1995 Orange P7

Factory Jackson

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I knew a friend of mine had this tucked away in his garage. He's owned it from new. When he was younger he'd spent all his wages pimping it out with some pretty nice kit like the Judy DH's, Ringle stem and Ringle hub.

Some of the other stuff on there is 'questionable'. Not a great fan of the bars and as for the smattering of MBUK stickers!! Though, to be fair they've done a pretty good job at keeping the frame in better condition.

He's in the process of moving house and de-cluttering, and asked if I'd be interested.
Jokingly I said "I'll give you fifty quid for it" and amazingly he said "yes, no problem".
(ironically I'm also planning on moving house and instead of clearing stuff out I'm getting more bikes. Couldn't turn the opportunity down though).

So here we are. Bank holiday weekend and time to make a start in bringing it back to life.

This is as it was when I picked it up with the exception of the saddle. First thing I noticed was the seatpost was stuck, so I flung this old x-lite on to get a bit of leverage to get it moving.

Updates to follow ...

Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
 
Update on this.

Bike has been stripped right back to the frame.
Stickers removed and loads of elbow grease to get the shine back.

I'd thought about fitting new Orange decals, but for the time being I'd rather keep the originals.

Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr

I've decided to swap a few bits around on it.

First off was the cranks. Rather than the rather dull set of Shimano Deore cranks it had on, I've fitted a set of FSA Power Pro cranks which I had previously polished to within an inch of their lives.

Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr

The forks for me that came on it were great, but I've got an idea for these for another project. I've got some Girvin forks, so thought I'd do a quick mock up with these.
Plus a bit of purple ano with a Hope ti-glide front hub and some canti's.

Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
 
Re:

Wow looking really good! Looks in great nick, always liked these.

Forks look good polished up and the purple ano goes really well.

I assume the judy dh's were too long for the frame really.

Kyle
 
Re: Re:

kyle888":2guy6ucs said:
Wow looking really good! Looks in great nick, always liked these.

Forks look good polished up and the purple ano goes really well.

I assume the judy dh's were too long for the frame really.

Kyle

Yeah, forks were too long and not really in keeping with a P7. And I've got something I want to build those forks on to if my 'wanted ad' throws anything up ;)
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=345912

Bit of a progress update.

Finally got the seatpost out. Asked my wife to pick up some Penetrating Oil from Screwfix (she thought I was pulling her leg when I asked her to pick me some up) and with lots of soaking over many nights and sheer brute force I managed to get it out.
# For reference the top of these posts which holds the seat rail clamps is 25.4, so fitting some old handlebars in really helped get leverage on the post. #
Quick clean up and re-grease and it's working fine.

Had a bit of a nightmare fitting the headset race on the forks. The 1" race that came on the Judy DH's wouldn't seat on the Girvin forks after the 1 1/8" to 1" reducer space had been taken off.
What I didn't know was that there are two types of 1" steerer; JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard; 27.0mm) and ISO (International Organisation of Standardisation 26.4mm)
Luckily I was in with Paul from Paul Hewitts the other day and presented him with my problem and he was able to size the Girvin steerer down from JIS to ISO from the array of tools in his workshop.

So today, managed to get the original chain all cleaned up, threw some cables on the rear brake and rear mech and took it for a little spin.

Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr

After fitting the FSA cranks I thought they just didn't look right. So I cleaned up the original and gave them a quick polish and some ano chainring bolts (will probably go purple with these at some point). Underneath all the gunk was a Pace middle ring which was a nice surprise.

Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr
Untitled by FactoryJackson, on Flickr

You'll also notice the Specialized Ground Master tyres are back on. The Splashbacks that were on looked a little big and these cleaned up alright.

So next on the list is getting all the gearing sorted and the brakes. Not sure to stick with the X-Ray gripshift or go for M900 STI units. Oh, and the pads on the brakes are pants, so will probably put some M900 items on here too.

Possibly look out for a better condition saddle, a new seatpost and some grips.

And also sort out the elastomer on the fork as it's harder than a lump of lead !

Then finally new decals.

Hope you like.
 
shed":1xvfq0ta said:
very nice but i think the forks make it look a bit front heavy

Yes, that's true. I was thinking RC35's, but as my Team Issue has a pair of those I thought I'd try something different.

Also, I remember way back in the day being at a race at Aske Hall, just outside Richmond and chatting to Sam Cook who rode for Orange back in the day and he had Girvin forks on his P7. Very kindly he let me (a 13/14 year old kid) have a ride on his bike, so I plan on keeping these on to keep the fleeting memory of that sunny afternoon alive.

As fate would have it, I know live 2 miles up the road from that venue; funny how fate turns out.
 
Re:

Great story! When i was 13 14 odd i had an older friend who was 18 19 and he had a brand new p7 and then a brand new proflex beast. I had a timberline at the time and remember feeling like his bikes were sooo nice and out of my league.

Kyle
 

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