Hi all, another newbie with another newbie question so apologies in advance but I could do with some advise on my next bike purchase.

I’m currently riding a 2014 Whyte 901 hard tail but old injuries and dodgy wrists are starting to damper my enjoyment and limit my progression, so I’m looking to upgrade to a full susser, the question is which one?

At the moment I mainly ride trail centres, Cannock Chase regularly and occasionally CYB and Llandegla but I’d like to progress to some light DH, uplifts such as Antur Stiniog/BPW and maybe the odd trip to the Alps, although tbh the latter may just be a pipe dream. I ride for fun and fitness, in that order and get most of my enjoyment from going downhill so I’m looking for a bike that will help me progress in that direction, inspire confidence and ultimately give the most grins per buck as possible but still be able to climb.

I’ve been looking at the Orange Five, Nukeproof Mega TR, Whyte T130, Lapierre Zesty and then the burlier Mega AM, Enduro and other 160mm travel bikes.

My question is, are the shorter travel bikes capable of DH style uplifts or if I go for the longer travel bikes, would that be overkill on trail centres? I’m leaning towards the Orange five or Mega TR as they seem more suited to the stuff I’ll be riding 90% of the time but spending big bucks gives me cold sweats so any advise/opinions from you kind folk would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Ben.

A demo day, is the correct answer.

Yup, test rides. You’re not just testing the bikes, you need to know how you feel- some people hate riding big bikes on easier trails, and some of us love little bikes on big terrain. And a lot of UK uplifts are really well suited to trailbikes (I sold my dh bike because I was often happier at inners on my #enduro gnarpoon, more choice and there’s really nothing that requires the big bike). I had a blast at BPW on my hardtail, admittedly I did destroy a wheel…

As far as the alps goes, they’re quite big, there’s every sort of riding. If you’re going out to morzine and planning on blatting park trails all week then big bike is best but is that all you want? Trailbike to White Rooms or Bike Verbier would be perfect. So for 2 years I went out to the alps and left the DH bike at home.

There’s no right way unfortunately! Just taste and choice.

Anything but a Five.

The 160mm bikes no are so good at climbing that you won’t lose anything over a 130mm one by getting one.

Climbing’s not all there is to it though, lots of people complain of “too much bike” and some bikes are better for that than others

are the shorter travel bikes capable of DH style uplifts

Yes, yes they are…tyre tech/tread patterns have come on leaps and bounds in recent years….ditto brakes….frame geometry is now universally leaning towards what would have been DH-bike angles a few years ago etc etc….these are all more important than how much travel the bike has.

I’ve been doing uplifts all year on a HT, the 66-67 degree head angle, awesome Magic Mary tyres, ridiculously good Deore-615 brakes and lovely Renthal bars have all been of more importance to me than the fact i dont have any rear bounce and ‘only’ 140mm up front.
Think of the bike as a whole not just its stated travel.

Best FS i owned was when Saracen relaunched few years ago and i treated myself to an Ariel-140….it had 140mm of travel but was well reviewed by just about everybody and garnering the praise in particular of Ride.io/southern downhill who called it a mini-DH bike and promptly bought the long termer they’d been loaned with their own money.

If i’d listened to forum bulls##t at the time i’d have gone with something that had more travel, problem is bigger isnt always better and the new Pike and even the Fox-34 werent out back then so long travel bikes were coming with noodly Fox-32s or Revs (which arent bad actually) and anything properly long got heavy old Lyriks that changed the character of the bike completely…no thanks.

Things are slightly different now with 160mm forks available with 34-36mm stanchions depending on brand and sub 2kg weight but i still think on UK trails a 140mm bike is about perfect….all 160mm bikes i’ve tried have given up some pedalling ability in exchange for more travel/slacker angles and the shorter travel stuff i’ve tried hasnt worked for me (rode a friend’s Camber and thought it was awful, other people love them!)….i like the Mega-TR, its a nice compromise of 150mm up front but keeping things taut out back for pedalling with 130mm, theres a few bike floating round currently like that….i’m intrigued by the Orange 29er that does a similar thing (Segment 120/110).

Just to properly confuse you Dirt magazine reviewed a standard Orange-5 and said it was the perfect bike if you could have only one. They said the 140mm was great for all round UK trail use and the odd uplift day….but they also said to buy a set of 160mm forks and a coil spring shock ….they reckoned you could swap to 160mm forks and put the coil shock on and have a great Alps bike…something to think about?!

Wow! Thanks for all the responses guys!

Some very valid points and lots to consider. I think a demo day is a very good idea. My lbs has ordered an Orange five for me to demo so I’ll finally get to see what the fuss is about. He’s also ordered a Niner WFO on his recommendation.

I can totally get the appeal of riding small bikes on big terrain although I kind of feel like I’m doing that now and my body just can’t take it. I hit Penmachno a few weeks ago and for the first time ever I shameful heard myself say “not another decent!”. My back was in pieces! Hence the decision to go full squidge!

From what I’ve read, the Orange Five seems ideal and if it’s possible to adapt it to Alpine riding for the sake of a set of forks then I’m even more convinced but there’s a huge divide in opinions, people tend to love or hate it. Are there any alternatives to the five that I should be considering? Has anyone ridden both a five and a mega?

I’ve just looked at this and after test riding a few my favourite is a Giant Reign. Just felt right for me.

What else did you test Mosey?

5, Alpine 160 and Specialized Stumpjumper and Enduro.

The reign just felt right. To be honest I’d have been happy with any of the above. All fantastic bikes.

My advice is to be really honest with yourself about the kind of riding you do and your own approach to it. It looks like you’re doing that already.

Don’t listen too much to other riders when they recommend the bike they already have unless they ride the same terrain in the same style as you do.

And as others have pointed out, bigger isn’t always better.

Got an Orange 5 for Alps, UK uplift and everything else at the weekend. Does it all but demo day a few everyone is different.

Stinkytrooper, the Giant Trance can make a good fist of swapping between trail and all-mountain/enduro, in standard trim its 140mm front and back but Giant warranty the frame for forks up to 160mm at which point the head angle slackens out to 66 degrees and it becomes plough-tastic charging through things.

You wouldn’t even need to buy a second set of forks as the Trance-SX comes with travel adjust forks from 160-140 I believe, if you’re going frame only you could have some lightweight 140mm Revelations for trail use and some 160mm Pikes under the stairs for when you go on uplift days.

I was in your position this time last year, head said Trance and heart said Orange-5….I liked the fact the 5 could take a coil shock (on a Trance the linkage gets in the way) but I wanted to try the DW/maestro link suspension on the Giant, I love the way a 5 looks….they’re certainly unique!….but I liked that the Trance was lighter….in the end it came down to price (as these things often do) and I couldn’t ignore the fact that the Trance frame was £500 cheaper and the dealer was willing to throw in a dropper-post with the Giant.

Head ruled and I bought the Trance, in 140 mode it was great but I tend to run it all the time with the 160mm forks now…I still look at 5’s but I’ll scratch that itch with their new 324 DH bike later this year instead!

Yeah, definitely need to get out and try a few and see for myself. It’s reassuring to know the shorter travel bikes are capable of doing most things providing the geometry and such like is right.

Deviant, funny you should mention the Trance, I’ve been eyeing up an SX on ebay. Like you, I really like the look of the Orange though. Did you test the Orange before buying the Trance? If so, how did they compare? What’s everyone’s thoughts on buying used? More bang for buck but does warranty carry over?

Warranty is usually with first owner only.

Most important thing is to work out what you want from it. For example I wanted a bike which was slack, stiff, fun, long at the front short at the back, perfect 1X pedalling platform and low BB that left pretty much one frame/bike.

There are a lot of good suspension platforms but they are varied in terms of feel.

I’ve gone from a frame with 170 travel front 150 rear to 150 front to 125 rear. Yes I’ve noticed a difference in behaviour of the suspension but I haven’t noticed so much the change in travel.

Fr0sty, what frame did you move to?

Cannondale Jekyll

Mosey – Transition Scout

Transition for sure

Thanks for all of the responses folks!

Like most, it’s more about having fun than anything else which for me comes from descending as quickly as my nerve and ability will allow.

I’m fairly new to MTB so I’m pretty slow and there’s a lot of gaps in my skill set but I’m keen to learn. I’ve come from a MX background so I guess some of the skills may cross over though. I broke my tib and fib last year on the MX bike and spent 3 months on crutches. Once I got the all clear, I bought the Whyte 901 with the intention of commuting to work and the occasional visit to trail centres to build up strength in my leg and to lose a few unwanted pounds that I’d gained. Well, it turns out MTB flat out rocks! I’m spending more and more time on the trails than I ever intended. Fitness is still on my list of priorities but it’s the adrenaline buzz that I’m chasing if you know what I mean? My confidence on drop offs and the likes is getting better but probably through poor technique, it’s taking it’s toll on my body.

So ultimately I’m looking for a fun bike that inspires confidence when facing downhill and will soak up enough of the gnarly stuff to keep me grinning and keep me from grimacing. I want to progress to the more DH type of riding but still be able pedal around trail centres. I’m guessing a slack head angle is key but as for the rest of the frame geometry, I haven’t a clue. Again, any advise is gratefully received.

Ps. Sorry for the long post.