Building up a nickel 1996 Orange P7 for Mrs. R

I've not dared to open up the fork yet. Pretty sure these are RC35 MXCDs -- is there a way to tell?

The LX shifters and brake levers are separate, which is great bearing in mind what I plan for the bike (1x8 drivetrain). I'll keep the cranks (tired 4-bolt M570s -- nothing a bit of Autosol can't fix -- but without the riveted on big ring that would have been period correct. I guess M570 is early 2000s?).

V-Brakes are the correct M600s, but look rubbish! I think I'll be after some XT parallelogram replacements. Question is, is it worth refurbing the LX ones to sell?

Wheels: there's one Mavic X517 laced to an unbranded black front hub, and a newer X717 laced to a 2003/4 or so Deore hub. I might move the X517 over to the Hope Ti Glide rear that I've got, and practice my wheel building skills. This will go on my RC200.

Oh, and the BB is stuck (inevitably!).

Further update on the updates!

If anyone is interested (hey, you may have owned it) the frame number is A607000558. Which, by my reckoning means this was made in July 96, so a model year 1997 (which lines up with the graphics).

Anyone any idea how many P7s Orange might have made in a year? They were hardly mass produced (on a Spesh/Trek/Giant or even Marin scale), but they weren't exactly boutique either.

Oh, and whoever invented Autosol is a genius.

It's replaced 'sliced bread' as 'the best thing since...' for me!

I've never owned an Orange bike tbh so never had your P7 or any one elses unfortunately ..

Well i've never done the foil trick or used Autosol so i must try them both sometime ..

Right then, the parts bought from here, eBay and elsewhere are trickling in. So I thought I'd attached a spec sheet to keep track of what's going on (and spot anything I'm missing!).

So here goes:

• Frame: 17" 1996 Orange P7 Nickel (frame no. A607000558)

• Fork: Currently Pace RC35 MXCD, but looking to replace with RC30 or Orange F7
  
• Headset: New generic silver 1" Ahead type
• Stem: Orange 1" Ahead type on its way from surfingpolzeath of this parish
• Handlebar: Orange HotRod (slightly tired)
• Grips: Clarks in black with orange anodised lock ons (new)
• Barends: None

• Brakes: Shimano Deore LX M600 V-brake
• Brake Pads: TBD from the parts bin
• Brake Cables: Jagwire orange (new)
• Cantilever cable hangers: n/a
• Brake Levers: Shimano Deore LX M600

• Shifters: Shimano Deore LX M569 (rear only)
• Front Derailleur: n/a (this is a 1x8!)
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT M737
• Derailleur Cables: Jagwire orange
• Cassette: Shimano HG41 11-36 (new)
• Chain: SRAM somethingorother from the parts bin (new!)
• Cranks: Shimano FC M570
• Crank Bolts: Shimano
• Chainrings: 32T narrow wide black from eBay (so close to getting orange!) with newish black Hope bash ring
• Chainring bolts: Generic orange anodised from eBay
• Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN-72 (from parts bin)
• Pedals: TBD (though probably orange flats -- DMR V12s maybe?)

• Hub Skewers: Shimano Deore XT (parts bin)
• Rims: WTB Dual Duty from early 2000s
• Hubs: Shimano Deore from early 2000s
• Nipples: Generic black
• Spokes: Generic black
• Tyres: Schwalbe CityJet (this is for Mrs R to pootle on!)
• Tubes: Contis

• Saddle: Selle Italia something from 2003. Looking to replace with a period correct Terry or similar
• Seatpost: Orange original
• Seatpost Binder: Orange

Weight: weighed the frame at 1996g (very fitting!). No idea what the whole bike will weigh. Hopefully around 10-11kg with rigid forks.

Other items:

• Orange period correct Crud Catcher
• Orange Zefal bottle cage
• Finishing bolts in anodised orange
• Decals from Gil_M (hopefully when he's back from his hols!)

So, getting there. Just another couple of weekends to get it all built up, and she's ready to go!

Sounds like you're making swift progress! From the first pic they do indeed look like MXCD's - but if it's for your Mrs then I'm sure she'd prefer a sus fork than rigid no...?!

Comfort is key if she's anything like Mrs Dossa - and perhaps a riser bar too?

Comfort is indeed important -- that's why I've gone for a steel frame. However, most of her riding will be on road and fire trails, so sus a bit of overkill. Lightweight to get up those hills is more important!

Quite rare to find the f7 forks in the nickel finish these days, been after a set for my 19" P7 for some time now. I threw my original f7s away during a house move about 15 years ago, as I had girvin vectors fitted (still use it to this day)

It might be easier to look for a set of rc30's

This sounds exciting, quite like P7s. One day perhaps?!

So true. And trying to find F7s without a threaded steerer seems pretty tough. I know Orange can be a bit idiosyncratic, but surely even they weren't fitting old skool threaded headsets in 1996?