I know it's Orange...but which Orange? (P7 car-boot snotter)

[sherlylock]

Righty - one for the Orange aficionados this one........

Wandering round the boot-fair yesterday I spotted a really tired looking Nickel-plated Orange. The odd mix of components caught my eye, especially the XT rear mech and sprocket.....instantly making me think it was worth getting hold of to have a play with.

It's in a sorry state....has obviously been stood out in the elements as the nickel plate is missing in a few places, the gingerness has crept through in a few spots and the orange handlebars have pretty much faded to silver in places.

Front mech: M565 Deore LX
Rear Mech: M737 Deore XT
Cranks: Suntour Expert
Brakes: Suntour Expert
Brake Levers: Suntour Expert
Shifters: Sachs Gripshift
Handlebars: Hot Rod
Rear Sprocket: 8spd XT
Pedals: Snafu BMX-type pedals
Seatpost: dia26.4 + shim
Headset: Shimano STX
Frame number: A94070207
Front wheel: No brand and very rusty spokes
Rear Wheel: XT hub & mavic rim (can't remember number off the top of my head)

Obviously some of this stuff could've been upgraded/downgraded and may not be original spec but after a bit of searching I'm still no wiser as to what it is. Guessing around 1993?

.......can anyone help? Any pointers as to what features to look for to identify the model much appreciated.

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re:

looks like 1994 P7 to me

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re: Re:

looks like 1994 P7 to me

9407. 1994 July, thought that would hit the market as 1995 model normally (a month or two later)

 

[emjay]

Re: I know it's an Orange....but which Orange?

If the diamond shaped decal on the top of the seat tube is a series 8 micro butted cromoly then you are looking at a P7.

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re:

didn't even notice the frame number details! i guessed 94 because it has no crud catcher mounts and the suntour was just getting fazed out at that point, the 95 would have had stx/lx/xt etc, but the nickel finish is a dead give away for a p7

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

I tend to ignore grouoset unless I can't find anything else.
If original to purchase, shop could easily stick the old stuff to get rid. Is is Orange after all.
Or it was just swapped out later, though you tend to get bits and bobs of the groupset not matching, front mecvh quite often due to band sizes.

 

[sherlylock]

Re: I know it's an Orange....but which Orange?

Top knowledge.....cheers fellas!

It certainly has got the Series 8 decal (just!)

Got it all apart today....even the bb came out. The nickel is in a bad way in a couple of places - but I attacked the forks with paintstripper/wirewool/autosol and it came up fairly well. There are patches where the nickel is completely gone unfortunately though.

Looks like it might clean up quite well......better than I initially thought.

 

[Barneyballbags]

Re:

I wish the car boot sales round here kicked up bikes like that..!

 

[andyz]

Re: Re:

I wish the car boot sales round here kicked up bikes like that..!

Yes, same here, did find a Shockwave full susser today though! On the back of the scrap-man's van. I left it there!

 

[sherlylock]

Re:

Yeah, got lucky with this one. They don't turn up that often....a couple of years back I picked up a mint '93 Marin Bear Valley for peanuts.

And I nearly walked away from this (lack of space at home, no time to do up another bike etc etc), but I turned to the missus and said "I can't let that go" and went back and ripped the guys arm off.

It's a bit of a snotter but with a bit of TLC it'll be a reasonable bike again. The Nickel plating will never be that great but with a bit of elbow grease it'll certainly come up to a usable standard.

Here are a few detail shots before I spent the afternoon splitting it ready to refurb the frame.