A pair of Clockworks

Here are my two Clockworks.

1. Here is a 91 Clockwork I bought off eBay as a frame & I've spent the winter buying up as many original parts as possible, inc Turbo Saddle, Kalloy seatpost, No name bars with that weird oil-slick colour, white 0-degree rise Stalk, Hex foam grips, Specialized Ground Controls, plus full XT Groupset & Mavic 231CD's. Why bother? well it's the exact version I bought from Stif in Leeds for £799 in 1991.



2. Here is the 91 bike I bought from Stif in 1991. Sadly all that's left is the frame which I had resprayed in 96 in P7 livery plus new top-tube cable bosses, stupid I know but it made sense at the time, the original Orange & White was sun-bleached & chipped & was looking very tatty. The whole bike was very tired indeed, as it had travelled with me throughout the 90's accross Africa, throughout the Middle-East & pretty much all over Europe.

Here she is with the usual array of 92 period custom parts.



When I find someone who can do it I plan to get them both sprayed in orignal Orange & White Fade but I won't do it unless I can get some quality decals.

i like! but then i would, see list below!!

i made a similar mistake paint wise with one of my clockworks, my '91, i decided on green. seemed like a good idea at the time, now i regret it, when it's a bit beat up i'll do the orange/purple fade version.

Nice

the orange/white one is orange at its peak to me - just perfect


after that they were just not the same.

i know what you mean about "orange at their peak time" but the way i look at it is someone 10 years younger than me would look at a '04ish model in 10 years time and say "orange at their peak time"

i'm seeing the guys from orange tomorrow, they like this site because people like us keep their history alive and take the time to restore bikes like theirs, it wouldn't surprise me if they haven't registered on this site.

it is after all the forum of good taste!

Word

No, I agree, it was definately their peak. Fine, affordable steel frames with perfect balance plus stiff climbing ability. Not many bikes were available easily during the early nineties, there just wasn't the range.

If you didn't like the slopy top tube & straight forks of the Kona's, the boring styling of the Marin's, the wacky graphics of the Specialized's or the price of the Cannondales but wanted something just a little bit special, there just wasn't much around. Fat Chances, Klein's etc just weren't available to the great unwashed.

Don't forget also that 91 was around the last time manufacturers were specing bikes with complete XT, DX, LX groupsets, not just the rear mec.

Orange started doing all their own brand stuff after this, lots of poor quality seatposts, bars & stems with no-name hubs, tyres, seats & plastic pedals.

So, yeah, I'd say it was Orange at their peak.

Wise words - I guess we are all a bit biased though.

I dunno.

Orange have, for a long time, offered most of their frames with a choice of specs., which gives them a slightly 'custom' feel over other manufacturers.
I think it's easy to say that '90 or '91 was their peak but that's forgetting the P7's from three or four years later. I also think it's unfair to ignore the Five's and Patriots; they might not be every ones taste but they've won a lot of medals which are hard to dismiss.

Personnally I like their aluminium hartails too, mind you I have an E4 so I have to 'kind-a'.

orange are more custom now than ever i think, back in the day you bought an orange by choosing the frame and then the groupset that matched the size of your wallet, it was a good way to do it back then and as you guys said you got a full dx group or whatever. and don't forget, they were in the good old days doing rigid or hardtails only,now we have full suss aswell, also in the early days they didn't have a paint shop.

but i like the system they have now, a 5 can be had in 4 colours as standard or a non standard colour from another model for a small charge and then you can choose decals aswell, very individual. there are 4 standard specs/prices with so many upgrade options depending on your riding style/parts preference/wallet thickness that they're too many to mention. that's choice, and i love choice!

today i sold a patriot freeride with a shock upgrade and custom colour and graphics, then off the back of that i sold again patriot freeride with custom colour, shock upgrade, upgrade to maxle rear end, hope performance pack, tyre change, also a 5 all mountain with a bunch of changes from the factory. (boss took me for a drink, bloody good day! especially as we're down in the flattest part of the known galaxy! )

orange want us dealers to concentrate on selling the differences and upgrade packages and paint changes because it is something they can offer that alot of other bigger brands can't offer and this can give a buyer a full on custom feel knowing that a frame is being painted and built to what they want just for them.

having said that i would love to see nice stalk lite stems again, obviousley modern ahead for the new stuff etc, that would be cool, their standard posts/stems/bars are ok but nice matching stems etc were cool bitd and i think it would be cool to have stuff like that again.

anyway i'll pass on your comments tommorrow when i see them, they always like to know what people think, good or bad, if it wasn't for conversations like this they wouldn't have done the new clockwork or prestige, they were talked into it by dealers! and before i hear all the cries and shouts, i know not all of you like the new versions and yes i do understand why, each to his own and all that!

good night gents!