Orange C16 - 1x8

[Anthony]

Hey, it looks good!
99% sure it is a C16. Reasons..
- Similar to Clockwork
- No chainstay bridge
- About 3/4lb lighter than a Clockwork
- Had original paint and decals on before I had it powdercoated
(unless it was a factory respray, but would not have thought Orange would apply diff decals)

Didn't realise it was the one you sold! I thought my C16 was one of the earliest, but maybe it wasn't - mine seems to differ from the one in the catalogue, but it's not quite clear.

What I didn't realise at the time was that they went from the Clockwork and the Prestige, Prestige being the lighter of the two, to the C16R and the P7, the P7 being the heavier of the two. So they were perhaps the first steel manufacturer to get away from the 'lighter means better' philosophy and built the P7 specifically for strength, while making the C16R really light. My size 19 frame weighed 4.25lbs and that's pretty light by any steel standards (c.f. 98 Explosif size 17 = 4.35lbs)

I think the C16R is a classic, even if the Clockwork has the better name and may be worth more as a result.

 

[Wold Ranger]

CR 16

I had a 17 inch Cr16 and it was very light and a bit too twangy for my liking. On the bumpy stuff it felt like it was going to break in half(but never did of course) The P7 was more for long distance Epic rides, i.e cross Continent and really designed for carrying heavy loads with Panniers and Racks, was never meant to be a recreational MTB. I think currant incarnation has lost all these acroutiments, but it's still on the heavy side, recent tests have shown this, I don't think the oversized non butted tubes are helping much. I always felt the Stel Orange frames were over priced for the quality of the Welding and Paint. Of thet Era GT and Marin offered better frames for much less. They were always deemed to be made in Halifax, so the high prices were warrentied, but in fact were all welded up in Taiwan. Nothing wrong with that, other than just too pricey. The tubing was always a bit down specced too with softer Tange. Whereas GT used Reynolds.