I decided to change plan, no longer was I changing the forks on my Trek, now I was building an Orange to usurp said Trek. Lightweight XC spec where possible, zero budget. Go.
Well, when I say zero budget...I had nowhere near enough parts for another build. Had the odds and ends - cassette, chain, bars, stem, grips, cables, shifters, saddle - so I hit the forum classifieds and the good ol' bay with a shopping list of all the important bits trying to spend as little as I could while making it a worthwhile build.
Cranks came from forum member Antstark, the rest from ebay. Old Hope mini/C2 needed a full strip and clean out, but seals OK and no leaks. Needed new rear hose too as the one it came with was too short. Mostly 'barely used' like the Chainrings, bottom bracket. Wheels were a bit more used but Hope /Mavic so no worries. Rear mech came in pieces but trusty old XTR just needed a clean out and its working spot on. NOS tyres were a bit of an indulgence but a fair price, new headset and front mech too since that's not really worth bothering with for the price.
Spec sheet so far:
Chassis: Orange Evo2 Slime green (1999 I think), Pace RC36 Stealth with lock-out (2002?)
Wheels: Hope Evo 2 gunsmoke disc hubs, Mavic XM819 rims, butted spokes, WTB Velociraptor Competition 2.1 F&R.
Drive: Raceface Ride XC ISIS cranks, Raceface rings (44, 32, 24), Truvativ Gigapipe, XT M780 Front mech, XTR M952 rear mech. From the bin: Shimano basic rapidfire shifters 8sp, HG 8sp cassette, HG chain, stainless shift cables and braided outers.
Braking: Hope Sport levers, Mini No3 callipers, braided hoses, Avid discs
Ancillaries:FSA Orbit cartridge headset, Easton stem, Syncros bars, Raceface seatpost. From the bin: Selle Italia saddle, Outland grips,
Still sourcing some pedals (stole these off my boys bike, shhhhhh!) and some wotsits for attaching the brake hoses to the frame and forks. It may sound a bit daft but I cant decide what pedals to get. I default to DMR platforms, then get stuck on what colour. Think I might go for a change this time.
I think a chainstay protector of some sort to mask the scuffs there would be nice, and I think I will get some newer brakes in time too, at least newer levers. But the good news is I got out for the first test ride the other night and everything was spot on. I mean the brakes need a bit of bedding in and i needed to twiddle the barrel adjusters on the rear mech slightly, but lovely to ride. Only big job is a fork service that I want to get done before too long, am waiting on Mr justbackdated to get back to me about that.
Hopefully will get time for a proper run out at the weekend, really looking forward to it.
Cheers