Stodgy
Retro Guru
1991-1994 Orange Clockwork
I’ve had this frame in the shed for about 6 or 7 years now and never got around to building it up. Eventually found the motivation during lockdown.
The back story is that I wanted to use some parts I had left over from one of my favourite ever bikes, a 1991 Ridgeback 702LX which had a Deore LX groups, but with upgraded DX brake levers and shifters (very important!!!) The frame of that bike is long gone sadly, but I have hoarded all the components for that day in the future when I would re-create my teenage years, sun will shine and my hair will grow back to my Kurt Cobainesque thatch of the early nineties.
So, here are most of the components attached to a rather scummy Orange Clockwork frame from probably around 1994 (not sure). Most of the them are Deore LX from the era - Chainset, hubs, front and rear mech - but it has DX levers and shifters (class) and DX brakes (I think). Seatpost, bars and stem are Orange in-house bits, saddle is a Ritchey Plus Rail and tyres are some Ritchey ones I acquired years ago and look pretty good.
It's quite grubby around the edges but the frame is solid and true - not a concours bike, but one that can be given a good thrashing without too much concern about scratching it.
I haven’t gone into this to build a light bike, but was hoping for it to be under 28lbs. Without pedals it came in at 24.3lbds and with pedals and straps it’s about 25.5lbs, so well happy with that!
Initial ride around the garden enforced my initial fears that it might be a touch too small for me. I’ve 185cm, 6’1” and I think it is a 19” frame. You can see a lot of seat post sticking out, which I know isn’t unusual, but it is quite a low and steep front end. I’m not sure how confident I’ll be on it off-road, but I will reserve judgement until I take it out for a longer ride, although I’lll stick to the roads as the parks are packed with the non-social distancers around here.
Here it is:
IMG_2976 by Sam Hodgson357, on Flickr
IMG_2974 by Sam Hodgson357, on Flickr
IMG_2975 by Sam Hodgson357, on Flickr
IMG_2978 by Sam Hodgson357, on Flickr
I’ve had this frame in the shed for about 6 or 7 years now and never got around to building it up. Eventually found the motivation during lockdown.
The back story is that I wanted to use some parts I had left over from one of my favourite ever bikes, a 1991 Ridgeback 702LX which had a Deore LX groups, but with upgraded DX brake levers and shifters (very important!!!) The frame of that bike is long gone sadly, but I have hoarded all the components for that day in the future when I would re-create my teenage years, sun will shine and my hair will grow back to my Kurt Cobainesque thatch of the early nineties.
So, here are most of the components attached to a rather scummy Orange Clockwork frame from probably around 1994 (not sure). Most of the them are Deore LX from the era - Chainset, hubs, front and rear mech - but it has DX levers and shifters (class) and DX brakes (I think). Seatpost, bars and stem are Orange in-house bits, saddle is a Ritchey Plus Rail and tyres are some Ritchey ones I acquired years ago and look pretty good.
It's quite grubby around the edges but the frame is solid and true - not a concours bike, but one that can be given a good thrashing without too much concern about scratching it.
I haven’t gone into this to build a light bike, but was hoping for it to be under 28lbs. Without pedals it came in at 24.3lbds and with pedals and straps it’s about 25.5lbs, so well happy with that!
Initial ride around the garden enforced my initial fears that it might be a touch too small for me. I’ve 185cm, 6’1” and I think it is a 19” frame. You can see a lot of seat post sticking out, which I know isn’t unusual, but it is quite a low and steep front end. I’m not sure how confident I’ll be on it off-road, but I will reserve judgement until I take it out for a longer ride, although I’lll stick to the roads as the parks are packed with the non-social distancers around here.
Here it is:
IMG_2976 by Sam Hodgson357, on FlickrIMG_2974 by Sam Hodgson357, on FlickrIMG_2975 by Sam Hodgson357, on FlickrIMG_2978 by Sam Hodgson357, on Flickr
