Hey, thank you so much for providing such detailed, helpful information francophile! It's good to know that the bike is interesting and my post is appreciated.

I've had another fruitless scan of the bike for model and tubing ids, so your pointers are a great help thanks again. It's good to have some concept of the model and in turn the likely type of frame.

The 5 digits underneath have thrown me and had me wondering about the possibility of the 1984 decals being stuck on an older frame. I read on classic rendezvous dot com that 'Some examples have lower numerical serial numbers while having later decal schemes' and wondered if I might have an example of this. But I have also read that there are serial numbers that don't follow the expected rules.

I always understood the bike was in the lower-mid range but even when I bought it I had no idea what year or model it was. It was just a bike that I liked the look of, was large enough for my height and a pleasure to ride. At least far better than anything I'd been on previously.

It's great to know that you think this is a bike worth restoring. Although I've not been out riding in many years and I don't have a great knowledge of cycle maintenance/mechanics, I do love restoration projects. I'd really like to see this bike looking new again. Just need to decide if it is a project I can realistically take on or if it is time to pass it on to someone else. On the strength of this forum though I have a feeling I might be the one!

This is the wrong forum category to discuss repair issues but I am keen for advice about rust removal and repainting. This bike looks good from a distance but the paintwork needs serious attention. For example, the forks are losing their chrome and showing rust on the wheel facing side. It's not so bad on the exterior surface but also not great.