[Closed] Anybody ridden a Orange Clockwork 29er?

Milking the name

Not ridden one, but of all the 29ers we stock, it seems to be the only one that sells on a regular basis, sold not far off as many in the last couple of months, as all the other 29ers since the start of the year (excluding Giros).

Wasn't the orignal made of steel?

Orange dont make anything in steel anymore.

Am I the only one thinking orange have lost the plot?

Am I the only one thinking orange have lost the plot?

Nope, they have definitely lost it!

P7 is steel

P7 is steel

which ones that?

P7 is steel

WAS steel. They don't make them anymore 😮

The P7 peaked with the 2008 MKII design, before the frigged with it.

Yes I am biased and yes I own one.

Is that the one they now don't make anymore!?! Lol

Looks very overpriced to me.
And the carbon road bike is one of the ugliest bikes I've ever seen in a shop.

please explain how they have lost the plot?

Not that its any of our business what Orange call their bikes but...
1.Orange Clockwork was steel
2.It had a wishbone seat stay
3.It had eyelets etc. to take a rack for that 'all round' approach
'nuf said

[url= http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=127707 ]Now these are Clockworks[/url]

1. Yes but times have changed, it doesn't matter that it no longer is
2. So what
3. Times have changed, they aren't standard issue anymore...

please explain how they have lost the plot?

Ditching their best selling frame?

No longer making steel frames?

Making road bikes?

Steel 29er is the way to go if you want a hardtail. Loving my Cotic Solaris, it replaced my old faithful Superlight, the bigger wheels more than make up for the lack of rear suss, and I reckon some of that is due to the frame material.

I was surprised it wasn't steel...Clockwork named frame should be steel imo, this should be an Aluminum 'O' or 'Elite' if they going back to retro Orange names 😕

Steel 29er is the way to go if you want a hardtail

Yeah but can you do wheelies?

The whole steel thing is very British and they have to sell frames all over the world but I agree they should have used the alu o or elite name, or been original and thought of something new.

Orange aren't stupid, they know their market but I do feel this new frame devalues the clockwork name

Orange are making alloy "Clockworks"? Blimey. That's as bad as when Airborne started making a Ti Black Widow. It's no coincidence* that the company didn't last much beyond that.

*It's entirely a coincidence

Its a replacement for my Haro Mary that got stolen. It was valued at about £400 so i cant complain really 🙂

enfht - Member
Ditching their best selling frame?

Its obviously not their best selling frame, hence being ditched, come on mate...

I have one on test and in standard form (28lbs) it rides woodland single track as well as my Cotic Soul (23.5lbs) both on 120 mm forks, It has surprised me somewhat. In the deep mud where the soul digs in and threatens to chuck you out the front door the clockwork seem to just muller the mud!
It does seem to be as comfortable as the Soul
Given if I had one I would use the bits from the Soul, and use crests lightweight wheels, 9/10 speed and tubeless and I reckon it would be a cracking bike, like all Orange bikes, the angles seem to be spot on.
And It can be manualled (size 17 inch Me 5'10")!!!

Suggesting an alu frame can be as good or better than steel, suggesting there is an alternative to a cotic soul, you got it all wrong mate 😉

Orange don't make road bikes, they put stickers on generic chinese jobbies. (I know they aren't the only ones and the frames are fine i'm sure, they're just overpriced.)

Bazz - I could forgive all that, as long as it had [i]some[/i] appeal, but if it's not cheap, not good looking and not interesting in any way, what is there?

not cheap, not good looking and not interesting in any way

Thats all their bikes. They still sell though

I disagree - the five/patriot are at least interesting and unique.

As someone who owned a Five for years, now rides an Alpine and has a Carbo I can see points in both sides of the argument here.

The way I see it is that Orange appeals in many ways that other brands could never do. I had my alpine resprayed last year and it came back like a new bike. If I need a part I get a human who understands what I'm on about and I can usually sort things in a few seconds, unlike when I used to
own a specialized. Lets not mention trying to do a bearing change on my Pitch 🙂

They also ride the bikes In places we ride which means a lot of things are a non issue, mud clearance, bearing changes, 7 coats of paint.... Lol

Also, if your making an assumption on looks alone then if you haven't rode one you may be pleasantly surprised. They just seem to get it bang on. I do get that they are a little overpriced for what they are but remember, just like a golf or a transporter, you will get that money back on resale.

Just my thoughts for what little they are worth.... 😉

Merry Christmas!

Cheers for the review Catvet

The new clockwork is an evolution of a bike.

Bikes have changed.

If Orange brought out a steel clockwork with rack mounts etc, they would sell even worse than the P7 has done for the last couple of years.

As it stands, they've released the Clockwork as an aluminium 29r with a 120mm fork (a pretty unique beast) and it sells, well!

I bought a frame, put fox float forks/hope hubs/crest rims/chain device and ten speed. The bike rips, it's so confidence inspiring. Best trail hardtail I've ever ridden(and I've owned a lot!). Orange rarely get the handling of a bike wrong.

After 20 years of riding, I have now realised that I have been riding the wrong size wheels all this time!

aluminium 29r with a 120mm fork (a pretty unique beast)

Er, no. They are certainly not innovating by doing that.

Dave, just out if interest how much is the frame only option? Unless I've missed something it's not an option on the website.

Thanks.

[url] http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/clockwork_frame/ [/url]

Frame is £350 on its own.

The Clockwork Pro looks pretty smart. Stick a Hope headset and brakes on, and get it in the amazing purple colour, and you're sorted. Orange will never be ultra cheap but they all, almost without fail, ride fantastically well IME.

I'd say that a fairly slack 29r built around a 120mm fork and sold as a complete bike is pretty rare.

Trek are doing some, whyte are doing one. Can't think of any more now.

I wouldn't count all the micro frame brands as showing an abundance of suck bikes.

Update on demo Clockwork (basic spec), ridden by a 17 yo good bike handler who has raced junior downhill,( the gap jumps he does I would end up in the ortho ward|) he felt it was amazing, fast accurate and he ragged it round all local trails as well as the downhill runs, came back with a huge grin on his face!! It was all on to stop him trying a road gap drop on it, but as someone else is demoing the bike tomorrow...!!
I would agree with a previous poster, 10 speed 120 fork light rims would make this bike a peach. £350 frame only seems pretty good value.
Just to add a little more, pointing this bike downhill, gives the same level of confidence as my 140 mm travel FS enduro bike, the slackish head angle coupled with the "rollability" of the 29 er sized wheel is preety good. On the flat and in singletrack it doesnot seem to get hooked up in ruts/bog compared with my Soul 26 er, so when or even if the trails ever dry out this is going to be some seriously quick trail bike!

I'd say that a fairly slack 29r built around a 120mm fork and sold as a complete bike is pretty rare.

Trek are doing some, whyte are doing one. Can't think of any more now.

I wouldn't count all the micro frame brands as showing an abundance of suck bikes.

So Canfield Yelli Screamy and Nimble 9 are 'suck' bikes (whatever that means??)? You are right, not many big brands have yet caught on - they are being led by small independents who are perhaps more forward thinking (and, as you point out, mostly frame only). Kona Honzo and new alu version also out there, plus Chromag, Transition, 2 Souls Cycles etc. Please don't suggest the idea is anything new though.

Clink I think Dave meant "such"

ah! 🙂

Only on stw, and this is why I love you all... A simple question quickly turns in to a retro grouch festival of steel talk... Good on ya.

Catvet, yes to both of your previous posts.

I did mean "such" and the Clockwork is a little ripper of a bike. Happiest I've ever felt on a hardtail, since I bought my first Cove Stiffee with Z1 drop off forks about a decade ago, and it is sooooo much better than that bike.

Happy to ride down any steep stuff, fast, and climbs easy. Perfect winter bike for me.

Quite interesting this, I've had my eye on a Whyte 829 (discontinued but still a few around) since having a go on Variflex's one, lovely bike... My father had an original Clockwork when I was a kid, silly idiot left it outside a shop and some thieving scoundrel took the gift 🙄

Anyway, whilst the 'new' Clockwork may bare little resemblance to the old it is exactly the sort of bike I'm looking for. Anyone able to compare with an 829 from experience?

All
We get too hung up on names and materials...so what if it isn't steel, who cares if it doesn't have rack mounts? The important thing is what is it like as a bike. Prior to buying one I read this review which I think gets it pretty spot on:

http://www.m-mb.co.uk/#/blog/4570197278/Orange-Clockwork-S-29er-Review/4273812

The bikes rips and just keeps going over or through anything.....that deep mud that stops you on your 26er might as well not be there for all the difference it makes, the clockwork keeps steaming. It is fast (I have set several Strave PBs and haven't really tried yet) and fun, what more do you want?

I would recommend those who say Orange have lost the plot actually ride the bike before commenting, after all whatever the name or the material it is how it rides that is important.