Orange Clockwork geometry changes.

brocklanders023

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Since I got my early 'Muddy Fox' Clockwork it has really struck me how in the early days they were really experimenting with geometry but rather than do that in house they simply put the bikes to market and went from there!

These three are a very early (I'm told first 100) 88/89 Clockwork, a later 89 yellow and my favourite of all, the 92. I always thought the 89 was the original geometry, all low front, huge stem, long wheelbase and slack angles just like my bike as a child but the 88/89 is much closer to the later bike's angles but with a much more compact main triangle and super short chain stays. The fact the yellow one is the odd bike out it makes me wonder if they decided they'd gone too far with the 89? It certainly is a very head down, bum up position. For reference, the early two are medium, the 92 large. Photo 25-06-2022, 13 14 31.jpg Photo 25-06-2022, 13 30 30.jpg Photo 25-06-2022, 13 16 19.jpg

The fact that very little changed from the 92 until the next decade suggests that's the sweet spot!

Anyway, who knows, I'm just musing having not been able to make the ride today!😣
 
I blame the magazines!
"You too can race like a demon" type of geometry.
Yeah, not at 44, i aint.
Just a moment in time, it seems. Where atb was a more chunky version of a road bike, avec knobbly tyres.
Interesting obs though, ed. The angles on the yellow bike are crazy, almost counter-productive.
 
I seem to remember from about 89 /90 it very quickly changed from...."road bike on knobbly tyres" to "head down arse up"....

Deffo agree...fueled by images of racers on their bikes.....great for racing...crap for paper rounds and the elderly!

Also the adoption of Norba geometry.....which spawned a huge number of problems in itself. Its the basic reason the bikes are so bloody uncomfortable still to this day...:LOL:
 
Btw, the prestige geometry is i assume quite different, as my 91 xl has a mahoosive head tube compaired with that large hung there!
 

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The Prestige is an XL though! The large would be very similar to my 92.

I always thought Orange started with the 89 style them went from there but the 88/89 shows otherwise, as do the Formula bikes that have been uncovered.

It certainly was a moment in time Marc and I'm very glad I was there. Makes you wonder how many bikes were produced by various manufactures that they realised were guff afterwards? I guess the clue would be in how much the next model changed?
 
Ha, yeah, the head tube on all the 89's is bonkers short! Remember getting mine bit and it being totally different to the Tufftrax it replaced.
 
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