Rob Atkin":2ul3w1qc said:
Sinnerman - I love all your bikes and the quality standard you always set it outstanding.
Because this was a present I would personally want to keep the paint the same. Respray it the same colour and it'll always remind you of when you received it and what an awesome surprise it was. Another colour might change the experience a bit - not sure if you get what I mean but I've given it a go. ;-)
Other than that - gotta be flat bars....
Thanks bud, i understand what you mean, MMP and the kids have pics of me opening the box, my face was a picture as you can imagine...lol.
Tbh..., the advert of the Overburys with the Oranges, has been stuck in my mind for decades, i thought the advert was a bloody clever way of making a point to potential customers who were in the market for a new race horse at the time, and a very clever "Two fingers" to might of Orange mountain bikes, who were fast becoming a British player in the Mountain bike Scene, for obvious reasons. (but sadly now i fear i may never get to the bottom of the story behind it.)
For nothing other than nostalgia ref the brand and there underdog will to fight on, for years whilst looking for a suitable example/conditon/size, it was my intention to replicate the bike in the advert.
I was so pissed when i missed the auction, i was kicking myself for hours, the fact that it was a present really has added real extra value to the whole thing.
I started to wonder about colours when i saw it, and thought perhaps it may be nice to go a bit mad with it, not helped by seeing so many exceptional examples owned by people here.
As for the whole handlebar issue, Drops V straight...., i have only ever owned one mountain bike with drop bars, and it was bitd...( a Specialized RockCombo.)
The Overburys....,well thats a different story..., as a boy my father took me to a race, i didnt own a MTB at the time, just road bikes ( this gutted me because my friends were all getting them), and i was only just starting to compete myself, in RRs and TTs.
this was and still is the only time i have EVER seen or heard of my father placing a bet, he isnt a gambling man.
That race was the MAN v HORSE v BIKE.
several people riding around were using drop handlebars, on there Mountain bikes, and it was the first time i had seen an Overburys. as you can imagine i was impressed, and used this heavily to convince my father that a mountain bike was not going to be a passing fad...!!! ( I shoulda placed a bet with him myself...lol )
it was quite something, my father remembers a lot more than me, he does remember being dumbfounded to see a female rider entering the race, and he remembers being totally gutted he bet on a horse, only to loose his bet, to a bike.....LMAO.
Sadly i didnt find out for years, who that lady was, or how special she is.........
that lady was Jacqui Phelan...
For this reason, (nostalgia again) and i feel the frame geometry would lend itself well to drop bars, and seeing MR Ks stunner (that mans a dark horse...

) that i have been contemplating drops.
( Pic below of JP from the front cover of Bicycle Quarterly)...LEGEND.