Forum menu
Mmm, not ridden too many bikes, but I can't help thinking that the 5 is a jack-of-some-trades. This is not the first review I've seen/read where its climbing ability is damned with faint praise. Surely a 5inch bike that is good on the ups [u]and [/u]downs exists, but it seems the 5 isn't it.
looks pretty flowy, looks the same as the normal orange 5 though , guess id have to test ride it
My take on the Five has always been that if you're riding is mostly about the downs, but you are happy to pedal to the top to get to them, then the Five is a perfectly pleasant way of doing it.
Good as a comfy all day bike too, letting you get up the big hills in comfort at a leisurely pace and then get the most out of big mountain descents.
However, if you want a fast up the hills, all day, marathon bike (which is what I'd be after) then it may not be the bike for you.
That said... the bikes that tend to be really good climbers/marathon bikes, tend to be a little sketchy on the downs... which is my issue. I want a bike that climbs really well, can be ridden all day and has geometry slightly more biased toward having fun on the descents. Curently a Fuel EX for me.
hmm, perhaps the smooth trails at glentress aren't ideal for showing off a full-sus!?
so whats different from the last one? looks the same.
tapered headtube,
30.9 seatube
ISCG mounts
(where did they come up with those ideas???)
New graphics
Spec will include 10 speed Dyna Sys available from next week!!!
Orange are likely to be the first bikes available with 2011 fork/shock/groupsets
I've ridden and raced a Five competitively for several years now, marathons and xc. Yes there are bikes that climb better but you can usually make it up on the downs and to be honest climbing ability of bikes is alot more down to peoples fitness levels and technique, before what bike you are on makes a difference. Unless of course you are dragging a full DH rig around. 😕
Agree with Cooper. If your idea of fun is to strap on a heart monitor and time yourself up big climbs then the Five might not be ideal, but for pretty much everything else I reckon it's the best all-rounder there is, and I don't even own one. Mind you, the Alpine 160 is a mint all-rounder too.
Give me a multi pivot,Giant Maestro system,any day over the 5 for climbing.Not much in it in the descending though.
The more recent slacker angles of the 5 are what made me sell mine! Had a 2007 5 previously that was a great compromise between climbing and descending but the slacker angles tipped that compromise firmly towards descending. I no longer enjoyed the local twisty flattish singletrack and it just didn't climb as well as the older one. They are great bikes for sure but i love my Zesty more.
I just don't understand the big deal with climbing. The Five climbs anything, and at a respectable speed - who races to the top anyway? Bizzare. But then this is STW.
The big deal with climbing is that, in this country, most riding usually comprises more time climbing than descending. Not hard to understand surely 😉
No one said anything about racing to the top but you might as well make it as enjoyable as possible.
thats a mint video especially with Danny Mac !!!! and i gotta say Joe Barnes is one hell of a rider ! orange five --wot can i say..wot an ace good all rounder ...ok some mite 'poo poo' it on the 'climbs' but when it come to xc its a fab bike (cos i ride one too)... i need to get faster tho ! maybe i shud give 'Joe Barnes' a call...lol
Like I said, this is STW. I should have known better.
I just don't understand the big deal with climbing. The Five climbs anything, and at a respectable speed
When I took my current "all-rounder" full susser for a test spin before I bought it I was very pleasantly surprised with how well it climbed. For more bumpy "technical" climbs full sussers are ace. However it was a real eye opener when I then did a back-to-back test with my 20 year old Spesh Hard Rock. Steep, loose, dusty but not too technical climbs were dispatched with far more ease on the fully rigid. I forget sometimes how much of a compromise an "all round" full susser is on the climbs. Perhaps a lot of us forget.
My riding now is split between an all-rounder full susser and a light full rigid (the Spesh is in partial retirement!)...and a road bike 😀
wl: What do you ride?
Looking good subtle tweaks but always liked fives, when the Heckler comes to rest a Five will be one of the ones I'd look at.
And yes they climb just fine least the ones that I've seen people riding certainly do.
As said above any bike is good for the ups and downs depending on your skill and fitness levels obviously apart from a full on dh bike, my prophet is great it can climb anything i try and is also fast on the downs and is a comfy bike to ride all day 🙂 im not sure about these new Orange bikes as alot of people have already said there's not much difference? is it orange just trying to make a bit more money on something that's practically the same thing?
Patriot and a SubZero.
The rear shock has this neat little function on it where you can "almost" lock it off for climbing... Made by "Fox". Works well...
have u tried one of these bikes then woppit?
that's cool. My 1999 Mr XC (12 years old now, and basically the precursor to the 5) has the same feature. Progress, eh?
The Five is actually a brillaint climber as soon as it gets really techy, the back end grips like spiderman!
If the climbing is fairly mundane it's more than acceptable at climbing, I think what the MBR guy is saying is that it's not bad, you just don't sing and dance about it.
It's always feels like it was worth taking the Five out when you point even slightly downhill. Nothing seems to carry and pick up speed in the same way IMO.
any sign of the ST5 this year ?
End of July for press release on full range.
chris_mbuk - Member
have u tried one of these bikes then woppit?
"The Lovely ChunkiMunki"... indeed I have. And do.
Edit: 2010 version, mind.
So true what they say in the vid about a better bike being one that evolves with improved suspension and components rather than one produced by a company that changes it's frame design every three years once the tooling has paid for itself then scraping it and making a new one (Specialized etc).
pity my bike is too small for you chris then you could have a day riding it ! 😆
Ha! Well I'll let you know what it's like to ride pretty soon, I've got a demo 16" coming tomorrow night & I'll be out on it on Friday. (handily, the Orange rep lives about 782.5 mtrs from me)
My mate rode all of the Col De Cou on his Patriot a few years ago so I can't see the 5 being too bad.
yeah but yours is a women`s orange bike mum ;p different geometry alltogether
[i]yeah but yours is a women`s orange bike mum ;p different geometry alltogether[/i]
Oh no, I thought they were the same! i mean I know the Patriot is a DH bike, & the travel's a tad more, plus the forks on the Patriot like, 'stick out further, & my mates weighed about 38lbs...oh dear, maybe it won't climb as well as I thought then. 😉
wl...
believe it or not, some of us like riding up hill... and some of us even like riding up hill quickly... for a long time 🙂
My rides tend to be 30-60km with plenty of climbing and some epic descents. I like that I feel quite fit and I like blasting up climbs quickly ... and then being able to really enjoy the descent. At the moment, most bikes either get you up the hill in a perfectly pleasant way (like the five) and are fantastic descenders... or bikes that let you enjoy blasting up the climbs and can feel a bit sketchy on the downs, especially steep techy stuff.
I'm happy to compromise on descending a bit on descending... as I've got my bullit for when I really want to hammer down hills. However, I still want to be able to enjoy long techy scottish highland descents after a 90minute climb. Part of enjoying those descents is a bike that handles well, but also a bike that doesn't wear you out too much on the climb first. I know I could just climb at a more leisurely pace, but where's the fun in that? .... ok, where's the fun in that for me 🙂
Sounds like a Five's perfect for all that. If not, like I said, I'm on the wrong forum for this topic.
yeah but yours is a women`s orange bike mum
Orange are making mums to go with their bikes now? 😯
I've been critical of 5's since we had one for a demo ride and back-to-back tested it with a TranceX and a P7. But I was talking to someone recently who suggested that we might have had the wrong size bike, that you need a size-up. Don't know if there's anything in that. Would like to give it the benefit of the doubt.
They're up the YAT!!!!!
I've ridden that trail a hundred times and Joe Barnes just made me feel like a total numpty. If you can ride that trail at that speed on a 5 then I need one.
lol woppit... yep im mother (oh and recently became 'nana' or 'grandma' too ..lol ..(and most of all im riding an 'orange five' - how cool is that ! lol.... i luv climbing now...thanks to my son who gets me up those hills... yep my orange climbs ok for me too. ! fast on decents...luv my five ! 8)
i want to know how much the new 5`s are ! if i cant afford another cannondale ill be looking more into the new 5, as my 2nd bike, not sure lol
any sign of the ST5 this year ?
Aye, the new ST4+ / ST5 does look rather neat.
for the 2011 models expect a 10 percent increase on the current model year pricing..... which the price will be about 2,750 chris !
the 2011 has a new tapered head tube using the cane creek frustum zs-(zero stack) standard so the bearing cup sits flush with the head tube keeping the stack height of the front end low without having to resort to a super-short head tube.
the weight of a five has increased alittle-the tapered head tube, 30.9mm seat tube and ISGG tabs add 185g bringing the weight of a 2011 frame (without shock) but including the maxle rear end to 2,923g...
thats all i can tell you for now.... but read more from mbr mag...lol did you lot think i was being very clever there by knowing all that ? lol.
oh mbr this month gives away a free neck warmer too... 😆 not that you need it yet with living in out tropical conditions at the mo !
Had seen a Strange 5 2011 model over Afan Three weeks back
the updates are all in the right places
Makes it a great all round bike even better
was the 'strange 5 (2011)' a green colour by any chance...apparently there were only 15 of that particualr model made !
Nope sorry was a Silver one