Need help identifying bike - What's original?

[Jackalberttrew]

Hi all, I'm pretty new to the community and hope this is the right place to be posting! I recently bought a pretty scruffy Orange bike. I'm struggling to identify the model and year the bike was made and which parts are original or not. I paid £100 and will be collecting it next week. Does anyone have any more information, please? Keen to find out if I made a good deal or if the seller saw me coming! Regardless, looking forward to restoring my first bike and seeing how it turns out!

 

[ishaw]

There will be many an orange expert on here who I am sure will be able to tell you exactly what you have from the pics.

I had a clockwork which looked very similar, though mine had silver decals not orange. Whatever it is I'd guess either clockwork or p7.

Looking at the kit on it, I would guess that the only original parts on it are the chainset and probably front wheel, could be wrong.

I don't think £100 is a bad price as long as the frame is sound. The rear wheel has a rim that people are often looking for and it has an xt rear mech, DX brake levers so they aren't bad bits of kit.

What are you planning on doing to it? Restoring it to the spec it used to be, or freestyling with whatever you fancy.

 

[brocklanders023]

It'll either be one of the last original Clockwork's or an early c16 I reckon although the serial number and tube decal will reveal more.

The crankset, hubs and possibly rear mech could be original, the forks, stem, bar, shifters, levers, brakes, pedals and saddle are not. The good news is though that most of the non-original kit can be sold on for a price that will pay for original bits!

Decent enough deal for £100, it'll be worth more in parts.

 

[Jackalberttrew]

Thanks for the messages. Sorry, I'm only just replying!

I'm going to try and restore this to its original spec ideally. Great news that the non-original kit can be sold on to help cover sourcing these! Once I've collected and got a better idea of what model it is, what's the best way to work out what I need to start sourcing? Old manuals, I presume?

The seller has also reassured me that the frame and forks are crack-free and the bikes in relatively good condition so hoping I can give it a good clean and really access the situation lol I've seen a few similar posts with other Orange owners opting to repaint. Would you recommend or is there a better way to restore the original paintwork to its former glory?

Will keep you posted when I collect later in the week.

 

[markoc]

One you get it, if you pop the frame number up then it's pretty easy to identify the year. Most of the annual catalogues are in the archive.

Depending on the paintwork you might want to keep the patina - but it looks a little tired.

I had my P7 resprayed at Orange - they send them back down the paint line, but for some the limited choice of modern colours isn't their choice. They did an amazing job of mine, as you'd expect - but like anything there are cheaper options or more expensive ones. Repro original decals are easily available too.



There's a recent post of someone who did a home-spray on a P7 and made a really good job of it.

 

[brocklanders023]

Have a look here for the spec details:

Orange Catalogue 1993/4 | Orange Catalogues | Retrobike

Parts wise any 1994ish Shimano groups will be fine and yours already has a mix of LX, STX and XT so pick the one you like the look of! M560 LX in black is pretty easy to source for not a lot of money.

As for a repaint, I prefer original paint personally but it depends on the condition and how far you want to go really. Decals are pretty easy to come by and a black powder coat not too expensive.