I’ve been riding hard tails for the last 6 years. But I’m now thinking of going back to full suss once again, the ht has served me well and I’ve ridden all over the country on it without to much trouble, (dalby aside)
I’ll have about £2500 to spend, I don’t want more than 140mm travel as I wouldn’t use it, I ride natural singletrack trails and also trail centres, mostly red and black routes, not a massive jumper but do get air!
Would this be a decent do it all bike for me? Or is there something better for the money?
I really wanted a Santa Cruz solo but can’t stretch to the price tag!
Travel wise I’d be happy with anything from 120-140mm 27.5 preferred

Thanks in advance

demo, demo, demo.

some love them, some hate them.

Definitely demo. I bought a new 2011 Five frame. Hated it. Felt too long for me and the shock wallowed a fair bit.

Recently I bought a 2008 Patriot and loved it because it had a shorter TT. Just made it feel better.

both ^ were 18″.

So yes – definitely demo. Try and get a ride off road rather than round a carpark …or you must know someone who has one already that you could borrow?

Yeah I’m in the process of hunting a demo day out near me, north East England

Any orange dealer can get a demo bike in for you, it won’t be free, but the dealer should take it off the cost of the bike, assuming you buy a/the bike from them.

Otherwise the last Orange demo days are listed here

some love it, some hate it….so +1 for demo
I´m still very pleased with mine (2009)..right now I´m mostly riding hardtails..but for the alps trip in september it will be the five again..

hora, interesting..I still have my 2006 patriot and definitely like the shorter TT…

+37 for Demo. Try and demo a couple of bikes in the same place if possible.

My 2p – I’ve had a Five for a few years and loved it. Sadly it got nicked a couple of months back. Fortunately the insurance payout was for a top-spec bike and left me with options.
Initially i was just going to go and get a new Five RS – but I couldn’t bring myself to spend so much money for the spec you get. So many bikes out there offer better equipment for the money.

So I demo’d a load of bikes – back to back around a forest I know well. The end result was as much as I loved my Five, it couldn’t live with the bikes it was up against. The combination of frame/ sus design and poorer components just left it off the pace everywhere.

My lbs has an Orange gyro in large. He was talking about knocking a whack off it, a good few hundred quid, which would give you spending money.in Scottish borders if interested.

I think most dealers with Gyro in stock will be saying the same thing… Orange may have created a new model (the segment) but in reality I think most of us see it as replacement for the Gyro. If the Gyro’s still on the Orange site this time next year, I’ll be very surprised. Not that I think the Gyro is a bad bike, but I’m not sure there’s a market for two very similar bikes.

Don’t disagree zippy was just pointing out an option that’d save money off the rrp, was potentially not too far away and might support my local bike Shop.

Try it and try some others with different designs. There is always the straight from HT awesomeness of a FS so it’s good to try a couple of others to help confirm your choice.

Love my 2013 Five and use it for everything. Recently borrowed the new Five RS and it was also great – felt like a slightly more capable version of mine, probably more appropriate in the Alps or Lakes, but a bit less playful. Both very good bikes. Both bombproof for UK conditions.