Orange P7, Crush (long story!)

rolf_f

So this is how my beloved Orange P7 ended up as an Orange Crush (apologies for Orange content given that they seem unliked on here but it can't be helped!). And apologies for length too but I don't think I ever posted a thread for this bike before so it deserves it....

This is my P7 when I bought it new, from All Terrain Cycles, in late 2008 (on C2W) - I think it looked pretty nice!



It was a standard P7S (Truvativ crankset, SLX rear mech, Deore front mech, Juicy 3 brakes, SDG saddle, WTB Speed disc rims, Deore hubs, Orange finishing kit and an upgrade to the Fox Vanilla forks).

I covered loads of miles on it though sadly most on slicks but it did have some proper off road trips.

Here it slick shod on Hardknott with Wrynose still to come....



With proper tyres on the South Downs above Ditchling Beacon - first looking presentable and then covered in chalk mud.......




And on a silly but fun (in a falling off a lot sort of way) trip through crusty snow from Ripon to Nidderdale


But then lately I've only really been using the bike much for winter commutes with ice tyres on. Last winter, as I prepped the bike I noticed rust spots on the non drive side chainstay. I only used the bike for 6 commutes last winter but when I looked at it again this summer, the corrosion had got worse.

This is what it looked like at the end.



So, around October, just before the frame warranty expired I stripped the poor P7 down and took the bike over to Halifax for Orange to check over.



The very helpful Ben told me they'd strip it, check it and hopefully be able to repaint it for me. He took me through the factory unit to where the fresh painted frames were hung up and I decided to go with orange for the Orange on the basis that it was one of the most durable colours (being powder coat) and I always like the look of MTBs in orange. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Turns out that the chainstay was perforated and the frame a write off.

The only frame Orange still do that would fit most of my parts was the Crush (Orange seem to be shifting to other wheels sizes and the P7 isn't available this year). I wasn't completely happy with going alloy but after helpful advice on here I decided the Crush was worth a punt. So, I had to wait a couple of months for the new frames to arrive and to then tell Ben that whilst I was happy to go with the Crush, there was no way I wanted another matt black bike - it's just a duff idea and I was set on Orange.

And so this is what I ended up with. I'd asked Ben if they could crop the brake hoses (I'd replaced the dire Avids with SLX but not got round to cutting and bleeding them) and he was happy to sort it out - and they threw in fitting the forks while they were doing it - so this is what I took home with me; I think it looks pretty nice; the only orange Orange Crush of this frame design in existence! Also included new Race Face seatpost (original wouldn't fit obviously) plus new headset and adaptor as the fork isn't tapered steerer. Note the downtube transfer which Ben modified from the new Orange Clockwork design. Also note the old P7 frame in the background which he let me keep! It's wall decor now!



Less waffly build up and finished results to follow!

paulneenan76

Like the story, like the frame, look forward to seeing the build develop.

Paul

rolf_f

Thanks for the interest Paul! Glad someone cares if only because uploading to photobucket is annoying me at the moment and I'd hate to have done any of it for nothing!

So, bike on stand. First build I've done that hasn't been a strip and reassembly so I spend ages tweaking the lengths of the cables to get them neat - only to find that when I took the bike off the stand, the shifter cables and flip around the head tube when the steering is turned at 90 degrees. Might not be a problem but a few mm longer for the front and it probably wouldn't happen. Still, might be OK. Also fitted the Hope BB



Rear mech is original - the winter road riding had made a mess of the cage which was very rusty (nice thing about road bikes - the alloy componentry doesn't rust). I'm pretty happy with the respray I did on the cage (hopefully it will last) plus the touching in of scratches on the mech body. The dark metallic SLX grey is really easy to copy - a rough mix of black and silver always looks spot on!


Then on with the Truvativ crankset. I bought a new SLX one but thought as I'd bothered to repaint the arms of the old one I might as well use it. The front mech is also the original. Still looks pretty smart but some of the interior workings were looking very rusty so I covered them with Kurust and black enamel paint so hopefully it will still last a while yet.


Despite being well worn, I think the old crankset looked presentable though the new paint would need a fair bit of helitape to stand any chance of lasting.... Looking pretty smart though with the rear wheel (inc new cassette of course!) in place.


Unfortunately, when I put a new chain on the bike it didn't look happy on the old chainrings - so the old crankset had to come out along with the Hope BB which has inserts to make it work with the crankset. I need to get these out so in the meantime, the Shimano BB that came with the crankset went on. Also added the old bottle cage and chainstay protector from the old bike. Plus quite a lot of frame protection - either thick helitape or thinner fablon depending on location.


And then there was the rear brake. Direct post mount yet no clearance between the mount and the discs (these are XT on a separate spider - they came with the new SLX brakes I got last year from a German retailer (to my shame - the crankset was from CRC though and no more expensive than German prices) - the XT were no more expensive than SLX but probably weren't a good choice. Certainly heavier than the old Avid discs). I sorted it mainly by removing some of the powder coat from the post mounts plus a bit of filing to the spider rivets. Don't really get why this should happen though......


And finally almost there.... Just wheels and pedals and chain to add. It took me best part of a month to do all this though that was partly down to waiting for bits and tools but a lot of it was my obsessive fiddling and tweaking......


I've had enough again of photobucket so the finished product will follow!

ry1978

Looking really nice, the orange paint was a good choice!

Only noticed the decals on the underside of the down tube on the last picture...any chance of some close ups, I'm intrigued!!!

rolf_f

ry1978 wrote:

Looking really nice, the orange paint was a good choice!

Only noticed the decals on the underside of the down tube on the last picture...any chance of some close ups, I'm intrigued!!!

Best I've got right now is below - there's a crud catcher on the downtube now so it's not so easy to see anymore!

Anyway, The decal is from the current Clockwork only with the Orange symbol at the top rather than the bottom! Plus Ben from Orange had to put the crud catcher boss holes in - lucky the Clockwork doesn't have them!

tarbot18

nice bike and good story, you thought of a job on a bike mag ........

tlw1

Good story and great to see decent customer service

rolf_f

tarbot18 wrote:

nice bike and good story, you thought of a job on a bike mag ........

Lol! Yeah, I can do that, BikeRadar style: "Point the Orange P7Crush at a climb and it is only too eager to find it's way to the top with or without your help - it's that good. And when you do get it wrong and pitch over a 40ft crag of millstone grit, the bright orange durable powder coat finish ensures that the search and rescue helicopter will find you in the shortest of times"

Anyway, final bits for now.

The saddle probably is the most obviously non-new looking part of the bike. I'd be tempted to change it but its fine so there's no good reason. Maybe it would look better if I picked out the SDG logo which is the scruffiest part of the whole bike!



The Shimano M665 brakes replaced the terrible Avid3s. They cost about £100 from one of the German sites including the XT discs which caused the clearance issues on the rear mount (payback for letting the side down and going foreign ). I could probably have got the new Deore for the same money but the old SLX matches the bike better and the reviews always seemed excellent. I think they look pretty neat. The Deore shifters are original and I can't think of a reason to change them.

Matching SLX crankset from CRC for the same price as the German sites. I'm tragic enough that I have put frame protection over the arms - all carefully cut out with a scalpel . Deore front mech original. Again, no obvious reason to change it.

And the rear mech - I'm pretty pleased with this. I just wish I'd photographed it before I repainted the cage. It was pretty rusty looking - now it almost looks new.


Spec:

Frame - Orange Crush 2013 6061-T6 Double Butted Aluminium Tubes w factory custom paint
Fork - Fox 32 Vanilla R 140mm - light spring.
Front Mech - Shimano Deore M530
Rear Mech - Shimano SLX Shadow M662 with BBB Jockey wheels!
Shifters - Shimano Deore M530
Chainset - Shimano SLX M660 Hollowtech II 22-32-44 9 speed
Bottom Bracket - Shimano but will be replaced by Hope when I can get the Truvativ adaptors out!
Cassette - Shimano HG50 11-32 9 speed
Chain - SRAM PC951
Pedals - Shimano M520 black
Brakes - Shimano M665 w Shimano XT RT 76 rotors
Headset - Tange Seiki Terious with adaptor for non tapered fork
Stem - Orange Stalk alloy
Bars - Orange Supercross+ alloy riser
Grips - Lizard Skins Logo lock on
Rims - WTB SpeedDisc AM
Hubs - Shimano Deore M525 Disc
Spokes - DT Swiss Competition S/S black
Front tyre - Kenda Nevegal 26x2.35" Stick E 60 TPI
Rear Tyre - Kenda Nevegal 26x2.10" DTC 120 TPI
Saddle - SDG Bel Air Cro Mo rails
Seat Post - Race Face Ride XC

Sundries - Crud Catcher mk9 (added after taking the pics so I might take some more...), Rapid Racer Products Neoguard, Blackburn alloy bottle cage, Lizard Skins chainstay protector, Bryton 35 GPS computer, various lights as required.

Of all of that, both mechs, the shifters, fork, wheels, bars, stem and saddle are original so hopefully it still counts as a four year old bike upgraded rather than a new bike with some old parts on it!

Weight - no idea. I think the P7 weighed 31.3lbs though not sure how accurate that measurement was. The new frame does feel notably lighter - quoted whole bike Crush weights on the net point to about 27 lbs so getting on for 2kg difference though obviously plenty of margin for difference in spec. It would cost me thousands to save that on my Look .

DanDax1990

Looks cracking mate, Nice job!

ilovedirt

Looks good, that Awesome colour

rolf_f

Cheers all. Just need to go and ride it now......

matthew h wrote:

Good story and great to see decent customer service

One thing I forgot to mention; Orange could, of course, have just sent me back to All Terrain and make me do the whole thing through them. Nothing wrong with that but the fact that they were happy to deal with me directly made the whole experience actually enjoyable despite the demise of my frame. There's a lot to be said for trying to keep it local.

BigAl888

Love it - orange is the best colour.......obviously!!!