I’ve been pretty much exclusively riding Orange bikes for the last 15 years or so now. I like them, they seem to fit my body shape very well, and I’ve yet to ride another brand that I like as much. I’m now onto my 2nd Orange 5, alongside my old 2001 Patriot and a succession of various hard tails.

Along the way I’ve collected a large garage full of spares, which really helps as money is always tight. Now, my current 2009 edition Orange 5 is getting a wee bit tired looking, so I’ve started thinking about putting money away for an upgrade to a new frame.

I’ve just discovered that the current Five’s are 650b. Now, I’ve not really been following the whole debate, but what would happen if I popped my current 150mm fork and 26 inch wheels into a 650b frame? Will the geometry be too steep? Bottom Bracket too low?

Most of my riding is through tight twisting woodland, with a fair bit of ‘shut your eyes and hope for the best’ rocky chutes of death. It’s fairly technical stuff, rather than wide open tracks and moorland.

Ideally I want to stick with what I know and like, and the more affordable the better. Hence, buying a new frame and transferring all my current kit onto it would be my preference, but would it work?

Beagy

Why not pick up a 2013 26” five frame?
Plenty of frames turn up on here or ebay.

Why change? New paint job, tyres n grips, and away you go…

The idea of buying an expensive new frame then fitting parts that’ll mean it doesn’t work properly just seems insane to me. There’s a chance it’ll work brilliantly to be fair but the odds seem slim, most of the time mismatching parts works because some of the parts are badly designed in the first place (ie, long forks in a too-steep frame).

Why not pick up a 2013 26” five frame?
Plenty of frames turn up on here or ebay.

+1

what would happen if I popped my current 150mm fork and 26 inch wheels into a 650b frame?

Use some lovely big tyres and you’ll be within a gnats chuff of the radius of an 650b wheel + average tyre. It will be fine.

It’s a Five, you should already be putting big tyres in it.

Send it back to orange for a new powdercoat/bearings/decals

Normally I’d say to go for the respray, but the arrival of the 650B Five has really depressed prices of the old 26″ model, so there has never been a better time to pick up a 2013 edition. I speak as somebody who is thinking of selling one, but looking at the prices on ebay it would clearly be a painful process.