GOT - Suspension Forks for Orange Clockwork (1991)

[Charlieboy28]

oh and that firmly attached thing,the crown race you can remove, but its unlikely to fit on the new forks, and you get a new one when you buy a new headset, you can buy them separately but need to ensure you get one that fits and works the rest of the headset

 

[poolio]

Cheers Charlieboy, thanks for your words of advice.

The forks are actually threaded, and I think if I had the "crown race" on the RockShox then it would fit fine - but like you say the geometry of the bike is all wrong with a fork with such large travel.

Got my heart set on a set of Pace RC35 (one day...)

With these I know I'm gonna need a canti rocker (with bosses)...

Size/shape/make/style of Canti bits yet to be discovered (by me anyway!)

- ANY ADVICE WELCOME.... -

~~ Just how much am I gonna spend here ??!?

Has anyone ever had their bike dipped in one of those costic baths? :? Having a door done, wonder how the bike would turn out - fancy a new (old / orginal) paintjob...

JP

 

[elPedro666]

Right, blunt advice...

Cheapest/simplest.
Get hold of an old fork with 80mm ish of travel and the same length of steerer tube & thread that your old forks have. Also they'll need a canti bridge to use your current brakes.

Move the crown race from your old forks & these will plug straight in with minimal extra fuss.

Debatably the best result.
Especially if you need a new headset anyway...

Get hold of some UNthreaded forks, an aheadset and compatible stem and a pair of V-brakes. Plug it all in wholesale & you have a lighter, more modern front end with lots more options as parts are easier to come by.

Just wondering if I could sort you out the whole caboodle on the cheap, but my stuff's all 1 1/8" and your steerer is 1"?

Somebody will though, or between us

Do you have a budget? I'm feeling very helpful today!

Pete

 

[poolio]

Budget!!

Well I'd hoped to get the forks for £30-40 and now I learn that the ones I "need" (Pace35) are gonna cost between £70-£150 - so my sub £50 budget has gone!

Now if I bite the bullet and get the pace forks / new headset / canti rocker / and associated brake bits - I can't see that coming in under £100...??

If you're still feeling particularly helpful can you give any guidance on how much a budget v premium set up could cost..?

Alternatively I could do my research - but feel I should milk the teat of generosity whilst it presents itself!

JP

 

[elPedro666]

Just noticed you're local, could be handy! Do you drive? I'm in the centre of Manc, if it comes to it I could give you a hand getting sorted. Cost you a beer or two mind

Had a proper look at the pics now (nice wheels) and I reckon you're in the classic 'is it worth upgrading?' situation. What you've got is a really nice retro project, but that's not really what you're after I don't think. You might find someone on here keen to take it on though...

I think, given the inch threaded steerer & non-sus geometry etc that by trying to do it up as a day to day ride (as oppose to a faithful retro) you may just be on a hiding to nothing, certainly money wise.

If you were to split & sell it I'm guessing you'd raise around £70 (anyone have any thoughts on this?) mostly from the frame & wheels, throw another £50-£100 onto that and you could pick up something nice on here or ebay that's modern enough to be easily adaptable as your riding progresses. I just bought a basic but really sound Schwinn Mesa off Charlieboy for about a ton & I'd be totally happy to ride it anywhere, it's got decent brakes and will take any (appropriate) fork of the last ten-fifteen years.

Really hard to decide, as your frame is lovely, but I think doing anything that moves away from it's original fast, rigid XC incarnation may well just spoil it.

Hmm, less helpful?

You could sort out stem, headset, and a bike's worth of V-brakes & levers (so you don't need a cable hanger) for £40 I'd think, friendly shop may fit the headset for nowt if you're a regular, then add forks as you'd like. My concern is that your current forks look really short, so even a 63mm travel fork might be enough to ruin the handling.

It's a tight spot! Realise I'm not saying what you'd like to hear as well, not to mention that I'm likely to be hung, drawn, quartered & (worse) banned from RB! :shock:

But if it were me and it was going to cost £100-£150, I'd be looking for a decent, lightish hardtail to get me started & either continue to run the Kona rigid as a commuter/long term project (18lb singlespeed...? ) or sell it on here as a project/frame & parts to get some cash back.

I'm expecting some possibly very different opinions to arrive very quickly now though!

Good news is you basically can't lose from your current position, bankruptcy aside... :roll:

 

[poolio]

Wow, very generous offer brother!

Having seen some of the bikes on here I actually really want to keep the bike and do it up right nice!

I had thought it was feasible to tweak the Orange to be a good bike for some light off road too, but from what you say..... I think I'm gonna end up retro-pimping the Clockwork and using it as a road bike and then investing in a 2nd bike (hard tail / front shocks) for the occasional off road wanderings.

Just need to wait until month end and see how I'm looking financially - work paid me twice this month, so no pay day come the end of the month.... gulp!

Have car can travel, I'm in Edgeley where are you?

Jim

 

[poolio]

Double entered in error (oo-er"!!)

 

[elPedro666]

Love to see it done up too - bit of a soft spot for old steel Konas

Surprised I've not got any grief yet...

It's totally capable of some serious off-roading with very few changes - until this year my main ride since 97 has been a 97 Ibis Alibi, rigid with V-brakes, and we've managed everything from Cut Gate to Glentress Black, and embarrassed a fair few full-sus ninnies on the way (and I'm nowt special) So there's a part of me wants to tell you just to man up & learn your trade on the rigids you've got But that's really not fair, a bit more grip & control is a fair request!

Um, drunk & rambling now, I'm in central Manc, just opposite MOSI, couple of hundred yards down Liverpool Road from the giant Hilton tower. Brews always available to RetroBikers

Yeah - the Kona is great but it is what it is, trying to change it into a modern bike just won't work, will just cost & disappoint you!

See if you can make out that frame number (under the bottom bracket - the lowest point of the frame where the cranks connect) and then we'll know what kind of age it is & how it was originally specced, which should tell you what kind of kit suits it.

As for modern (I tend to think of 2000ish onwards as modern - 4" forks & discs), I've never bought one, I always build, but think the end of season clear-outs really can't be beat.

Hmm, still rambling - am I allowed to edit this tomorrow once I've sobered up...?

 

[poolio]

No danger; a few beers always help the creative thoughts flow I find!

I work just off Deansgate - Queen St, and intend to start cycling in Tue/Wed/Fri, just need to confirm my secure bike lock slot in the 'Greenhouse'.

Bike's not a Kona, it's an Orange, Clockwork c1996 I think..??

Will wire brush back the paint and get the frame number (soon) just gonna rebuild what I've got for now then slowly improve it.

I really want to have a go at re-spraying the frame, need to get it stripped first, can they do it at those caustic stripping places (where they do doors and door frames?) get some old style decals?

Seen a pale grey frame on this site that looks mint... or I might get a bit creative!

I really like the idea of building a bike up - just so I get a better knowledge of what a bike's made up of - I've taken one apart and rebuilt it, but that's easy cos you know all the parts fit together before you start, keen to learn what goes with what if you know what I mean...

Anyway that's the aspiration - reality will be dictated by my wife, my 1 year old, my bank account and my (ever decreasing) free time!

Good to meet for a quick cheeky beer mind one evening - I finish around 5 - thoughts??

JP

 

[elPedro666]

I really should know better, still, at least I wasn't on evilbay...

No idea where I got Kona from though - brainwashed by Charlieboy maybe

Beauty of having a regular ride is you can do a proper job on the ORANGE without worrying about it being unusable for a while at a time.

Definitely a great feeling speccing/building/rebuilding your own bike so that you know it inside out. Not sure how long it would take me to get attached to an off-the-peg bike, just seems so impersonal, which is the opposite of what a bike should be to my mind :? I suppose if you choose carefully & make a few tweaks it'd be fine - I'm just being a tart

Anyway...

Wouldn't be surprised if the Clockwork is a bit older than 96, judging by the short forklength, although I'm definitely no expert. Frame number should help.

Maybe start a thread in Reader's Rides, drum up some more info from the good folks on here