Been offered an old Orange Clockwork for FREE

highlandsflyer":2a66n1gd said:
Does the bike fit you properly, before you spend money on it?

This.

I wouldn't spend anything on it unless he really liked it, really liked it and it suited him. And if you did and it's really that tired, you might spend money refinishing it and find it breaks anyway. Prestige is everso thin walled.
 
The frame looks sound, just the paintwork is very scratched and chipped. As far as sizing goes it's perfect. I'm looking at a faithful repaint and decals with a modern component rebuild
 
Got a new Deore rear mech today as the old one was bent beyond repair, I had previously straightened out the hanger and thought the hanger was ok, however once I tried to fit the new dérailleur it became obvious the hanger was stripped, I've now ordered a drop out saver from SJS.
 
Fitted the DropOut Saver today and cabled up the brakes and gears. I've fitted XT V brakes and levers, Deore 9 speed front/rear mechs and shifters, Chainset is an old LX one I got cheap off of STW forum. Apart from a little spacing issue on the rear hub (the chain was catching the dropout, I've moved a washer from one side of the hub to the other) and the stripped drop out I've not hit many issues. I bought a new seatpost from eBay as the old one was stuck in the frame and was damaged on removal, but I didn't realise until after buying that its coming from China! Next will be a complete strip down again now I'm happy it will work so I can proceed to the next stage.

Paintwork is my next job, so far I've spent less than £60, the bike is supposed to be a hack for my son and I'm reluctant to spend a lot getting the frame sprayed/powder coated and looking mint to attract the wrong element when it's locked up outside, so I'm now thinking along the lines of a deep clean, I've tried some wet'n'dry paper on the worst of the scratches and they have gone leaving a fresh matt finish. If I can find a cheap touch up for the orange paint I may just touch it up all over and then flatten back with 1200 grit paper, some of the decals need replacing, I've saved the Tange sticker for refitting later.
 
The bike stripped back and on a newer set of wheels

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I then built the bike up over a couple of months until I was happy it was useable and used it for a month for commuting into Nottingham, the only original parts I retained were the frame, forks, rear Blackburn carrier, DX headset and tyres. Every bolt has been replaced. Once I had finished my job in Nottingham I popped into "WeDoPowdercoating" in Leicester near where I live for a quote £40 for shot blast and powder coat for the rear carrier frame and forks. I know it's not neon orange and white fade, but this was my cheap as chips project not a factory restore. I've fitted newish XT V brakes and XT 739 levers, Deore 27 speed shifters with a 11-32 cassette, Deore rear mech, XT M750 front mech, a very cheap oldish LX chainset with new UN55 BB, Easton carbon monkeylite bars and EA70 stem mounted to a ahead/quill converter with a few spacers and a conical spacer hollowed out to cover the top of the headset. The wheels are some old Trek ones, I've had to add a spacer and alter the dish of the rear wheel for the 9 speed cassette to work and the wheel to centre, if it proves to be ok I may buy a new set of wheels for my favourite hardtail and fit the old 737 XT wheels to this.

Hope this doesn't offend too many purists.

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The best thing is I've used a few parts that were sitting unused, I managed to sell all of the old bits some on here and the rest on ebay, paying for around half of the cost so the bike has only cost me around £75.
 
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