1910s Orient Girplex X Frame
using the New Imperial Patent, designed by Philip Renouf
BSA 3-speed gear
26″ Frame
28″ Wheels
I’ve known about this bike for many years. I was told it was a New Imperial Girplex. The previous owner bought it in the 1990s from Brian Verrall’s shop in Tooting. I collected it from London in March, 2022. It had been repainted green and was in storage for several decades, and I photographed it as found, covered in dust.
A week later, Barry took it into his workshop. He stripped it down and spent a long time removing all the green paint to get to the original paint underneath. To our complete surprise, when he cleaned off the headset, an engraving was revealed …with the name ORIENT.
After the Girplex was introduced in 1908 by New Imperial, there was a lot of controversy about whether they had infringed on other X frame patents. There were so many patented variations that it was actually hard to build an X frame without copying another design …which was the point of patenting them: inventors could earn money from license fees or sale of their patent. But this was an open and shut case as New Imperial had stolen Philip Renouf’s design which he had offered to them in 1907. New Imperial was sued by Philip Renouf for infringement. He won his case, New Imperial was fined £125, and the company had to buy his patent for the Girplex design in order to continue selling the bicycle.
This Orient obviously uses the Girplex patent and tubing, but I’ve noticed two minor differences in the frame design. I’ve taken some comparison photos further down the page so you can see them. On the Orient and the New Imperial, the duplex cross tube is joined to the frame in a different way at both ends. The implication is that rather than offering New Imperial Girplex bicycles as an agent for resale, Orient built their Girplex version themselves, hence an engraved head set with their name rather than a simple transfer (decal).
One problem I’ve had is that half a dozen different British companies used the name ‘Orient’ over the years, and all were small concerns so not much is known about them. The one that advertised the most was J.J Sims of Birmingham. There was also a well-established American company (Waltham) that used the Orient name. I’ll keep looking for more information and update this museum page if anything comes to light.
VARIOUS USES OF THE ORIENT NAME
THE ORIENT X FRAME
ABOVE: The green overpaint and dusty after decades of storage in London.
BELOW: Barry at work on it
MOORHOUSE ROYAL WINCHESTER
Another variation on the Girplex design was the Royal Winchester sold by Moorhouse Ltd. The main difference between this and the regular Girplex design is its duplex top tube (below).
GIRPLEX X FRAME: NEW IMPERIAL v ORIENT
Around the same time that I bought the Orient, I bought and sold a New Imperial Girplex. Before I delivered it, I photographed the two of them together for comparison. The New Imperial is on the left (restored with green paintwork). Observe below that the bottom end of the cross tube fits at the rear of the bottom bracket on the New Imperial and at the front of the bb on the Orient.
…also the top end of the duplex cross tube joins the steering head in a different fashion.
TO SEE THE
1911 NEW IMPERIAL GIRPLEX
PLEASE CLICK HERE
PHILIP RENOUF: INVENTOR OF THE GIRPLEX X FRAME
Above: Renouf pictured with the British team for the 1891 Paris-Bordeaux race.
Below: Renouf designed this motorcycle for the James Cycle Co in 1908.
