Mountain bike rebuild advice

[vet111s]

So, I’ve got a 1996 (I think) Orange c16r frame. Was built up with a combination of
Xt v-brakes with stx-rc levers
Xt rear derailleur
Lx front mech
Stx rc crank
Wheels-LX hubs on Mavic rims
It’s got a threaded 1” headset and rigid front forks. (Orange f7)

Now I know I would be cheaper buying a new bike but I love the frame and it’s got sentimental value too (built with money from first job etc etc)

Looks like I’ll have to stick to the rigid forks as nothing that is going to be half way reliable and don’t weigh as much as the moon on the market so have found a US supplier of replacement bearings for the Stronglight x12 headset.
Wheels-bearings on the current ones are gritty and the rims have a serious lip on them so any recommendations on wheel sets that don’t cost the earth and are fairly light?
Options for groupsets?
-trend seems to be towards 1x11 speed sets so does anyone have experience of these-most specifically the range provided. Had thought the previous gen 2x10 would have been nice but seem thin on the ground. Will likely need shifters that attach to the bar as I don’t think the stx-rc levers have attachments for the current rapid shift levers.
Also thinking of a riser bar to replace the (super-duper light) Fred Salmon racing bar I have for a more relaxed riding position.
Accepting I’m unlikely to retain the approx-9kg weight I achieved with it originally but equally don’t want it to weigh as much as my Land Rover!
Cheers in advance!

[Dominic]

Probably worth a chat with Keith at Mugdock Country Cycles - top bloke. 01412374709

[hendeg]

James is our resident retro-bike builder. I'm sure he'll be along with some advice.

[Scotty C]

1" headset = 1992

[vet111s]

Just a quick look through the orange catalogues does confirm it is slightly older than 97 however, Orange didn’t release the c16r until their 95/96 range. Prior to that it was known as the clockwork.

[vet111s]

Though, 92 or 95 this rebuild is going nowhere if I can’t get this seized bottom bracket out!
🛠

[Jam_s160]

Rebuilt lots of 1987-1999 retro mtbs which has turned into a serious addiction lol. Personally keep original tbh. But lots of cool examples on what to turn them into as well... will post more later but just boarded my flight home

[Jam_s160]

So couple of inputs from me and happy to help out if needed. As some know on here I’m an old school trained bicycle mechanic from 1992-2000 working in the “cooler” Aberdeen bike shops locally - lol

More recently got back into being a bicycle mechanic privately as a passion/ interest (along with Clarky on here) & collecting and restoring various retro mtbs / road bikes. Mostly for myself - oooops

My thoughts to help... An Orange bike of that era is worthy of keeping built / restored with retro parts. Into perfectly good and useable order. You can certainly play around with either, exact period parts or later 1997-1999 parts for more usability & dare I say reliability.

- retro mtb restorations of your era bikes are very popular now & sought after. Orange stuff is nice to restore. So choose wisely & look carefully for low cost parts on site like retrobike, eBay, Facebook retro / vintage mtb pages. Cheap deals still to be found but be warned of the retro tax crazy price hikes. Cheap deals are becoming harder to come by.

- All bearings on your Shimano LX hubs, strong lite headset & bottom brackets are easily sourced in UK to bring back to working order. Only caution would be the condition of the bearing races not being pitted etc.

- I’d need to double check your exact headset model (x12?), but for example If it had an inner metal bearing race holding the bearings. You can ditch that and repack with new bearings loose. Usually adding 1 extra bearing per race. Stronglite bearing sizes are pretty standard usually.

- Definitely keep the original forks with the frame is my advice. Don’t throw them away as people will pay to buy them off you. Your c16r frame says yours is 1994 or 1995 or 1996 if memory serves me right (post clockwork models). Post a photo up please

- Regarding rims, pending on the lip? Might be still fine, I’d have to see a photo. Again spare rims of same vintage easily found (exact type & holes even). I have quite a few Mavic rims from that period so might have what you need and I could rebuild your wheel easily with new DT stainless steel spokes / alloy nipples etc.

- Your retro XT 737 groupset is perfectly good and capable groupset of doing what you need today (including vbrakes). Again spares of that era if worn out are easily found. I have various parts that might do if you need replacing due to too worn. Just so you know XT & XTR 8-9spd mechs from 1995-1999 still work on today’s bikes running 8-9-10spd etc. I’ve done the swap for giggles & guess what... yup. Actually the quality of mech pivots back then have less play than some of the new latest XT stuff and last longer.

- Riser bars will help your position and again plenty of lovely retro risers (thats for your stem diameter clamp as they’ve changed) that are light too available for £10-£25. I got a sweet set of 1995 NOS monkey carbon fibre bars for my 1993 SWorks FSR build.

- Regarding weight... how deep is your retro wallet? Lots of stunningly made titanium / alu components to choose from to keep retro weight weenies happy.

If you want me to do it even (send it / drop off) or help with your rebuild I’m more than happy to assist. Be a point of advice etc

If you’d rather sell the bike complete then I’d be interested too... chuckle

Cheers
James

[Scotty C]

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[Scotty C]

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James just help me source parts and built my 1992 hand built Alves.


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[vet111s]

A few pics of mine as things stand!
Frame
Untitled by alistag, on Flickr
Forks:
Untitled by alistag, on Flickr
Headset
Untitled by alistag, on Flickr
Headset bearings
Untitled by alistag, on Flickr
I would be interested in renewing the bearings in the hubs-doesn’t look too tricky and I like the wheels and they’re nice and light.
Reckon the freewheel (?) would need replaced. I did like the look of the slightly bigger range of rear gears and fewer at the front but that may not be possible with the current rear hub.
Brakes should be salvageable with a good clean. The shifters I had were cheap suntour thumb shifters so some kind of quickshift would be nice.
I’ll see how the bottom bracket freeing goes. The bearings are shot-there’s palpable wiggle in the bottom bracket shaft. Guess the options are to replace like with like and go for a taper fit crank (I think there has been corrosion of the taper hole in the crank and does need replaced) or to opt for a more modern hollow bottom bracket and more modern crankset.

[Jam_s160]

Lovely Orange bike to do you have... definitely keep forks!

If the shimano cartridge BB is rough then it’s a throw it in the bin job. A week of soaking down seat tube / surrounds, then give it a crank to remove. Then replace. Just take note of the length before you do. Also just replace with a modern cartridge item for piece of mind. Just make sure the tapers are correct for your crank set etc

Stronglite headset, ah roller bearings... I’d be surprised if they were dead tbh. A good clean might be fine. What condition are the headset races?

Suntour shifter on shimano cassette don’t sound right and usually spaced differently. Suntour shifters would be collectible to someone. Go for shimano stuff

Regarding freewheel, easily replaced if on shimano lx hubs. Remove axle, remove bearings then slot in large sized Allen key (probably 10mm) to remove locking bolt.

[Jam_s160]

Few of my builds & collection

[Jam_s160]

And more


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[Jam_s160]

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