Old(ish) school Orange rebuild - help please!

[hornetrider]

For my 21st birthday I got an Orange C-16R in pimpy purple. That's 1995 vintage!

The frame has been sitting in my shed for quite some years now (maybe 10?) and she's all neglected. So after selling my full sus a while back I've decided to have a nice little project and get her up and running with a full refurb/rebuild.

I'm also going to have the frame completely resprayed and stickered up so will be looking for places to do this in the Chepstow/Bristol/Newport area.

Can anyone recommend the cheapest places to get new components online? Can I still get 1" headsets?!

I remember back in the day it was either Merlin or there was some place based in Northern Ireland the name of which escapes me.

I'll add some photos of the old girl and do a build thread if anyone is remotely interested?!

[Floor Tom]

You can still get 1" headsets no problem but they are not the standard these days. I would advise going to your LBS as they will be able to advise you on the parts that you need. The NI retailer was probably chain reaction cycles, they are still around and have grown into the Walmart of the cycling world. Nice and cheap but don't be surprised when your local bike shop goes down the pan and there is nowhere to get a spare gear cable on a saturday morning so you can ride that day

[936ADL]

I know it's not that local to you, but i've recently had a frame re-sprayed by Brian Rourke in Stoke. They made a great job of it, and were well priced too. Posting to and from there shouldn't be a problem.

[hornetrider]

How about suspension forks? Am I buggered if I want them on a 1" headset? I used to have Pace RC36s as they had interchangeable steerer tubes. Are they still around?

[ewenm]

Are Orange still UK based? If so, they'll probably re-spray an old frame of theirs for you. May be worth asking?

The main thing you'll find about riding a mid-90s bike is the frame geometry is very different to modern bikes. My '94 Yo Eddy looks quite peculiar next to mates' modern steeds. Still rides beautifully though

Edited by ewenm on Thursday 8th April 11:27

[hornetrider]

Yeah it's all gotten a bit 'freeride' these days hey. Give me some old school sports car handling any day

[custardkid]

Argos raceing cycles is the place most of the bike shops use / used for re sprays/track dropouts/lug removal etc...... if its still around.

used to be at the start of the feeder road.

Custard

[curlie467]

Im in the process of building up an Orange Gringo, not as old as yours though. Never done it before so am learning all the best places, my local shop is pretty good and although the owner isnt the politest guy around he seems to know his stuff, good guys to learn off and you can always pop in and they will show you different items etc and how they fit and work.
Internet sales, well you cant go wrong with chainreaction or wiggle really.


Linky to 1" suspension forks so they are out there.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BANKRUPT-24-1-ZOOM-SUSPENSIO...

Edited by curlie467 on Thursday 8th April 13:36

[Gooby]

Orange should re-spray the frame. From what I have heard, they will stick on the production line after stripping it back.

[itsnotarace]

Lots of spares on http://www.retrobike.co.uk/

[hornetrider]

custardkid said:

Argos raceing cycles is the place most of the bike shops use / used for re sprays/track dropouts/lug removal etc...... if its still around.

used to be at the start of the feeder road.

Custard

Cheers dude, will look them up!

[hornetrider]

Crikey.

http://www.argoscycles.com/www/renovation-pricelis...

130 nicker for a pearl finish on frame and forks. I was hoping for around 80 odd.

[Floor Tom]

Argos are very good but expensive. You will be able to find someone local who will do it for less. I wouldn't bother contacting Orange though, they will do it but it will be around the same cost as Argos if not more.
I'm sure my mate got a frame done in Glasgow for £50 and it looked pretty good.

[curlie467]

I think it is £150 from orange.
Do you know any motorbike body painters? they might be a good place to try.

[markoc]

I love Clockworks - if I didn't have a '97 P7 I'd get one.

Gooby said:

Orange should re-spray the frame. From what I have heard, they will stick on the production line after stripping it back.

I had my P7 done by them a few years back. Great job but pricy - and they put the decals over the lacquer, which was annoying for a good hundred and odd quid - and not what I'd asked for. Argos is well recommended, as is/are Bob Jackson.

One of the guys at Cycle Surgery near Spitalfields recommended a company called Armourtex in Hackney (http://www.armourtexltd.co.uk) - and their prices look very reasonable. I'll be sending my P7 there shortly for a respray, just got to decide on the finish.

itsnotarace said:

Lots of spares on http://www.retrobike.co.uk/

I'm spending far too much of my life over there...! There's also a guy on there who does replacement decals - so worth a look.

[Pupp]

Another C16R rider here, mix of LX and STX RC, with the patina of its '96 vintage.... just in from a 40 miler on it taking in some great local bridleways. Tatered

Great bikes

[hornetrider]

Finally getting round to this - bit of a delay... cough. The old girl is looking a bit tired eh! First job is to sort the frame then the hunt for shiny bits commences!

[aberdeeneuan]

I've just had my Trek 8000 from the early 90's dug out and given a full service. Only thing it needed was a new gear cable and the wheel alignment altered.

I'm loathe to get it resprayed as it has the trick lunar purple paint on it which is two tone and would VERY expensive to sort out again.

Good luck with this though, should be great when it's done. What I found with the trek was just how much faster it was than my Specialized, it accelerates like a rocket in comparison. Don't fancy it on any trails though!

[Mr Scruff]

I've just done a similar thing with a P7, also 1995. Echo the suggestions of retrobike, got all my bits from there second hand, including a 1" Chris King and also 2 pairs of Pace forks (RC35 and RC36) with 1" steerers. If you're looking at Pace forks and they don't have the 1" you need you can still get the steerers for about £20....

[hornetrider]

Mr Scruff said:

I've just done a similar thing with a P7, also 1995. Echo the suggestions of retrobike, got all my bits from there second hand, including a 1" Chris King and also 2 pairs of Pace forks (RC35 and RC36) with 1" steerers. If you're looking at Pace forks and they don't have the 1" you need you can still get the steerers for about £20....

I am indeed looking to get some Pace forks, thanks for the tip. Is that from Pace? Do you need a shim as well?