it. I cleaned and serviced the wheels and mounted tires. It’s starting to look like a bike. I’m not too crazy about the cheap white wheels but it’s what I have. More to come, maybe next weekend.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Sweet!

 

[Pondo]

So I've been messing around with this a little, mocking up a different seat and post as I'm not fond of the mini BMX seat. I'm not crazy about the wheels either. I was thinking that this bike has a steep-ish head tube angle and might be good for skate park and flatland style tricks. So I found some great sales online and ordered a bunch of parts to take it in that direction. Parts should start showing up next week and hopefully I'll get some progress pics.

 

[twojs.bike]

I think it looks great as is! I don’t know anything about making a BMX suitable for a skate park, but it looks killer.

 

[Pondo]

I think it looks great as is! I don’t know anything about making a BMX suitable for a skate park, but it looks killer.

Thanks man! I think it's looking pretty cool too which is part of why I decided to go farther with it. Mostly I just want better wheels with a freecoaster hub, sealed bearings and double wall rims for strength. The rest is brakes and some cool stuff I like. It should be fun.

 

[Pondo]

Working between the rain drops today. I mocked it up with an old school red anodized seat post and old WTB mtb saddle. It took 2 adapter sleeves to reduce the seat tube’s 25.4mm to 13/16”, which I think is 21.1mm. I’ll have to shorten the seat post to a reasonable BMX length. But I think it looks pretty good. You can also see that there is very little clearance between the top of the front tire and the fork crown. Not enough room to get a brake cable through there so smaller tires are on the way.