[Closed] Orange Five - WTF makes it so special?

paul20v

Ive just read through all of this thread (being a five owner)
and why is there so much girlie bitching ?
if you dont like it or like the ride it gives dont buy one simple as
im really at a loss as people feel the need to attack everything on a forum

What you see is probably a backlash to Orange 5 evangelists spamming every thread to wax lyrical about their beloved bikes. There seems to be no thread or topic where someone won't mention their orange 5. You would almost think Orange were doing some low key marketing here or something 😆

What Trailbike?
Orange 5

What UK do it all bike
Orange 5

What Bike for UK DH tracks.
Orange 5. You don't need anything else.

Alpine 160. Any thoughts
Get a 5. Alpine is pointless.

What bike for the Alps?
5 with 36's.

What XC Freeride bike
F I V E !!

What tyres for fireroads?
Doesnt matter - 5

Paul20v, you're right, its forums in general.

Nothing is allowed to be better than anything anyone owns, and something that has made a name for itself as being decent can't really be, its all hype.

If you think otherwise your opinion doesn't count if you don't do drops over 1.5', or because you aren't a pro rider. Also geometry doesn't matter, as long as your bike has decent kit on it and as many pivots as possibly it will make you faster.

😆

to be fair, the answers you've listed are all correct JJ - well done! 😀

Paul, It's not real life, just a forum. welcome, BTW. 😉

Thanks Del for the welcome
im not running yet thou 🙂

You forgot to ask....

What bike for the road? Five?

Paul, my post was not directed at you but to the ridiculous nature of this thread.

I've seen many posts of 5 riders waxing lyrical over how great their bikes are yet they ride no where challenging to merit a FS bike.

Not sure why someone would buy an expensive bike just to be seen or say they have said expensive bike. Seems daft to me. Bikes are for riding. The more serious you get into riding the more serious you get about the kit you buy.

after riding a giant trancex and an orange 5 back to back, i prefered the geo of the 5, but much preferred the suspension feel of the trance. that was with an RP23 on the orange, and a float r on the trancex!

Still, i'm a winner as i have a giant reign X which has the geo of the 5 (But with 0.5" longer chainstay), but the suspension feel of the trance (Even though it has an extra 35mm travel).

As for the 5 snobbery, it's hilarious!

Took my (new to me) 5 out for the first time this morning and now I get why they're so popular - it felt just right, for the first time in ages I just rode and enjoyed every minute without worrying about fiddling with the propedal, the fork lockout etc. Brilliant piece of kit.

It feels like a tool designed for a job. Kind of reminds me of the first time I drove a BMW after owning a Golf, I immediately got what the fuss was about after spending years pouring scorn on the ****s in their repwagons. Live and learn I guess.

If only it looked half as good as my Lapierre it would be a perfect bike; it does look like it was made in a shed by a blind ape 🙂

Geo of the Five is not the same as the Reign mate, not sure what spec sheet you're reading

The more serious you get into riding the more serious you get about the kit you buy.

I dunno about that tbh. I think the more I get into riding the more I want to spend cash on getting to new riding spots or different types of riding like road or CX. I'd never buy another XTR mech for example.

Yes I agree, but they could just have the outsource the frames in the far east, then finish paint/decals in Halifax - surely from a business aspect they must of looked at this?

Of course they have looked at it, since the HT frames are already made there. The fact is they have decided not to move production there and are happy that they are still competitive on price despite that fact.

Flow,i dont even take heed of any marketing from Orange or any other company.I wouldnt buy a renault because of how well they do in F1, i would buy it based on the reviews on the car in question.Just like i wouldnt be swayed towards a companys single pivot due to how much their multiple pivot designs get rave reviews.I suppose what im getting at here is why would someone go out of their way to make something,spend all that time and money.. to boost a bike they have already produced? They have all gone on to make multiple pivot models after launching the single pivot because they ride better.If they honestly rode worse,cost more to buy,took more time to change bearings,cost more to change bearings.. do you think we wouldnt have caught on by now after all these years? They higher end models are there for a reason,they arent there just to look cool with no benefit over a single pivot further down their line whatsoever.Some people dont mind a bit of extra weight,cost of bearings,time it takes to service one of these bikes if it means having the frame that has the edge over their base models.

As far as 4 bars suffering like single pivots do,you need to try out a few on different terrain.

Ive said this before,years ago i was riding Laggan with danny mac and we swapped bikes over the large rocky causeway just after airs rocks to see how a heckler tackled it compared to a horst five spot.We both agreed that with similar build and the same shocks, the ride was a different kettle of fish.It was a moment of looking at each other and grinning and thinking the same thing "fek me,theres the answer to all that,then!"

Theres heaps of bikes out there that shine through compared to single pivots with what all we can ride up here. I am starting to wonder if a lot of folk are believing their single pivots do the same job as more elaborate designs because they are riding what they think is a technical trail,when its no more than some enhanced canal towpath.Ive heard this of some of the race courses when the guys return from down south after a weekends racing.They get home and cant believe what some folk are classing as technical.

Going back to single pivot v other types of suspension.. i once swapped a demo marin rift zone with a chap who owned a superlight.Same travel but we swapped bikes half way down a loose rocky track where we were using quite a bit of rear brake to brush off speed to stop everyone piling into each other.We got off at the end,swapped back and agreed on how the rear end was functioning on the rift zone compared to the sc.He is the kind of chap that doesnt really notice when his bearings are worn out,cones are loose etc.. but he definately noticed this.It felt like the rear end was completely locked on the superlight.

More recently i rode an old superlight down off Fyrish and again,it felt like the rear end of my hardtail. Near useless when feathering the brake right through to using it as much as possible.The thing is, having owned a heckler,i only noticed how bad this was once i moved onto the ict 5 spot.

Like people have said above, some folk will rave about the bikes they own but they still havent tried them back to back with designs that blow them away when it comes to climbing and descending.Its all out there,take advantage of demo days and see for yourself.

This isnt a dig at orange or santacruz and their singlepivots.They have their advantages,i owned one.I would even (like i said above) consider owning a new heckler again due to my type of riding these days.They would be more than enough for what i do on them.However,i just feel the need to point out what i said above having experienced it.On another note,i have posted before in other threads on the number of people that have moved away from single pivots from orange (5) and some santacruz single pivots.The bikes they moved onto were horst motolites or racerx. or turner 5 spots or fluxs and without any help.. they all agree that they couldnt believe the difference in the ride.I can honestly say that for the riders that ride up here,i cant think of one that said they wished they could go back to what they owned previously.

Its great to hear that feedback from customers without swaying them towards it.

Eighth page. Wow.

What does it all mean? 🙂

So in summary, some people like Fives, some don't.

In regards to the OP (8 pages back), perhaps Fives are special because they make their owners/riders feel good about their riding. Doesnt matter whether they are gods or not. Which makes them want to ride more. Which makes them want to ride in different, challenging locations.

[b]martinxyz[/b]

So basically you are saying everyone is wrong, its all hype. Single pivots are inferior and multi pivot suspension is in ever way better. Even though the Five is widely regarded as one of, if not the best all rounder going, whether it's overpriced and overweight or not, and descends better/as good as bikes with more travel and pivots?

I'm pretty sure you are not the only person in the country that has ridden a single pivot and multi pivot bike on challenging terrain, by that I don't mean manicured trail centres, I mean proper riding.

What Trailbike?
Orange 5

What UK do it all bike
Orange 5

What Bike for UK DH tracks.
Orange 5. You don't need anything else.

Alpine 160. Any thoughts
Get a 5. Alpine is pointless.

What bike for the Alps?
5 with 36's.

What XC Freeride bike
F I V E !!

What tyres for fireroads?
Doesnt matter - 5

esselgruntfuttock - Member

This thread really is getting boring, Flow, thanks for pointing the obvious out to Northwind. I mean I've only been riding for 21 years so how would I know what's right for me? Why would I keep demo'ing when I've found what I know feels spot on? (for me)

That's [i]exactly[/i] what I said when I tried a Five! But it only lasted 5 minutes because I had another test session booked in straight after. It's also what I said about my Soul, and that lasted a year til I tried something that I didn't think I'd like at all, which turned out to be better. If I'd not tried anything else, I'd still be on the Soul saying it was my perfect hardtail.

It's not brain surgery, you can't judge something you've never tried- and tbh I think you've got to be realistic, the chances of the bike you have genuinely being the perfect bike for you are small, with the huge number of bikes out there. I love my Hemlock but would I be better on something else? Quite likely, I just don't know what it is. Luckily it doesn't matter.

That's exactly what I said when I tried a Five! But it only lasted 5 minutes because I had another test session booked in straight after. It's also what I said about my Soul, and that lasted a year til I tried something that I didn't think I'd like at all, which turned out to be better. If I'd not tried anything else, I'd still be on the Soul saying it was my perfect hardtail

Junkyard - Member

you sound quite indecisive and like a bike slag to me... Ooh I love this one oh look shes prettier well the buzz has worn off let me try your sister etc

Nah, not really... Just that I understand the difference between "best bike for me" vs "best bike", and also "best bike for me so far" vs "best bike for me". Soul was the best bike for me that I'd ever ridden, for a long time, then along came something else that did things differently and suited me more.

OTOH I've had my rigid bike for 20 years

I've just been out riding my 5 it was a very nice ride, didn't think about the bike very much, we went up and down and I was happy today.

Pics, vid and three paragraph test report or it didn't happen. (face)

My Xbox 360 is better than an Orange 5 but the 5 is free to play online.

can a moderator close this thread please?

"Dancake

My Xbox 360 is better than an Orange 5"
------------------------------------------------------

Now thats a whole new argument and has no place here.

I would like to add something if i dare
a lot are babbling on about reviews and advertising etc i read non of it
and i didnt buy it for snobbery as someone has said WTF didnt even now that was an issue with some people ,
i bought the bike because i liked the ride
after trying a few and owning others it just felt right straight away
no issues no drama
im sure as said theres better around may be there better for me also maybe not
but the 5 as i bike i can throw at anything i feel like doing it works for ME as a rider and thats all that matters and thats all that should matter
for others be happy with what you have and stop bitching at others for what they have .

[b]Paul20v[/b]

I said exactly that on page 3, I would save your breath. Since then I have been told I was wrong, a troll and the Five is sh*t and I should have looked else where.

flow - Member
I test rode one at Glentress a few weeks ago. For me what made it special is the fact I felt at home on it straight away, it took no getting used to whatsoever. I hammered it around for 7 hours like I had owned it for years with a huge grin on my face because it was fun.

Surely any bike that is fun (for me) to ride is special, whether its a £500 hard tail, or a 3k full sus?

My brother also hired one and wasn't as impressed. Whats good for one, isn't necessarily good for another.

I joined up here to talk to some like minded people who are into bikes 😐

[b]Flow[/b]
I joined up here to talk to some like minded people who are into bikes

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

More chance of raising the bleeding Titanic.

Martinxyz - it's undeniable that multi pivot bikes are plusher than 5s. However, the question is how important is that? After all we are not buying luxury executive cars for ferrying dignitaries around. We can handle a few bumps 🙂

Personally I like the firm feeling and the pedal feedback, but I've only ridden one multi pivot bike and that was for one ride.

I'm sure if I got on any of the other bikes mentioned here I'd love it too. But then I'm the kind of person who looks for the good in everything 🙂

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

My Nomad the bike I had before my 5, and my 5 which i rode today,

Both make me smile, which is the fastest on the trail,

I joined up here to talk to some like minded people who are into bikes

Good reason to join. But surely you're not so socially unaware that you think raising your voice in public about how your bike is the best bike in the world, and how you believe that everyone either has the same bike, or aspires to own one, isn't going to result in quite a lot of backlash?

The whole concept of "best" is extremely subjective anyway, as we have established, because what works for one rider doesn't necessarily work for another, and besides, it's 95% the rider and only 5% the bike that makes the difference anyway.

Flow, you will find people on here a lot more accepting and even welcoming in general if you use fact based, rational arguments, and leave the emotions about your latest purchase out of it. Please, show us pictures of your latest bikes when you get them (I always have and will continue to do so), but just allow for the fact that not everyone will feel the same about it as you do.

Mboy I know what you are saying, but, isn't this a whats so good about the Orange Five thread? What am I supposed to say? People are slagging it off, I'm entitled to defend it as I think its worth defending. Read the post above from the 3rd page, hardly forcing people to buy one!

Ahh,just been out on the horst linked bike for the past 4 hours.

If i was on a single pivot,you wouldnt be reading this. I recon i`d be about 3 miles from home at this point.

Oh jeez,nearly forgot the smiley.

😀

301st post WHOOOOOOOOOO

I've ridden FS bikes since 1996 and I have had errr lots (trade price perks)single pivots, 4 bars, vpp etc. The last one was a Trance X that I had for 2 years with a Pushed shock, plush - yeah,involving no, not really. It is a good design however I'm very glad to have bought my Heckler. It for me is more involving and rewarding to ride, this rubbish about the rear stiffening under braking is very over hyped, if you drag your brakes every downhill then yes I suppose it isn't quite as effective as the maestro system but not really that noticeable tbh. It does climb better, infact, back in the days of Proflex it was marketed that they dig in and that still stands, it does add traction compared to the multi pivots.

I rode a Five for long enough for me to be exhausted and really didn't get on with it as the sizing wasn't right for me however it did make me think how clever the bike companies are at selling their products. The Five works, so does the Heckler and so does the Giant and countless others.....personal preference springs to mind 🙂

Mboy I know what you are saying, but, isn't this a whats so good about the Orange Five thread? What am I supposed to say?

Errr, "I like mine because...", "It suits my riding style because...", "I used to own X but now own Y and I prefer it because..."... All perfectly fine.

Spouting rubbish about everyone else either wanting one or convincing themselves their "inferior" bike is better because they can't afford one, going on about British Manufacturing meaning it's of vastly superior quality (it's not these days) and not listening to what other people say when they disagree with you (as they have every right to do) is the fastest way to annoy people on here...

I stopped after onion's first reply. Well I don't see many orange any more around here mainly due to two things:
they are expensive, and not fashionable. Simple as that.
Ridders around here are very sensitive to fashion. Looking at the enduro series 2 years ago the only bikes you could see were lapierre and giant. Now the latest fashionable brand is mondraker (thanks to fabien I guess) although spoocilized is coming back.
It llosk to me that the UK market for bike is one of the most down to earth. You obviously get your share of all the gear no idea it middle men spooting gob-shite on an internet forum, but on the over all people seems to ride bike mainly because they like it. UK market seems to be more driven toward the HT front than the FS it is just inconceivable here. People look at me very weirdly when they see me on my hard tail. So no you don't see AS MANY five down here as you can see sin the UK, but doesn't mean it's because it's a bad bike.

Does it matter what bike you're riding - if you're just rinding, having fun - they're the main points to get right? All this - "my bikes better than your's" is just pure and simple crap

UMMM, just to add,

i have owned VPP and 4/faux bar frames and find them better at a lot of things (square edge hits etc) compared to a single pivot but also find them dull and un-involving as they seem to take my input out of the ride

long live the single pivot, lots of fun to ride. 😛

oreetmon
UMMM, just to add,

i have owned VPP and 4/faux bar frames and find them better at a lot of things (square edge hits etc) compared to a single pivot but also find them dull and un-involving as they seem to take my input out of the ride

long live the single pivot, lots of fun to ride.

Exactly 😀

EDIT,
spanner int works

must add, i have recntly been getting used to a CCBD on my 2011 after swapping it for the stock rp23XV and 'squrae edge hit/brake jack' arguments hold less water now in my opinion.

tried the old rp23 today just for fun and will never go back, made the frame feel dull and sluggish and climbing was a chore ,even though it was 'lighter',,, im no suspension expert but thought this a relevent point, a CCBD has totaly changed my opinion of the 5 frame.

"i have owned VPP and 4/faux bar frames and find them better at a lot of things (square edge hits etc) compared to a single pivot but also find them dull and un-involving as they seem to take my input out of the ride"

quick,edit it before the faux bar police come along and tell you that a faux bar IS a single pivot!

I've actually seen more than 3 people at the same time really enjoying themselves on an ORANGE 5. OMG.

Enjoying themselves. It's a strange concept.

i ride a hardtail... saves talking bollox about the intricacies of spring jack, square head hits, [s]jocks[/s] shocks and all that jazz....

I reckon a 5 will be my next trail bike, I'm getting more and more tempted to part with cash as each day passes.

The main 2 reasons I want a five is because I will order it to come with a rear maxle and CCDB (& it's suspension design will work so well with the CCDB). Simple as that. Expensive price to pay? Yeah. But I can't actually see any other 140mm trail bike out there that will fit those criteria (although I've probably missed some?).

Taking a Five and a Five Spot to Molini di Triora for five days, so will settle the dispute between, SP and multi pivot!
Albeit in my view SP with good shock eg ccdb or if want a multi pivot a DW link (physics seems to add up) are the only real choices.
Geometry BB height and wheelbase are probably way more important.

This point has probably been made somewhere along the line, but I shall make it for the sake of making a contribution to the discussion...
The orange 5 2011 (which costs £2,249.99) has a spec almost identical to that of the Boardman Team FS 2011, this bike costs £999.99, and I have not seen any evidence, neither on the Orange website, nor read in user reviews a reason that justifies the £1249.99 price differece. (Hype much??).
Futile Point to make, but a valid one I think 🙂

Their new bike outside the workshop
[url= ]New Orange[/url]

Only a bit of fun 8)