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Has anybody had a change to try out the "new" Orange stage bikes yet?
I fancy dipping my toes back in the full-suss 29er pond this year. I had a Smuggler before, but ended up selling it and going back to my old 26" Five, just because I enjoyed riding it more. But I still think a 29er should suit the sort of riding I enjoy, so it seems to make sense to start by looking at Orange's offerings. I'll try to sort out some demo rides, but I'm confused as to where to start.
I'd call what I enjoy "all mountain" in the sense that I like to ride up and down mountains, but that category doesn't seem to exist any more.
The Stage Four looked ideal as it presumably climbs better than the other two. But the low BB and low stack bother me. The Smuggler had a stack of 620 and a BB height of 335. I needed a fair few spacers plus 40mm riser bars and even with 170mm cranks I found pedal strikes annoying when riding over rough natural trails. With a stack of 615 and a BB height of 327 the Stage Four is even lower. Maybe too low.
Moving "up" to a Stage Five brings stack and BB height up to 633 and 335, which sounds better, but at the "cost" of longer chainstays and presumably worse climbing.
But this is all just internet speculation, so I was wondering if anyone had ridden them and could help me decide which one to try first.
I'm ruling out the Stage Six on the grounds that I'm definitely not Enduro. Although part of me wonders whether Enduro is what used to be all mountain #confused.
I've ridden the Stage 5 and quite liked it. There was more feedback when climbing than i'm used to, maybe that's an orange or single pivot thing though. Wasn't that heavy really so it did climb ok without feeling like you're pedalling a big lump up a hill.
Took me a while to get used to it's size going down, the chainstays are quite long so the tight twisty trails I tried to ride were tricky, though you'd adapt i'm sure. Once i'd had a few rides I started to get used to that, last ride I had in the Lakes it felt pretty darned good, stable at speed and all that.
Think I only had the lower end model on test but the spec was all decent and I didn't feel the need to change anything on it.
Didn't end up buying one as I got a better deal on a RocketMax.
The bottom bracket height for all the stage bikes will work out out broadly the same once you have a rider sat on the bike and riding it.
The Stage four will be set to the same sag point ie 25 or 30% as the five and six but that will equate to less mm of shock travel.
Thanks. That confirms my thoughts, that the Stage Five is more RocketMax than FlareMax.
I tend to shy away from longer travel 29ers for some reason. I guess I just assume that I'm not hardcore enough. But maybe that's the wrong way to look at it. I've been riding 5" fatbikes up and down mountains for the past couple of years (so I'm not scared of weight or longer chainstays) and I do really like that monster truck blast through anything feel. Unfortunately, even with 5" tyres, a hardtail is still a hardtail and my ageing back gets fed up with the abuse after a few hours, hence the interest in a full-suss monster truck. I guess it's really just the fear that it would be a dog on the climbs that puts me off a longer travel 29er and I guess there is only one way to find out about that.
Good point about correcting for travel when looking at unsagged BB heights too.
I rode both at a local demo day held by Cycle Highlands in Ballater last summer. The Stage 6 is more my kind of bike but I was really impressed by the 5. It didn’t have the same high speed composure as the 6 in the really rough stuff, as you would expect, but it was still very capable, yet livelier and more of a fun bike to throw around at slower speeds. Climbing seemed fine on both, but then my current bike is Horst link with a relatively active custom tuned shock so I’m used to a little bit of bobbing.
There's my cheap Five Alpine 29er frame in classifieds if you fancy trying out an LT29er on a budget 😉
Only selling because I've just bought a Stage 5. They are proving a very similar ride, but the Stage 5 is just a smidge longer and lower.
Have you thought about a 27.5+ full-sus? Or as you prefer higher BB heights and fat bikes even a 29+? You can run the Banshee Phantom (120F 105R) and Prime (140F 135R) as 27.5+, 29 or 29+.
I've got a brand new ( warranty replacement) segment frame if you are interested. Like. Stage 4 but slightly shorter in the top tube.
Stealth ad mode off 😉
Is a stage 4 like a Gyro?
I have a Gyro with a -2 slackset in it. It really is a great bike.
It is the Gyro's successor (with two other bikes between them) yep.
Did your Smuggler have enough travel? If so then I would suggest a test on a Santa Cruz Tallboy. Plus wheels or 29, more capable than the geometry numbers would suggest and based on your previous comments you're not particularly gggnaarrr anyway (not meant as an insult!). Anyway, NSMB did a pretty fair write up based on my experience with it.
https://nsmb.com/articles/santa-cruz-tallboy-3-cc-29er-full-review/
Worth considering if you're not set on Orange. And besides, it's STW so no thread would be complete without a sidetrack and a recommend what you own post.
you’re not particularly gggnaarrr anyway (not meant as an insult!)
None taken 🙂 You're quite right, I'm not gnar, although some of the trails can be 🙂 That's my problem really. I like to ride up and down mountains and I hate having to walk (up or down). Obviously the solution is to develop the skills to be able to ride an XC race bike down a World Cup DH run. But while I work on that I quite like a bike that gets me out of trouble rather than into it.
On paper the Smuggler had plenty of travel but I suspect that part of the reason I sold it and went back to the Five was that I liked the extra squish. I don't need it and certainly couldn't justify it, but if I'm honest I think I like it.
That said, I will look again at the Tallboy. I remember when they first came out thinking that tay looked ideal.
I sold my 5 29 (having owned a couple of 5's previously) because it was too much bike for my riding. Changed it for last years Segment so very similar to the Stage 4. Segment is ace and highly recommended. Feels closer in attitude to the 5 than the 5 29 did. Don't be put off by the travel of the Stage 4/ Segment as mine gobbles up everything I can chuck at it.