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Any one actually ridden an Orange Blood, If so what did they think of it.
Yes took one for a test ride this morning, depends what you want it to do really, if your about 5ft 8" and want an indestructable trail bike that is ready for anything then get one. If like me your over 6ft then look elsewhere, I found it too short to be comfortable all day, was great fun descending though.
Was a bit of a chore to rid uphill mainly due to the fact I couldn't get the seat high enough on the demo bike, a longer post might have helped, now if they did a 19" that was a bit longer I might consider it. RP23 shock is excellent and 1 click of propedal is enough to stop it bobbing.
Oh and rubber queens are rubbish in mud but grip well on roots.
Had a test ride couple of weekends ago, air sprung version too.
First very steep climb was awful but then worked out it was a "sit and winch" climber and the rest of the climbs were OK.
Rode the smaller frame (I'm about 5ft 8in) and the relaxed geometry and beefy fork/kit made it great fun on the downhills. Made me kept trying to cut inside and overtake people.
Suppose it's like a big forked hardtail with enough suspension in the rear to get you out of trouble. Or a mini-downhill bike even (though I've not ridden a proper DH bike so that's a guess).
Can't really justify having one, but it's the sort of bike I'd really look forward to riding.
They are very chuckable...
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Imm really disappointed now filthy Im 6' and am begining to think a blood would make a great bike for wrenching up hills then dropping the seat and hammering down. Do you think a 400mm post would be long enough?
The problem is that its a bit short too, sure you could fit a long post and a longer stem but for 6+ footers I think they really need to do a 19". I couldn't live with it for a do everything bike but I'd love one for uplift days.
400mm post should be fine, I didn't measure the one that was fitted, I'd guess at about 350.
I guess it depends what you're used to, 600mm ETT is quite long for a 17" frame, the same as the 18" alpine 160, which is also the largest size.
600mm ETT [b]is[/b] pretty long - my large Blur 4X is a tiny smidge shorter than that (597mm)
Were as my enduro has an actual TT of 590 and an ETT of 623. But the blood is a bit (4mm) longer than my old medium enduro was and that was too short for me.
Im a bit upset now.
Coming off a large Zaskar which has a 617mm horizontal top tube and runs with a 70mm stem, the Orange felt much shorter then the quoted 600mm.
My previous frame , a Commencal Mini DH has a quoted horizontal top tube length of 574mm and that felt much bigger than the orange, again with a 70mm stem.
Now I've no idea how Orange measure their bikes or commencal and GT for that matter, but on paper it looks long enough in comparison but the reality is the Blood felt far smaller than the geometry suggested.
Just glad I rode one before I bought it.
Perhaps that's just orange sizing then. Have you ever looked at how much they change the TT length on some of there models. I have an 05 and an 07 P7 both completely different. In fact the 07 is something like 20mm (supposedly) longer than the 08, but when you get them side by side they actually look and feel the same.
74deg seat angle on the blood - a degree on the seat angle shortens the top tube from the back by about half an inch. So a 72 seat angled bike, with a inch longer top tube, will "feel" the same as a inch shorter 74 seat angled bike when you're stood up.
Nope I'm confused. Surely if the bike with the steeper SA will feel shorter, then a 72 SA bike with a long tube tube will feel even longer than a shorter bike with a steeper SA. Also isn't the SA irrelevant once you're stood up.
Also isn't the SA irrelevant once you're stood up.
Of course it is, but then so is the top tube length.
I dont think anyone has figured out how to measure a bike properly
Very true, I guess thats why some other mags quote down tube lengths in bike reviews.
I think what brant was meaning was, if you have a bike with a steep seat tube, the quoted top tube length could be less than a bike with a slack seat tube, but when stood up, they may feel very much the same length
Yes, ok that makes sense.
Makes sense now, cheers Brant
I don't think how a Blood feels "sat down" is terribly important.
And from the drawings I've done, the 74deg seat angle is more to do with making the rear wheel clear the seat tube, than a good angle for climbing 🙂
Just looking at things the 17" Blood TT length is roughly the same as the 18" 5 TT length but is 74deg to 73 deg so if you put a layback seatpost on the blood and have a inline seatpost on the 5 then you should have roughly the same reach assuming the same length stem and a not too high seat position.
WHEN YOU ARE RIDING A BLOOD YOU SHOULD BE BLOODY STOOD UP THRASHING ITS TITS OFF NOT PONCING ABOUT WITH A SEATPOST AT XC JEYBOY HEIGHT
Very good point but what if you dont have the lungs or legs to thrash it to the top of a hill but can manage it DH? And yes before you say it I know you have to be bloody fit to race DH but we arnt talking racing here are we. But plodding up a hill in enough comfort so that your knees or back dont explode then having fun on the way down.
It's definitely a sit-down-to-climb bike, the wide bars and low height of the one I was testing meant that I was wobbling all over the shop and wasting loads of energy when trying to climb out of the saddle.
It's definitely a sit-down-to-climb bike
Double bonus of that 74deg seat angle then.
Please note that the quoted top tube length of 550mm for the 15" Blood on the web site and brochure is wrong. The actual top tube measurement is 562mm (web site now corrected, thousands of printed brochures still incorect...)
[quote="brant"]I don't think how a Blood feels "sat down" is terribly important.
Suppose it depends what you are going to do with it, if its just a bike for messing about on and uplifts then yes it isn't important but if you want to ride it round a trailcentre all day or go off on a long ride in search of some new downhill singletrack, then a comfy seated position for climbing/just riding along is a must.