[Closed] Fort William DH course...will it kill my Orange 5?

it depends how gentle you are on it. if you're coming up short on doubles, or missing landings on big drops, then yeah, you might kill it. If, however, you're woosing your way round everything (which, if you've not ridden a dh course before, I expect you will be) then it'll probably be fine.

personally i'd not bother hiring a dh bike for a day, the difference in how it rides (slack and slow) compared to an xc bike will slow you down more than speed you up. full face lid is up to you, I've been riding dh for years without one, but it's personal preference really

i would suggest that the 5 will be fine - and that your mate has got carried away by marketing hype...

Cheers 5lab, i expect i will be aswell, maybe if i liked it and went up again i could hira a dh rig and get the full experience.. Im not hashy with my bikes and look after them but i ride them hard and like to push the limits of my skill ( its the only way to improve), also i run 2.1 Nevegals, is it worth upgrading the rubber to 2.35 for extra grip and protection of the bike?

I suspect you could be right, he runs Fox 36's up front, he is 6ft 3 and 15+ stone id say, im just s nipper at 5ft 5 and 11.5 stone.

Took my Ventana X5 there last year, my mates took their Hustler, Tracer and Trek liquid 25. They all coped with no problems. Both the red and the WC course.

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I would not like to ride the WC course without a full face, but I'm old 🙄

It should be fine, but I'd not bother to soften the shock or forks. Bottoming out hard is what's most likely to kill a frame (other than a big crash) on that course, and if you're running soft then that's more likely. Big tyres would be good though.

Great advice guys, thanks. Kinda what i thought. Im running 120 psi up front and 175-180 psi at the rear so maybe start with that, i was thinking Maxxis minion on the front and a high roller on the rear?

Maxxis minion on the front and a high roller on the rear

spot on especially if the front is a supertacky. They should at least be 2.35's better if they are 2.5 TBH

My nomad was fine when I took it up there. Had pretty light rims as well (4.2s) and which I expected to destroy but was fine.

Would have thought a 5 would be ok.

I'm sure I've heard of guys belting down it on hardtails....

I would also be wearing a fullface / shin

This guy is 'racing' it on a hardtail

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hats off to them

Yeah it is a super tacky id be looking to fit, 2.5 may be a bit wide and draggy if i decide to use them for other riding duties though? Considering im used to a 2.1 Nevegal on the rear and a blue groove up front.

Just got to look into the full face helmet thing now, not sure on hiring a lid! Need elbow pads aswell, any recomamndations?

Crikey so he is...If i only had my Cotic built up! ha ha. I have knee pads that cover the shins a bit.

I did an uplift day at Innerleithen on a five inch trail bike. The bike was fine, but I ended up in hospital after stupidly coming up short on a double. I'm sure the Orange frame and suspension will be fine, but just pay attention to the tyres and brakes you are using.

Aye, but Steveo is an animal. He would ride off a cliff on that thing. Trains by chasing mincers down spooky woods on a minibike.

My Cotic BFe [i]is[/i] built up but I think I would chicken out and take the FS instead. (with the lyriks from the BFe on it)

Makes up for my severe lack of skill. 😆

I would go bigger than a 2.1 tyre, the rocks are pretty harse, big and brutal

Brakes are up to the job, Hope tech X2 with 203mm floating rotor up front and 183mm floating rotor out back. Well i shall prepare my bike and body for the wc course then, away to hunt down a full facer, elbow pads and dh tyres...

Thanks for all your advice folks.

Another tip is to make sure you keep your speed up going over the 2 jumps into the finish area too. If you go fast they are smooth. A few years ago when i first rode the course i damaged the rear hub on my SX Trail by going to slowly over them...its a flat landing if you do that! as said worth keeping plenty of air in the shock if you are using a shorter travel bike to stop bottoming out.

big tyres help a lot!

How far apart are the jumps radioman? And what size drop offs are to be expected?

Anybody recommend a good chainguide foe a double crank set up?

about 20yards apart i guess. Drop is about 4ft max probably less...so they are not big its just that near the end of the course you can be tired(im late 40s so definitely tired and not that fit). There are a few rocks behind the lip too, so speed is needed. Its worth having a look before you ride the course as it will spoil the flow if you stop. The jumps into the finish are really good fun "showing off" bit!...When I last rode there a young lad who had ridden down with a flat front tyre did them both superbly staying in a nice manual on his back wheel!

DOn't you hate people like that??? ha ha, i still can't manual after loads of practice! Sounds good, i was planning on walking the course first anyway. On the tyre front, my mate has offered me a set of 2.35 Nevegals part worns for much cheapness, im thinking they would do the job for me?

Make sure your brakes are bled and work well too

That lad really made me laugh. His front brake pad had fallen out half way down too. I offered him a new tube where he had stopped halfway down but he had a bolt thru axle on the front wheel. He just said never mind "i dont relly need the front...I advised him to walk down but the way he rode he obviously didnt need to...amazing rider on a beaten up old Big hit.

Yeah, just had them bled 6 weeks ago.

Obviously a seasoned pro at such a young age. Im hoping i like it as much as i think i will, i think alot of it is "if you believe you can or you can't, your probably right".

I found it pretty intense to be honest, a couple of runs on the red let me get my breath back.

Am sure the bike would be fine. I'd prefer a bolt-thru front axle and a full-face but again don't see why you wouldn't get down alive without.

I have a bolt through front fork and in the process of getting a full facer. All good advice, looking forward to riding the red and the wc course...i think.

never ridden FW but the nevegals are good tyres IME, or at least i like 'em. run them all the time on my HTs and on my 5.

Both will be fine.

Was up there Tuesday just past, one of the marshalls on duty had done a quick test run on his own bike to check the wind strength before opening the course.

We asked him if he had did the test run of the DH course on a big bike.

He said, "Yeah, I suppose so. It's a 21" frame hardtail, so pretty big.".

Also turned out to have 100mm forks, so not exactly hardcore HT either.

As long as you take your time you will be fine, although be prepared to take a beating. Excellent fun though.

aye as said you'll be fine. i full face/armour is up to you. personal/confidence thing. i tend to run a full face and knee pads at most.
bigger tyres would be good, other than that wouldn't worry about anything else.

Stevo is indeed an animal, cracking out 6:30's on a ht. but its not that i bad, i've ridden it on my ht and would say its fine. a dh rear tyre would have been nice, but not necessary.

And mini bikes -aka 12"/14"/16" wheeled kids bikes- are the future for fun racing! we spent days riding the jumps in the glentress freeride park on them. soo much fun and fast feeling that close to the ground!

I did it on my Hemlock without too much drama, very slowly mind but it didn't even snap a chainstay Revelation airs and a 2.35 front/2,1 rear set of Nevegals. It's tough going but it won't be massively hard on your bike unless you either want to blast it, or you seriously screw up. At race pace I think it'd kill your bike sooner or later but realistically you probably won't be doing that.

I think on the one run I got in, it was the brakes that got tested the most, obviously that's going to vary depending on your riding but I was pretty damn nervous of it so I was braking pretty much constantly So good pads, sensible sized rotors. I had a 160mm rear and I have to admit I was amazed it didn't overheat, it was hot as all hell but it lived.

As for armour, again, it'll depend on your approach. At my pace I never felt I needed more, I had my knee and elbow pads and an open face helmet. But if you were to up your speed that's going to be a consideration, if you crash you'll be crashing on rocks down most of it. But at a lower speed the consequences of failure are higher on the red.

You mentioned Laggan, did you do the black there? IMO it's harder than the world cup course taken slow.

Oh, lastly, unless they've got a lot of building done in the last month the red still crosses over the DH just below the big wallride, so you can work up to it by riding the red to the end then going down through the forest section of the DH. Everyone should do this I reckon, it's a nice bit of trail, then leads you onto the motorway which isn't actually a lot of fun but again, lets you take on the DH route in instalments.

Treat it with respect and caution but not shock and horror and you'll be right.

UMMMM,,,,,

isnt their a youtube vid of some well known young lad nailing a new build DH course on his 5

sorry for lack of usefull info, but im sure ive seen it on here within the last couple of months.

TBH it's exactly the sort of thing that Five owners ride but then convince themselves that only a Five could have done, and that any lesser brand would definately have snapped or spontaneously combusted or simply vanished in a puff of excess gnar If I've got the Soul up with me next time I'm there I figure on doing it on that.

If you see what Rowan sorrell does on his five then you believe it'll be just fine.

Your five will be fine. Chances are you will break before it does.

zero "need", per se, to make any adjustments to the bike, or wear any additional padding beyond your normal arrangements - I wonder if how much braking power, padding or suspension you need has nothing to do with the course itself and everything to do with how you choose to ride the course? i.e. if you want to hit it aggressively at full pelt and really get the most out of the course, yeah, hire a DH bike, but I bet you can get a nice flow going just on your normal bike.

Saw a couple of lads doing it on HT's when we were there, but they were super smooth.

However, my mate did it on a Spesh FSR XC and lived.

I did three runs down it many years ago on my old GT LTS with a crappy Deore 160mm brake on the front and V brakes on the back. I tried to pin it (LOL etc....) and got totally owned, and flew over the bars on all three runs but the bike survived fine....

Not anywhere in the same league, but have done Aston hill's courses at reasonable race speed on on 03 Hekler with 130mm travel, comparable I think to the Orange five.
I wound the seat right down, put on some 2.35's (considered wide then) and let off some preload on the spring (I have a coil rear) and it was fine.
I've also got a DH bike (mate was trying out the day) and compared to that the biggest difference is that the Heckler was very light, the weight was in the wheels.
Should add that I have a tough build spec on the Heckler (hence being it being alive and well now).

I'd say go for it, and assuming you're not spending days there you'll ride it as you see it and within you and your bike's ability.

Lucky bugger. 🙂