98 Orange Clockwork 10th Anniversary Ed Project

Hi Everyone,

(Apologies to anyone on the pre 1997 who have already seen this, posted in error on the wrong forum, Doh!)

My dad has very kindly given me his reasonably well maintained Orange Clockwork MTB as he is not using it anymore so I would like some advice regarding what I should keep, what should I replace, and what modifications I can make to it without losing it's character. I'm not overly familiar with spec especially from this era so forgive me for not knowing much but I am hoping to learn more through this project. I have never ridden it so I don't know what it handles like (currently has a rear flat). I would like to be able able to ride it single track if I can be convinced it will be worth the effort and expense but I also need a commuter bike. My other bike is a specialized Rockhopper which I like a lot and has served me well over the years in the Peak District, set up for trail riding which I would be willing to swap, sell or interchange parts to get the Orange up and running.

I understand that the Orange were mainly taylor built? I would love to hear some varied opinions as to what direction I should go with this build....



The current spec is:
Frame: Orange Clockwork Tenth Anniversary in very good condition
Ritchey hubs front and rear
Speed Master 24 14.4 wheels (no other markings)
nimbus 26x1.50 tyres
RST 461 shocks
Bontrager Crowbar bars
Ritchey Logic stem
Shimano STR rear
Orange Seat
Unnamed seat post

Many thanks
Rufistar

Hello and welcome to the site.

Not an orange geek, but I do like these as my mate had one way back when. I would take the bike out as much as you can and see what you do or dont like, and then go from there. See what you need to replace by necessity - i.e. chainrings etc.

As a general note, those forks are pretty average, I would start looking for some marzocchi bombers or even some rigid orange forks, but depends on what cycling you are going to be doing on it.

Ask a mod to combine the two by moving the other on into here

As a bike newby, I'll hazard a wild guess here :

Fix the puncture ? then throw a leg over it !

Seriously, I would keep my eye open for a pair of original rigid forks,
(In case you ever want to sell it) and as I myself have got some Marzocchi Bombers on my Orange E4, can't help agreeing with coomber, that they would give you a much nicer ride.

Cheers
terminator

Thanks for the advice. I'm looking out for a set of 80mm Bombers or equivalent. Will update on progress in the future.
Regards
Rufistar