Heya all,

I’m test riding a Blood and an Alpine in a few weeks.
Im after a new all day(ish) full sus toy that I can play with.

The blood comes in coz i think it looks like an awesome toy and would get me fit going up.

However, Five and Alpine ideas? I’ve riden the Five, it was amazing.
Im unsure what the alpine would be like all day, I’d like the extra travel to play at Cwmcarn DH or similar, but how will it be as an all day XC machine? I’ve got a 905 Hardtail so would use this for shorter races etc etc.
Would the alpine be an assss for something like the Kielder 100?
I’m not too unfit now, and I dont mind climbing a heavier bike.

ANy reviews/thoughts? Anyone got the weight differences?

i’ve got sharki’s old five. awesome all-rounder.

I test rode an alpine a month or so back, much more capable downhill but still seemed pretty pedalable(is that a word?). If your strong enough then I’d say its an all day bike. Be awesome up on the quantocks.

I still havent had a chance to get on a blood other than a quick bounce but a couple of mates have demo’d them and cant stop raving about them. Seriously quick DH but not so sure about the ups…

Phil from Biker Verbier made a pretty decent job of pedalling his 160 around all day everyday last week, but my god did it feel like a lump when i threw my leg over it. just the ticket for the exceedingly steep terrain there, and maybe as a ‘mini downhiller’, but i wouldn’t want to pedal it ( let alone try and loft it over stuff ) all day myself.
be honest with yourself about the type of riding you want to do with it. if you want to muller down DH courses and have the extra bit of reassurance that a bigger bike can give, with maybe a bit of foreign fun too, go for it, but if you’re going to ride DH tracks once every 6 months, and mince down them a bit, you’d be far better off with a five, unless you really are intent on getting better at downhilling.

Well I used to Race a 7+ downhill when at uni, 25ft gaps etc etc…. but im not sure how much of it i’d do these days!
I guess i’m just a little concerned that the five looks a bit fragile to jump on and bounce down Cwncarns DH or my local dh trails.

Jambo… Me and sharki are test the blood on the 19th on the Q’s.
I think i could pedal the 160 fine, should make me quick on the whyte then too!
The alpine seems to come in about 5lbs heavier than the Five (which i’d get in se spec with upgrades)

I ride a Heckler with 160’s on the front (Lyriks). Wouldn’t want to pedal it far with the forks all the way up. Fortunately, I have U-turn.

I ride it with the forks at 130-140mm most of the time anyway (even here in the Alps). Much more versatile.

my five seems pretty tough and i’ve seen what rowan sorrell does to his.

i might look at coming up that weekend for the day. you can try the blood back to back against my five then…

I think any bike is a compromise so you have to weigh up what suits the riding you are actually going to be doing the majority of the time. If it helps, my thoughts:

As long as I can scare myself (but not hurt myself) on a descent then I’m having fun. I can do that on my five just as easily as on a Alpine or even my hardtail (all be it at different speeds/terrain). But for me there’s no fun in riding a heavy bike all day for no reason. Of course if your riding priorities are different you may make a different compromise.

Isn’t Rowan Sorrell faster on his Five on the CC DH run than most people are on actual downhill bikes?

What about an AM Five? My mate went for an SE but specced bigger brakes and Fox 36s – almost as light as my Pro (I’m less flush than him!)

i always ride my heckler with my lyrik at 160.. (2 step air)

The Five is a really nice bike. The Blood and Alpine are overkill for everything in the UK, so the extra weight is a disadvantage. If you live in the Alps or Canada then the Alpine would be better, but if the bike will rarely leave the UK go with the regular Five.

Hmmmm Five SE with a fork upgrade…. Hmmmmmm!

The clue is in the name for the Alpine.

The Blood and Alpine are overkill for everything in the UK

Depends what kind of riding you do. Kielder 100 is NOT the kind of riding these bikes like.

CaptainBudget – i disagree.

We ride with a guy who owns a blood. he is a goat. he loves the blood though rides it single front ring (32t) up all the trail centres we have got to with him so far. it’s only 5 inches of travel so why is it overkill?? relaxed angles but so are a lot of long travel hard tails now..
i have a heckler 6 inch travel been to the alps quite a few times. it’s the idea middle ground for me enough to ride alps trails but i’ve still ridden most of 7stanes and a lot of uk trails and lots of local loops yet according to you it’s overkill!! hmmm… k..

I have a Apline 160 with Van 36s and a coil DHX 3, its 34lbs. Ive pedalled it round dalby red in 2 hours 15 mins, 25 miles + in the peaks, local rides, trail centres, downhill tracks.

Its not as fast as XC bike uphill, but its fine to ride XC on. The bouns is that is awesome downhill, jumping about and generally mucking around on.

Easily keep up with mates on lighter bikes, but then i consider myself pretty fit. if youre a tubby bloater youre better off buying something more suited to your weak legs and heart.

Be honest about what youre going to do on the bike, if its fire roads and tow paths, and wide well used bridleways then maybe you dont need anything as versatile as the alpine 160, but if you ride the interesting terrain then its alot of fun on the alpine 160.

I’d go with the Five ( which I have!) which is pretty much perfect for most stuff, then stick burlier wheels/tyres/forks for anything more extreme.

That said, the Blood is good fun (Test rode one when I tested the Five), you would just have to put up with it on climbs too. Depends where your preferences lie.

Can’t believe a Blood with UKish tyres/wheels would be slow up hills at all.

Best of both Alpine 5 here. 8)

Can’t believe a Blood with UKish tyres/wheels would be slow up hills at all.

Agreed. I tend to find that when required, bikes go as fast as you pedal them.

5 with coil lyrics and a maxle rear end?

>Can’t believe a Blood with UKish tyres/wheels would be slow up hills at all.

A mate did just fine on the ups and downs on his blood in Exmoor the other week. 41 miles of Exmoor terrain is pretty tough and he was riding the climbs no probs.

Why not go for the 5 AM. You get the fox 36 plus hope tech m4’s and a maxle rear end as standard.

So you want a bike for riding DH tracks and solo 12 hour/160km enduros……….hmmmmmmmmmm.Moon-stick scenario.

My mate has a 5AM with talas 36s he is as fit as a fiddle and fast. We ride all manner of trail centres and DH tracks as well as peaks and lakes stuff and the 5 copes fine. He leaves it in 160mm unless the hill is steep then he drops it down it handles great at 160.

Why not get the AM with a maxle rear and buy a second hand coil shock from fleabay for when you DH. The 5AM comes in at a snip under 30lbs (with an rp23) so the weight is fine.

An all agro 5 might be the more suitable choice, but the hooligan blood might be a suitable grin inducer.

Will just have to wait and see what the back to back trail ripping thinks of them..

I was trying to make the same decision, went for the 5 SE have 2 sets of wheels one lightweight set for xc enduro stuff making bike 27lbs ish and a burlyier set of wheels with big discs for when DH is the main objective. With my 15st on it it’s never complained about Cwmcarn DH without the chicken routes. Best compromise without having 2 bikes as far as i’m concerned, it’ll get trashed in the alps soon as well.

how about a five with the new Cane Creek shock? The review in Dirt was pretty revalatory about it – reckon its quicker on their test track than many of the DH bikes.

As Fozzybear has said I love my Blood, it’s awesome on the desents I can climb anything on it no problem and ride with single ring (32t) it weighs 37lbs as I have built it in more of a DH spec. So if you were to have one in a lighter more xc orientated spec I see no reason why anyone shouldn’t be able to ride one uphill.

5 with coil lyrics and a maxle rear end?

I’ve not noticed any rear end flex on mine and I am heavy!

I’d like the extra travel to play at Cwmcarn DH or similar

Alpine?

but how will it be as an all day XC machine?

Ah 5 then.

Would the alpine be an assss for something like the Kielder 100?

Ah 5 then.

I’m not too unfit now, and I dont mind climbing a heavier bike.

Ah Alpine then.

ive just ridden my 5/Lyriks round the Kinder Circuit. A faster/fitter rider could easily make mince meat of Jacobs ladder but for me it compensates me nicely 😀

OP- if you found the 5 “awesome” FFS buy one with Fox 36’s! 😀

buy a Five with 36 up front, stop messing and get riding, best compromise of weight,performance,durability and minimum maintenance bills.