Orange Clockwork Touring/Everyday Build

Picked up this late 90s (?) orange clockwork 21" a couple of days ago with the intention of turning it into a touring/commuting/singletrack rig over the coming months.

The previous owner went to great lengths to acquire all period correct parts, as well as giving the frame a lovely dark grey paint job.

I'm also on a student budget, so most parts will be bought second hand if possible.
Here's how it looks currently:

And the plans are as follow:

1. Swap the tyres out for something fatter and smoother - Schwalbe Big Apple/Big Ben/Maxxis DTH are the ones i'm looking at. There's a lot more clearance at the front, so I was thinking 2.3 front and 2.15 rear, unless that would drastically affect the handling, any help here would be appreciated
   
2. Despite the forks being relatively light weight on account of them being air shocks, i'm going to swap them out for a rigid 1" threadless set. The orange forks that come stock on this bike are 1" threaded as far as i'm aware, and i'd prefer to keep it threadless to help with stiffness
   
3. Change the stem from 140mm -> 110/120mm, and put some bar ends on
   
4. Mudguards! Any advice???
   
   

The first few touring excursions the bike'll do aren't going to involve camping, so there's no need for masses of carrying capacity at the moment. Bag wise:

• I'm planning on buying a BigxTop rando bag for the front, which will mainly be responsible for carrying an SLR, snacks, map, light clothing etc..
  
• Waterproof seatpack for clothing
  
• Half frame bag for spares (maybe)
  
• Perhaps a top tube bag
  
  

This bike is the rough inspiration:

https://www.pedalroom.com/bike/bridgestone-mb-3-24567

Undecided yet whether or not to buy a rack - keeping to a bar bag like the rando means that i've got the option to put a suspension fork back on and keep the bag, whereas a rack limits the fork options.
(EDIT): just found out about these:

So i'm now tempted to go the wald 1372, or failing that something like the the blackburn set suggested below.

Any advice from anyone that's toured before on a retro MTB would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

That's a really lovely build.

I'd be surprised if the headtube isn't 1 1/8", so make sure to measure up. AFAIK that Z2 Superfly fork is a great bit of kit and at ~1400g is hardly a boat anchor, so I'd personally keep it on.

I'd be inclined to get a Blackburn Outpost front rack, which will attach to either suspension or rigid forks (because I'm addicted to front loading and find it much easier to manage front panniers off-road), or a lightweight rear rack/saddleback and then a bunch of bikepacking bags, some decent, fast, all-terrain tyres like Thunder Burts or Fast Traks, a shorter stem, and go head off into the hills.

I can't take the credit for the build, I picked it up off eBay a few days ago from a guy who'd spent a lot of time and money getting it to the stage it's at.
Agreed about the forks, they're lovely, but could do with some air in them - which I've read is a finicky thing to do as you can easily over pressurise them and blow a valve. Seen a couple of 1" rigid forks on eBay for really cheap, so it might be worth trying them out for fun.

Thanks for your advice on the rack, I wasn't aware you could buy them for suspension forks in the first place. In general id rather avoid rear panniers, and was originally looking at wald racks for the front so I could use my backpack as a front bag and fasten it down with some netting, but a rack that can run panniers does open up the possibilities for heavier touring in the future. The main concern I have with the front forks is their strength, they are definitely 1", and the forks (albeit underpressurised) aren't the stiffest, so I don't wand to overburden the front end with too much weight.

I doubt they made those forks or headset in 1" so I'd double check the headtube before you buy new ones. Should make it easier to find forks though?

the guy I bought the bike from was telling me how hard it was sourcing a 1" stem and headset for the bike. IIRC, the forks come with a shim of sorts so they can be used as 1 1/8 forks. Originally the bike came with 1" threaded forks when it was released. I wish they were 1 1/8, it would make it all a lot easier!

Rear brake hanger and integrated seatpost clamp suggest early 90s to me; 1" headtube is more than likely. My P7 is 1", from 1995.

Those Bombers as fitted (100mm travel?) have already changed the geometry a bit - Clockworks of this vintage were designed with horizontal top tubes. I'd be looking for some original Orange forks if possible, and definitely steer clear of 'suspension corrected' rigids.

Thanks for the advice - am i correct in thinking all orange forks are 1" threaded? What's the reason for not having suspension corrected forks as well?

Tempted to go for something like this:

buy some adaptors to take a wald rack, and call it a day.

I do like the Exotics and I think they'd be a good choice. Off the top of my head, 395mm axle-to-crown would be about right if memory serves. (and you're right - I don't think I've seen unthreaded Orange (R7) forks, so you're probably wise to go aheadset if you can for your purposes).

I'll put some air in the superfly's and see how they fare with some new tyres as well. The Exotic's might have to be a long term goal at £80. The forks on ebay are listed as 390mm in length, which i assume is referring to the axle-to-crown length, so those will be the ones.
Thanks for the advice!

Clamp on rack mounts on a carbon fork is asking for an expensive trip to the dentist isn’t it?

Orange do make an ahead 1 1/8” fork but not sure if they do a 1” version.

If you want to get to business with racks and baskets I'd get a custom steel fork. Orwoski can build you something for about the same price as the Exotic jobbie.

For a light setup get the Exotic and Gorilla/Anything/Manything cages and drybags. Shouldn't be a problem on carbon. You could even save some $$$ and put them on your bouncy forks. There's also plenty of space for a framebag

I was thinking of getting the aluminium exotics, which come in around £90ish. I was considering the anything cages + dry bags option, but I'm leaning towards a wald 1372 for convenience when using it as a commuter.
Having said that if this all becomes too much of a ball ache I'll go the handlebar bag and everything cages on the forks.

needs these

The first choice, but 1 1/8"

you can use a steerer shim, could look fine still

Yeh but i've had a few bad experiences with shims and want to avoid them as much as possible

That's lovely.

1" threadless & 1 1/8th threaded are more difficult to find. Stick to threaded if it's 1" would be my opinion.

My FiL has one of these - similar age, green, rigid, lowend 7speed. I should liberate it really...

any progress?

Not quite, got a few small bits sorted in an attempt to dial in the fit, but i still need a shorter stem. I've returned north for uni, so the project is on hiatus till mid june - which gives me lots of time to think of where to go next.
Here are my two options:

1. The braking surface on the front rim is a little worn down. Rather than replacing it with period correct parts, i'm heavily leaning towards the idea of buying some exoticc aluminium disc brake forks, then buying a new black front wheel and an avid bb7 front brake. Later down the line I might get some disc mounts tabbed on the rear, swap out the rear wheel to match the front, and upgrade the groupset to a 1x system. I like the idea of having a black fork, wheels, and tan compass tires.
   I would love to keep it as period correct as possible, but function comes first, and discs offer a serious advantage, especially when it'll be loaded with luggage and myself

2. simply buy a new front wheel, and the exoticc forks with cantilever brake mounts. Sooner or later buy a pair of compass tan wall tires. Maybe convert it to 1x by removing the front mech. The cheaper option!

Luggage wise, i'm going to go for a set of alpkit cockpit bags, a blackburn seatbag, and some sort of waterproof duffel bag that'll sit on the wald rack i'm going to fit to the front.

I'll be selling this at some point in the near future, i've not got enough time (or money) to install all the planned bits and bobs, and i've got some other stuff planned that means this will be surplus to requirements.
Just gauging interest before it hits classifieds, and then ebay.

What sort of price would you be thinking?

It's got a new Ritchey Stem and Nitto bars, as well as the old Hot Rod stem. Selling the bike complete, w/out cages, and a different flite saddle (that one was a gift), probably around £300 ONO? Based on what it was listed for when i bought it, and the condition it's in i think that's fair. If i'm way off then i'm open to offers.