Refreshing a 98 Orange Gringo

[Funkemduck]

Hi All,

The current Covid situation has got me dusting off my old Orange Gringo, that I bought way back when 24 gears was the bees knees.

The bike is generally in good shape, however the RST forks have seen their best days and tbh I really don´t need suspension forks anymore. (I probably didn´t need them in the first place, but they were new, shiny and all the rage, so I got them)

A look around on the internet for rigid forks seems to show that my options are quite limited (Threadless 1 1/8, v-brake, 420-440mm A-C) to either a set of Exotic Aluminium or XLC trekking forks, both of which are about £100 including delivery.

Whilst looking around I also noticed that for about the same price I could get a complete "retro" frameset, where the forks and frame were designed to work with each other, rather than as an afterthought.

So my question is (finally!) do I just buy the forks or go for frameset and change over the components?

I seem to be going around in circles with the pros and cons of each, so could do with some advice.

I know that buying the forks would be the simplest, but there are some nice lightweight frames out there, that I couldn´t afford back in the day.

One thought that I keep coming back to is how both options will affect the riding position and mainly the handlebar height. I believe I can mantain the same position by just adding the forks mentioned above, but how to achieve the same with a retro frameset and lower A-C forks? I can only assume with a bigger frame size, but even then the numbers don´t seem to add up (I seem to remember all 90s bikes had low aero positioning)

I now live in Barcelona and the LBS´s here really don´t understand (sometimes literally ) what I´m trying to do, so any thoughts or comments would be useful.

Many thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[ishaw]

Re:

For £100 you could get a pace rc31 carbon with v brake bosses. Nothing wrong with exotic forks, but for £100 you could get carbon versions new or very good used if you shop around.

The correct a2c should mean very little changes in terms of your ride/position.

You could look out for a set of orange forks. I had a gringo with the segmented ahead forks which look great imho and if you post a wanted ad on here, you should be able to get a set for half the outlay for the exotic forks you have your eye on.

 

[Carge]

Re:

I've run a Gringo with Pace RC31 for a bit....... works a treat.

 

[hamster]

I'd agree with keeping the frame - the Gringo is a classic now, essentially what the Clockwork was 30 years ago. I've run eXotic carbon forks for a couple of years on my singlespeed (which is my main ride) and prefer them to triple butted P2s. They take out a bit more of the trail buzz.

 

[Funkemduck]

Thanks for the prompt feedback everyone.

I´ll keep on looking around for a set of forks. Exotic seem to be out of carbon forks in the spec I need, hence mentioning the aluminium version.

I´ll place a wanted advert on the form and see what comes up.

Thanks again.

 

[mk one]

I would keep the frame and upgrade the forks.

I have also been running Exotic carbons on my main bikes for the last few years and agree with the above, they are a great fork and would highly recommend. Used pairs come up on bay quite often for reasonable money, not that they are expensive anyway tbh.

And don't forget to put some pics up of the bike