Orange MsIsle - Rebuild

Ruscoe

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Hi,

I thought i would start up a new thread around the build up of my Orange Msisle. I have always wanted one of these frames, but had not been able to afford one back in the late 90's.

I picked the frame up this weekend after purchasing it through eBay. I must say its pretty straight although had been stripped and rattled canned blue at some point in its life. So my first couple of jobs are collecting bits to complete the build. i am now well on track with this. I have also found a company (thanks to a separate thread) that will blast/Strip the frame, Powder coat it and give it a clear cote lacquer on top. I am going to order a new decal and head badge set from orange tomorrow. So the Cosmetics are looking to come along. I am planning on removing the rear V-brake bosses They look awful and this will be done obviously prior to powder coating. This leads me on to Shocks. Now i am a road bike man so my knowledge of suspension forks can be written on the head of a presta valve. So its over to you guys to advise me and point me in the right direction of a used set. I have a set of triple crown Judy XL long travel forks, which are actually in very good condition still i think they are about 100mm of travel (does this sound right) should i just bin these and buy something newer/better or shall i service them and use them.

Any thoughts gratefully received!!!!

Picture of the bike as purchased:
 

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I removed the rear brake bosses on an Orange AirO and it definitely looked cleaner without them. Not too bad to do yourself either.

Great frames the Msisle's. As Josh has said I'd go with a 125mm fork max. 100mm might be too little to get the most out of the frame. I'd go single clamp too rather than triple.
 
Cheers guys, I will look for a 120ish Fork set then. Could someone explain to me the difference between the number of fork clamps? Obviously one set has more clamps than the other, but what are the advantages/disadvantages of both?

Don't suppose anyone has a used set coming on to the market shortly?

Russ
 
I'd go old school Bombers. A set of original Dirt Jumpers would look ace on that although they don't come up that often.

Fox Vanillas are great but be weary of stanchion wear, especially on the older ones. Fox seals weren't the best, so if they weren't cleaned / serviced regularly, the stanchions get destroyed and cost a bomb to replace.
 
Ruscoe":icxhjc5r said:
Cheers guys, I will look for a 120ish Fork set then. Could someone explain to me the difference between the number of fork clamps? Obviously one set has more clamps than the other, but what are the advantages/disadvantages of both?

Don't suppose anyone has a used set coming on to the market shortly?

Russ

Triple clamps are like your Judy XL's, they have two crowns (one below and one above the head tube). The are generally stiffer, stronger and are of a longer travel and mostly used on DH bikes and heavy duty freeride bikes. Your Judy's were never really a DH fork but we're Rock Shox's attempt to keep up with Marzocchi when the early freeride movement took off.

However, fork technology has come on loads with Marzocchi and Manitou pushing the boundaries of single crown travel in the early 00's and paved the way for the modern long travel single crown fork. For many these are more than enough...I ran a pair of 66's on two DH bikes and they coped very well.
 
Thanks for that. I will wack the judy xl's on eBay tonight then. Should help fund the replacement forks.

I have just orders my replacement graphic set from orange and will remove the brake boses from the frame tonight so I can get the frame to the powder coaters tomorrow afternoon!

I now have my brake callipers, bars, shifters, wheels, headset and mechs all sorted. Need to find some shocks that will work as well as rotors, crank and bb and other than the usual saddle cables grips and tyres I am just about there!!! Exciting times. If anyone has some of the bits I am missing drop me a pm
 
Well, I seem to be gathering all of the parts fairly quickly. I guess people are bailing out of stuff before Christmas.

So i thought a quick progress update was needed:

Frame is now at the powder coaters, i have also removed the rear brake bosses, which already makes the rear end look tidier. I am slightly concerned that it may not be the colour i was after, he said he didn't think he had enough powder in the particular shade i was after. So i have had a bit of a compromise. But to be honest for £30 including a top lacquer, i don't really care. I now have an original decal set from Orange to go on also so it should look tidy once finished. Parts wise, i am just about there i think. I just need some Tubeless tyres for my Rims, so here is my spec list:

*Bontrager Race X lite tubeless wheels
*Hayes 9 203mm front and 180 rear brakes
*mixture of LX and XT 9 speed transmition
*Rock Shox Reba 120mm Forks
* Crank bothers Joplin remote post
* Charge Spoon
* Jagwire cabling
*Easton Bars
*Charge Grips


I seem to of collected a few seat posts, i bought a new orange Charge post from wiggle, but also won a Joplin on ebay whilst agreeing to buy another from a member of bike radar. so if anyone is after a Joplin, or a orange charge post let me know!!
 
Right fitted new tyres to my wheels, hutchinson Toro, tubeless. bit of a bitch to fit but got there in the end (thanks to my wife) just waiting for rotors to turn up now and they are ready to fit!
 

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Have you got the frame back yet? I'd be interested to see some pics as I want to have he SX repainted next month.
 
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