Sub 25lb '98/'99 Orange Clockwork 10th Anniversary Edition

[Andy B]

Hi Andy B,

I'm starting from scratch with my Orange Clockwork 10th anniversary and would like to know how you are getting on with yours. I'm going to change the forks but wondered out of all the changes you made, what would be your top 3 recommendations for maximum gain in the single track ride handling department.

Many thanks
R

Hi!

I love my Clockwork, it's probably my favourite bike in the collection (well until I get to know my Yates better), it's my go to bike when I'm not sure which one I wanna ride

It depends on whether you want to keep it 'retro' or not, mine wasn't very original when I bought it so I went with a modern build

the 3 things that made this bike come alive for me were decent forks, a shorter stem and riser bars

The forks (RS Reba 80mm travel) made the front end stick properly to the terrain, some older forks can be a bit of a pogo stick. Orange recommended a max of 100mm travel, but I think that's too much. 80mm is bang on

The shorter stem (90mm) made the handling snappier, I've kept the old stem for it, won't use it but if I do sell the bike I have as many of the original parts a I had when I bought it!

The riser bars (X Lite X Country 2) were a tad wider than the non original bars mine came with which gives better control and a nicer ride position

All in my opinion of course!

Oh my Yates frame was based upon this frame, with geometry tweaks for the longer fork on the Yates, so that goes quite a long way to say how much I like this bike!

Yours looks to be in quite original spec from what I can see apart from the wheelset. If the bars are Orange Supercross bars they're original parts too, can't tell from the pic.

A nice set of period correct Bombers on there (or Pace forks if you can afford them), a shorter stem and job's a good 'un I reckon

 

[Rufistar]

Cheers for the tips. The bars are Bontrager Crowbars which I quite like so will probably not replace unless a new stem makes the feel a bit too wide. I look out for some Bombers although I like the look of your Rebas. I'll let you know how I get on although might not get much done until later in the year.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

It's a good thing this topic was revived. I really like the look of that Reba at 80mm.
Been thinking about dropping mine to 80mm too, to improve the looks and sharpen up the handling a bit. That last pic is really starting to convince me.

 

[Andy B]

It's a good thing this topic was revived. I really like the look of that Reba at 80mm.
Been thinking about dropping mine to 80mm too, to improve the looks and sharpen up the handling a bit. That last pic is really starting to convince me.

What bike is your Reba on?

 

[Rufistar]

Cheers for the tips. The bars are Bontrager Crowbars which I quite like so will probably not replace unless a new stem makes the feel a bit too wide. I look out for some Bombers although I like the look of your Rebas. I'll let you know how I get on although might not get much done until later in the year.

I can't remember where I saw it but I thought the steerer for these frames was 1" rather than 1"1/8. Can you confirm for me what yours is. Looking around for forks and seen some nice Pace RC36's but I'm not sure what mine is yet without stripping it down.

 

[Andy B]

It's a 1 1/8th inch steerer on the 98/99 Clockwork