At the start of my search for a new frame I am trying to find out as much as possible about the frames Im interested in to see if they meet my requirements.

So tell me about yours.

Firstly they aren’t being made anymore, so it’s old stock or 2nd hand only I’m afraid.

Here’s mine a few years ago (it’s been treated to new white bars and stem and fancy xt cranks since):

Pros:
Fantastic Downhiller (slack h-angle and long so very confidence inspiring)
Snappy Sprinting
Tough (uses the down tube from the VP free and has a big gusset by the head tube)
Suspension works very well
Not too heavy (mines around 30lbs)
Fun on the boring trails as well as on the mega stuff

Cons:
Pedal feedback in granny ring – feels funny unless you lock the shock out
Bearings need tlc – like most 4 bar / vpp designs I suppose – I ended up buying the special bearing tool as I was arsed off with it loosening off

Overall:
Best bike I’ve owned – lapped up Verbier and is still fun on local trails, good jumper too (I’m not)

reminds me of something..

..oh yes

mmmm

I dont mind getting a sh one and refurbing it. How will it ride with long 160mm forks on?

How much of a problem are the bearings? How much do you ride and how often do you have to change them?

Oh and yes MrNutt I would like a Blood but they are a bit too pricey for me but I do keep buying scratch cards.

I think Orange are astute bringing out the Blood as the 4X seems to have a decent following in the UK and, with it being discontinued, no other frame is around to replace it.

How much is the Blood going to be?

re: 160mm forks – thought about it myself, they would certainly be warrantied but I think it may be a bit too slack.

I’ve not owned one but I’ve ridden one quite a bit as a mate of mine has one and I used it for a whole day at one of the south Wales DH tracks.

I have to say I loved it and can only reinforce what acjim has said. It’s super agile, easy to throw around and get it moving. The suspension feels way more than 4″ and the feel you get from the bike more than compensates for its lack of travel.

It needs a bit of thought to be built light enough to ride all day (air forks, air shock, XT kit etc) but you can build it up to take a fair amount of punishment if you want.

Because I was running it purely downhill, I can’t comment on the pedal feedback but my mate also took his out to Verbier and spent a whole week on it and raved about it when he got back.

I reckon it’s one of those bikes that’s destined to be a classic/collectors item one day, especially now they don’t make them anymore.

Is tyre clearance any better on the blur 4X than on the bog-standard blur?
Love mine but with 2.0 speccy storm’s the clearance is acceptable. Just about squeeze on 2.25 racing ralph on the back, but if there was any mud about i dont think it’d manage.

The Blood frame is retailing at £1500 with a DHX Coil and £1570 with a RP23 so about £500 over my max unless I find some extra money.

I can’t run a 2.5 on mine but a chunky (Hutchinson Barracuda) 2.3 fits fine.

mmm I’d like a blood but I’m in the same boat as you I_Ache, plus my fork would be too long ::(

I wouldn’t run it with 160mmm forks, it wouldn’t ride particulary well IMO. I run mine with my 36’s at 120mm, which feels about spot on. Drop them all the way for 4X & it rides well on that too.

Mine literally gets used and abused for everything. Its an absolutely brilliant little bike.

It doesn’t climb like a mountain goat, but then its low, long & slack so I don’t expect it to. I run mine with a 1×9 setup too so its not horrendous.

It’s mid makeover right now, but it will be about 27lbs when finished so its nice and light too. Bearings arn’t a big issue, the early ones came with open bearing which were rubbish, just chuck a set of SKF bearings from your local supplier in there & they will be great. 18 months and counting on the same set 🙂

If I had to have just one bike, this would be it, no question.

Bloody great bike. imo it works really well for scotland (hard enough not to break,light enough to climb and it climb not half bad, fun enough to keep you engaged with thew trail i.e it’s not a 6″ trail smoother)

I haven’t had mine long but love it. I got mine brought over by Jungle from the US – apparently the last Large they had so I didn’t get to chose the colour. Hearing-aid beige, I mean “Sand”, wouldn’t have been my first choice but hey…

Taken at The Wall at Afan – the bike was awesome there.

When I was investigating buying mine someone on here, I forget who (sorry!), mentioned that you had to be “on your game” to enjoy riding it and that it would “punish you” if you weren’t. I am still not 100% sure what he meant but I have found it awesome fun when riding it flat-out but a bit hard work if I am not. Of course the obvious solution is to ride flat out everywhere! I don’t do all-day-rides but if I did I am not sure this would be the bike for the job. But for a day’s blasting round a trail centre or similar is it great. Oh, and I ride it at 140mm everywhere.

My build is Pike Airs, mostly XT groupset, Deus crankset, DT5.1s on Pro IIs, Thomson post and stem, MonkeyLite bars and MG-1 pedals. On my inaccurate bathroom scales it was just over 29.6 lbs

I am 6’3″ so to me it feels like a little toy rather than a long downhill bike, which is exactly what I wanted (the Large still has a seat tube of less than 18″ and a horizontal top tube of 23.5″)

Love it.
Room for a 2.35 Big Earl (big for it’s size) in the back (just). Loads of room with a High Roller 2.35 (why run anything else)
Run mine 1X9 as it pedals horribly in the granny. If you need a granny definately get a RP23
Run my Pikes mostly at 130 after some trial and error, but occasionally wind them out to 140 when it gets really steep.
Mine weighs 31 ish lbs with coil Pikes as in pic.
There seemed to be a run of them for sale on here cheap as chips. Can’t imagine ever selling mine.

MrNutt how do you fancy a time share on a blood. Both go in 50/50 and share the bike. We could get another 5 people in on it and then we will be able to ride it one day a week.

Ive been working out when I would have the blood if I started saving now and its a little depressing.

HobNob, im guessing the bearings are the same in blur 4X’s and same era blurs, so you wouldnt have a spec/part number for the skf bearings would you?

Guitarhero didnt you used to have an enduro? How do they compare?

Why would you buy a Blood when a Bottlerocket is a lot less (and the Blood was, apparently, first conceived when someone who works for Orange had a ride on a Bottlerocket and loved it and hey presto, Orange knock together a prototype)?

Anyway, I’ve owned my Blur 4X for about 3 or 4 months now and its excellent. Just echo’ing other peoples views really – fast as **** downhill, nice slack angles, and its no slouch on the climbs either. Again, there is pedal feedback in the granny ring but its not too bad – coming off a hardtail it bugged me to start with but I’m used to it now. Mines in bits at the moment as I’m going to nitromors and polish the frame up this weekend but the spec is (with planned upgrades):
– medium Blur 4X frame / 5th Element air shock
– Hope headset
– Hope Pro2s/Syncros DS28s/Kenda Blue Grooves or Maxxis Minions
– Race Face Atlas cranks (running double/bash with an E-Thirteen Supercharger)
– SRAM X7/X0 gearing (going to swap for Saint/XT I think)
– Thomson post / SDG seat
– Race Face Diablous bar/stem (going to swap for a Thomson and Easton EA70)
– XT SPDs/Crank Bros 50/50
– XT 203/180mm brakes
– Fox 36 RC2s (the older 150mm versions)

I can’t figure out how people are happy running their forks any lower than 140/150mm as the head angle + sag just got really scary for me. Just leave mine on 150mm all the time and its perfect.

Here’s mine in its early guise:

Oh, and if you’re quick, theres a medium one on Ebay at the moment in MINT condition. 2 days left and its at £400.

Dave do you have any ides on the weight? That is a similar built to what I would put on it.

Why would you buy a Blood when a Bottlerocket is a lot less

I thought the Bottlerocket was 140mm travel and weighed a metric ton? The Blood is shorter travel, don’t know how heavy but Orange have a decent reputation for building lighter than average bikes.

re: transition bikes, I always fancied a preston fr but after picking one up (lead tubing IIRC) it fell from grace.

I did look at the bottlerocket and thought the estimated build weights were high at 38-43lbs

No idea on the weight of mine but it doesn’t feel much more than my pretty lightweight Cotic Soul weighed.

As for the Bottlerocket, yes, I think its designed to take much more of a beating tha the Blood but no idea on those estimated weights – they seem a hell of a lot!

Plus the Blood looks crap compared to a 4X!

Swiftacular, i’ll check on the bearings, I have a few spare in the tool box, so i’m sure I can get the numbers off them.

I think its personal choice on the forks, up at 150 it felt alright on the DH stuff, but just a bit sluggish on everything else. 120/130 gave the bike the best balance for me though (on a Fox 36).

The Bottlerocket is hilariously heavy for a 5.5″ travel bike. Its about the same as most DH frames. Can’t see the point of it myself.

Just worked out how heavy my frame and shock are and if I put a RP23 on the bottlerocket they would be about the same.

I think the bottle rocket is about strength it is supposed to be a SS bike after all.

Guitarhero didnt you used to have an enduro? How do they compare?

Yes, replaced the enduro with this. The Blur for me is a better bike all round. Obviously 2 inches less travel makes it more involving on the downs when the going gets really rough, but that’s a good thing.
The VPFree downtube gives the bike a really solid feel, and rarely feels out of it’s depth, and is actually faster down some more groomed DH courses than my DH bike.
The up and along ability is vastly superior to the enduro, it pedals really well in the middle ring and gets better the harder you mash, and is obviously a lot lighter.

HTH

I had an ex-team medium 5th air shock. Rode alot better than the large Fox air I had after. Just felt right and soo confidence inspiring. Con? Both pedalled badly for me mid-trail.

I_Ache – Member

The Blood frame is retailing at £1500 with a DHX Coil and £1570 with a RP23…

MrNutt how do you fancy a time share on a blood. Both go in 50/50 and share the bike. We could get another 5 people in on it and then we will be able to ride it one day a week.

If we managed to find another 5 people it would only cost us £4.70 each a week!! oh the humanity!!! 🙁