Hi, thanks for accepting me to the forum.
I've inexplicably fallen for an Orange P7, but owners I guess will understand
I'm getting back into cycling after 35+ years off, and was originally looking at getting an Orange Clockwork 2014 ish era for general use, then I found a completely rebuilt P7 & started to think a retro bike would probably be so much more my thing. I just really like style of these bikes.
Anyway, I could do with some advice on sizing and general maintenance & upgrade possibilities.
I'm 5ft 9.5 inches, skinny, normal arm & leg length, age 64 (if all that matters).
I'm after a bike that can give me enormous pleasure in ownership & upgrading/personalising possibilities (I rekon anything retro would), and to ride on local roads, beaches, dunes, trails, bridelways etc - nothing at all strenuous or technincal - I ain't ever gonna be a proper mountain biker I'm afraid
So I've found 2 P7's. One is a 1997 completely rebuilt, marzocci forked, almost mint 21" frame (£695), and the other, same era, rigid fork, I think a 19" (The owner is just over 5'10" and he says it fits him perfect - £250 been stored for ages but mechanically good & reasonable nick).
I've not ridden any of them, obv need to, but they aren't close by, hence trying to get some advice.
The cheaper one seems a reasonable buy (summat I can upgrade/improve over time), but the larger one is completely sorted, and looks totally stunning - pricey though that's for sure.
My concern is that a lot of P7's of this era seem to have the seat set really high, giving the impression of a head down/arse up riding position
Is that normal for this era Orange P7 & other mtb's? If so, I may have to rethink, as I can't see this being enjoyable as an everyday do everything bike - I'm not 20 anymore unfortunately!.
I was therefore thinking, if I went for a much larger frame, I'd have more room to flatten the stance as it were, but obv would need to take into account stand over height/reach etc.
Or is that a totally stupid way to go?
On the maintenance side - there seem to be enough parts, consumables (tyres etc) around to continue using such a bike everyday, but are upgrade possibilities severely limited? - for instance, if I wanted to add suspension to the rigid forked P7 is that possible? or has it got to a stage where parts for upgrades are pretty rare.
Sorry for the long post - just trying to understand what I'm getting into, and if my thinking of using a retro mtb everyday is possible.