'Minty' Orange - Custom '96 C16R - Completed at long last ....!

abr303

Retro Guru
It's been a while since posting on here and with a 'fruity' new build project about to be commenced and finally on the go (actually there's two on the go but that's another story) I thought I'd keep a tab on the progress and share with everyone on here......
As some of you remember, I was 3/4 the way through on a '92 Aluminium Elite build which I pulled the plug on after deciding the frame was simply not my size..... I spent sometime trying to convince myself I could get away with a 19" but it wasn't happening so I stripped the project and sold the frame despite putting so many hours into it.

Moving on, I was super keen to crack on with another build so it didn't take long before a really tidy and original C16R frame came up for grabs on here courtesy of Tim (2manyoranges)...... Many moons have past since I last rode a steel frame and originally owned a Reynolds 531 Carrera Quattro (very first MTB) whilst working for Halfords and also rode a few early 90's Stumpjumpers so I'm no stranger to the metal but knowing Orange's track record for the period with the Clockwork's and Prestige's as well as current peoples opinion on them, I was positive steel was the way to go....

77DiE4dl.jpg

A 1996 17" which Tim had owned from new, came with really good original paint and some of the original decals still present (headtube and both downtube) was an ideal base for a new build but I was very unsure where to go with it.....

0h4kKXtl.jpg

n0TOu69l.jpg

Pleasantly surprised by the frame weight at a tad over the 2kg mark and found myself deeply drawn to the nice skinny tube profiles of this classy looking XC frame.

After much deliberation and a lot of thinking as to where to go with it, the decision was made to go for a change of colour despite it's good original paint (I know I can hear some tutting under your breath haha) but there were still some marks and scratches here and there. The build plan was never going to be a 'catalogue' build so I do apologise to the 'purists' in advance. There seem to be plenty of original lovely examples out there restored or not and for me, I want this build how I'd of tackled it back in the day.... OEM+
Groupset wise it was a no brainer so going to go with XT M737/738 3 x 8 which I loved back in the day. Fork wise I'm a bit stuck, I've a few sets of early RC35's and a set of later RC36 Evo's but nothing for the '96 period..... somewhat limited as wanting to run a 1" threaded steerer as I like the Orange Stalk (SK:cool: stem. Would also like to run a longer travel fork plus keep to canti's and not V-brake so hopefully a set of Pace MXCD's (60mm travel) will pop up somewhere as these seem to tick all the right boxes I'm after but could be a long weight so will hamper build progress..... Wheel wise I've a few options but undecided yet and sat on a couple XT 737 hub sets on Mavic XC717 and FIR 123's black and silver or might go with some Hope/Pace hubs on silver XC717's so will see what goes closer to the time.

So then it came down to the colour change..... Luckily I know the owner of a local paint shop who has carried on with his late fathers business and having done a few of my retro VW's over the years, we had a chat. Initially I was simply going to go for a powder coat in white then when dropping off a couple of frames with him one morn I spotted his road bike in the office...... A lovely carbon steed with Dura ace Di2, discs and running some sweet ENVE deep carbon wheels...... "Can you match that colour...?" I asked..... "Sure" was the reply!

So, it was decided upon there and then and the colour of choice was...................... 'Mountain Mint'. Based on the famous and iconic Bianchi Celeste Green, although not for the purists amongst you I was pretty positive it would look great as a colour way. Interesting to note that over the many years Bianchi have run their trademark colour, there were actually 11 shades/versions available that have graced their frames over the decades.... I still have fond memories of watching Marco Pantani winning the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 1998 on his Bianchi's. Anyway, I digress, so here's a few images after I got it back from the painters..... they were super busy so waited a good few weeks but really pleased with the out come.....


lJArI0vl.jpg

g2z77hwl.jpg

FypxTwCl.jpg

zF1fM3Gl.jpg


I also had the Hot Rod bars colour matched and the Stalk SK8 stem powder coated satin blk too.....Next was an order to Gil @retrodeclas for some vinyl goodness and went for a nice gloss black set to contrast nicely against the frame colour with a bit of orange thrown in for good measure.... A smattering of black aluminium frame and bottle boss bolts and a genuine chain stay protector from Orange has got me to this point so far......... hope you all like :)

vi73aBil.jpg

FvBgYKEl.jpg

FK82xOVl.jpg

aSx6VsQl.jpg

cX1i3rSl.jpg

ZNospk9l.jpg
 
Liking the colour choice, definitely a positive change, the black bolts are a nice touch too :cool:
 
It's been a while since posting on here and with a 'fruity' new build project about to be commenced and finally on the go (actually there's two on the go but that's another story) I thought I'd keep a tab on the progress and share with everyone on here......
As some of you remember, I was 3/4 the way through on a '92 Aluminium Elite build which I pulled the plug on after deciding the frame was simply not my size..... I spent sometime trying to convince myself I could get away with a 19" but it wasn't happening so I stripped the project and sold the frame despite putting so many hours into it.

Moving on, I was super keen to crack on with another build so it didn't take long before a really tidy and original C16R frame came up for grabs on here courtesy of Tim (2manyoranges)...... Many moons have past since I last rode a steel frame and originally owned a Reynolds 531 Carrera Quattro (very first MTB) whilst working for Halfords and also rode a few early 90's Stumpjumpers so I'm no stranger to the metal but knowing Orange's track record for the period with the Clockwork's and Prestige's as well as current peoples opinion on them, I was positive steel was the way to go....

77DiE4dl.jpg

A 1996 17" which Tim had owned from new, came with really good original paint and some of the original decals still present (headtube and both downtube) was an ideal base for a new build but I was very unsure where to go with it.....

0h4kKXtl.jpg

n0TOu69l.jpg

Pleasantly surprised by the frame weight at a tad over the 2kg mark and found myself deeply drawn to the nice skinny tube profiles of this classy looking XC frame.

After much deliberation and a lot of thinking as to where to go with it, the decision was made to go for a change of colour despite it's good original paint (I know I can hear some tutting under your breath haha) but there were still some marks and scratches here and there. The build plan was never going to be a 'catalogue' build so I do apologise to the 'purists' in advance. There seem to be plenty of original lovely examples out there restored or not and for me, I want this build how I'd of tackled it back in the day.... OEM+
Groupset wise it was a no brainer so going to go with XT M737/738 3 x 8 which I loved back in the day. Fork wise I'm a bit stuck, I've a few sets of early RC35's and a set of later RC36 Evo's but nothing for the '96 period..... somewhat limited as wanting to run a 1" threaded steerer as I like the Orange Stalk (SK:cool: stem. Would also like to run a longer travel fork plus keep to canti's and not V-brake so hopefully a set of Pace MXCD's (60mm travel) will pop up somewhere as these seem to tick all the right boxes I'm after but could be a long weight so will hamper build progress..... Wheel wise I've a few options but undecided yet and sat on a couple XT 737 hub sets on Mavic XC717 and FIR 123's black and silver or might go with some Hope/Pace hubs on silver XC717's so will see what goes closer to the time.

So then it came down to the colour change..... Luckily I know the owner of a local paint shop who has carried on with his late fathers business and having done a few of my retro VW's over the years, we had a chat. Initially I was simply going to go for a powder coat in white then when dropping off a couple of frames with him one morn I spotted his road bike in the office...... A lovely carbon steed with Dura ace Di2, discs and running some sweet ENVE deep carbon wheels...... "Can you match that colour...?" I asked..... "Sure" was the reply!

So, it was decided upon there and then and the colour of choice was...................... 'Mountain Mint'. Based on the famous and iconic Bianchi Celeste Green, although not for the purists amongst you I was pretty positive it would look great as a colour way. Interesting to note that over the many years Bianchi have run their trademark colour, there were actually 11 shades/versions available that have graced their frames over the decades.... I still have fond memories of watching Marco Pantani winning the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 1998 on his Bianchi's. Anyway, I digress, so here's a few images after I got it back from the painters..... they were super busy so waited a good few weeks but really pleased with the out come.....


lJArI0vl.jpg

g2z77hwl.jpg

FypxTwCl.jpg

zF1fM3Gl.jpg


I also had the Hot Rod bars colour matched and the Stalk SK8 stem powder coated satin blk too.....Next was an order to Gil @retrodeclas for some vinyl goodness and went for a nice gloss black set to contrast nicely against the frame colour with a bit of orange thrown in for good measure.... A smattering of black aluminium frame and bottle boss bolts and a genuine chain stay protector from Orange has got me to this point so far......... hope you all like :)

vi73aBil.jpg

FvBgYKEl.jpg

FK82xOVl.jpg

aSx6VsQl.jpg

cX1i3rSl.jpg

ZNospk9l.jpg
Looks great. Fabulous colour and the decals really pop on it. Nicely detailed.
 
I’m still waiting for the right forks to turn up…. It’s proving a task to find the forks I’m after that’s got a short 1” threaded steerer…. The rest of the build in terms of parts is pretty much sorted 👍🍊 so in the meantime I’ve been busy with a couple of Specialized builds 👍
 
Update Jan 2023:
Well I cant believe this all started back in June 2021! Time, work and other projects have taken priority but after eventually sourcing the right set of Pace RC-35 MXCD forks (thanks BrushedAluminium 👍) progress has recommenced a little.....
Forks will be a work in progress as they came with an A-head steerer but a massive thanks to Tim@ForkEnglish for supplying me the 1" threaded steerer I badly needed (yet to be fitted) including a little fabrication work to shorten the length of the steerer at the base and re-grooving it to take the circlip 👍due to having such a small headtube on the C16r and low headset stack height. The forks have been serviced and will be giving them a good clean and polish and in the meantime I have replaced all the mounting hardware in favour of marine grade stainless bolts plus new black crown end caps.

Wy1Xo0o.jpg


Main components have been fitted after a lot of searching for a tidy and usable BB-UN72 bottom bracket in 68mm/107mm which came up recently so snapped it up. I had previously played with a couple of axle lengths but found in the end the 107mm to be where I wanted everything to be and then it was on with a very nice tidy set of FC-M737 44/32/22t 170mm cranks. Fitted and lined a mint FD-M737 top pull derailleur and mounted the RD-M737 rear derailleur again a very tidy and unbashed example,

nMLA0K3.jpg


hKrtnJD.jpg


RDnci8Q.jpg


Wheel choice was a nice set of 32 hole XT M737 hubs laced to Mavic black XC717 rims with DT swiss competition spokes. Hubs have been stripped and greased and the freehub lubed, new rim tapes, inner tubes and for the time being, fitted some NOS Michelin 1.95 Wildgripper sports, all securely held on with a new set of black XT quick release skewers.

0THJUIm.jpg


whWGto8.jpg


diKMUWY.jpg


I had the original stem and seat post powder coated satin black and the hot rod bars sprayed to match the frame. I'm still not sure about the seat post and I'm on the look out for a nicer post to compliment the build but for now, a very nice '93 stamped Flite saddle adorns it until something else comes up...... the stem is staying and looks great with the contrasting bars I think.

KVJyG5S.jpg


7yBJOJa.jpg


65Xrul6.jpg


So it's coming along nicely in the meantime and I will update again soon when I've sorted the steerer and forks out properly and hope it will ride as good as it's starting to look........

L1MPDbA.jpg


oJBFYuP.jpg


TX2Fhb1.jpg
 
Well, finally I got round to finishing off this one...... 👍 🤣 Between other builds and trying to source parts, this ones been a journey for sure. All in all, I'm pretty made up with this one. As mentioned in the past, this was never intended to be a 'period' build or a factory spec bike and wanted to take this one down a custom path so to speak. As per usual..... pic heavy content warning so pull up a chair 🤣👍🍊.

Decided to ditch the original seat post that I'd had powder coated as a Syncros post came up in the right 26.4mm diameter so that was a no brainer for me with a lovely early 90's Flite Titanium saddle with all the logos nice and fresh finishing it all off nicely.
yJMFCD4l.jpg


A nos set of Onza bar ends I'd been sat on for ages have gone on and for now I've fitted some Orange Friction Addiction grips complement the colour coded Hot Rod bars....👍
sIsm3e7l.jpg


Rbw3JZyl.jpg


xFKDhSu.jpg


SmAz5o1.jpg


The Pace RC35 MXCD's where given a clean and polish and trimmed the steerer to the required height and set up the headset. On the fork front I'd been toying the idea od having some matching fork decals so a quick message to Gil @retrodecals and boom.... he delivered the goods. A colour coded set of lower leg fork decals to match the frame:cool:.
qCJC67L.jpg


All cabled up with XTR outers etc. and got all the gears set up with a nos HG71 Chain.
i8l0B4u.jpg


L09aTbz.jpg


Also stuck on some nos Shimano PD-M525 spd pedals but may swap out for some PD-m737's should some decent ones turn up.... Rubber wise, some nos Michelin Wildgrippers are on but again, will see what else may turn up but happy with for the time being.
Qry2VfN.jpg


MlDkZHa.jpg


AQFQNLp.jpg


YaEKQtq.jpg


j3DljnB.jpg


So, a big shout to @BrushedAluminium for the Pace MXCD's, @Once A Hero for the Flite saddle, @Matttymm for the Syncros post, @madjh for the Onza's ,@Cowshred for the Wildgrippers and especially Gil @retrodecals for supplying the frame and fork decals and that no trouble or bother was too much for him, cheers Gil👍.

Pic heavy content coming up......🤣
C2PgrFal.jpg


pkhdofJl.jpg


9d6ephsl.jpg


rbBYwmil.jpg


EemGZ39l.jpg


3F8FMHul.jpg


FtX9drql.jpg


crQH3YHl.jpg


tVS3EW6l.jpg


XUzmdMAl.jpg


G2u0DIN.jpg


XmKK2EN.jpg


x5Fobey.jpg


j6jETSp.jpg


wbU3xNZ.jpg


Full spec list to follow, thanks for looking :) 🍊







🍊
 
Back
Top