As it says really - riding is centred around the north downs where I am personally happy with c.130mm of travel. Weight is a key factor for me though, so if the Blood is a lump then that might put me off although on papaer it looks like a little rocket ship - 12.8" BB!
In no way do you need a full sus for the north downs.....
I never said you did, I said I was 'happy' with 130mm. Having spent my first 16 years riding a fully rigid bike (from 1989 to 2005, I am also happy to add that in no way do you need suspension for any riding anywhere.
Especially the north downs...
Gotta love STW.
LOL - yes very good now if anyone cares to enlighten me on the difference between these two bikes I'd be very grateful.
Thought the Orane Blood was more of a sort of Freeride/Mini DH bike rather than an all-mountain/cross country bike.
If the 'N.Downs' is meant to include the Surrey Hills then there are places where a full suss is useful but you can avoid those bits if you want to...I do!
Though I still ride my 2004 Enduro round there sometimes as it's a laugh which is all that counts really.
LOL - he only wants to know the difference between two bikes FFS, not get told to ride a unicycle...
just buy one for a laugh - buy the one that looks like its got more gigards.
You don't need a unicycle to ride the north downs.
Orange's website says, of the Blood:
[i]the Blood delivers a stiff and super?responsive ride designed to handle the most technical natural terrain as well as the [b]gaps, drops, wall rides, ladders and berms some of us love to session[/b][/i]
That is all you need to know. If you do not love to session wall rides then you do not need a Blood, and should get a Five. Unless you ride the North Downs. In which case an Evo8 would probably be adequate, as long as you're willing to avoid the bits of the Surrey Hills that mudshark avoids. But a Five is perfectly acceptable. As they say in Nirvana Cycles, they hardly ever sell hardtails.
Roll with the marketing. 🙂
I can tell you the difference, one is way to much for the north downs, the other is way too much for the north downs...
Oh hang on, that's not right is it. Judging by the amount of Nomads with fox 36s you see on leith hill, I would suggest you get something much burlier!
The blood seems to be for playing around on - free ride, jumping etc. Is a bit slacker and burlier than the 5 and has 160 forks.
The five will be better for longer trail riding (it's a pretty good climber) but is still pretty capable at handling rough stuff
Sighs in despair - still, gotta love STW.
I have to hand it to loddrik et al - the responses are quite funny.
Looking again at Orange's website, the bike you appear to need is the Alpine 160.
[i]This is a mountain bike that lives up to it's name! Built for big ups, [b]big downs[/b] and big mountains. If you're up for super-size adventures, look no further.[/i]
The North Downs, whatever else they may be, are "big downs". Perfick.
I have nothing to contribute to the subject matter of this thread, but all I'd like to say is well done for the banter!
I do see kids with freeride bikes and full face helmets in Peaslake - I'm sure they're doing something exciting somewhere...!
I suppose these are meant to be helpful too:
Blood:
[img] 
[/img]
Five:
[img] 
[/img]
So, you really need to decide whether you ride Free Ride, All-Mountain or XC Trail, and then decide which bike to buy based on which of those marketing categories you self-identify as belonging to. 🙂
Depressingly, neither is any great use for "adventure"...
Waiting for a lift to Wales.
I will hold off till Orange bring out their new 7.7 inch travel model, the Cynic, esp the burly Holmbury Hill edition.
Have they not moved the Five towards a 'lighter' build - skinnier downtube etc..
It's pretty obvious what the differences are when you look at the Orange website.
Given that the OP seems determined not to say what type of riding they're doing only 'North Downs' then it's hard to say what bike is suited to them. I'm riding the North Downs on Sunday but they'll be a fair few drops and jumps included along the way. Then again another of my off-road routes can and has been riden on slicks.
The dude wants a full susser, let him be!
Don't get a Blood.
If you can only afford S or Pro spec get a Five
If you can afford SE spec get an ST4.
Demoed an ST4 this weekend and it was a lovely, lovely bike BUT - in Pro spec it's the same weight as a Five and you might as well bag the extra travel. However, at SE spec with some really light forks and wheels, I reckon the ST4 will make a lot of sense which it doesn't in Pro spec.
Ehem, I mean get a unicycle!
Five is more of an all-rounder. Its also the result of a lot of fine-tuning where the Blood is a first step from Orange into a different, quite specific, type of bike.
One of the constants of this forum is the incessant wittering about being "overbiked". A lot of the witterers have repressed feelings that they can only vent over the internet, its a kind of "suspension-envy". A few of them are probably looking at pictures of a nice comfy Five right now in preparation for flagellating themselves with the rusty chain of their dad's old 1970s racer and heading out for 25 miles on the rigid singlespeed. Theres no joy without pain, just you remember that geetee72!!
Have they not moved the Five towards a 'lighter' build - skinnier downtube etc..
Well it's now slacker and faster DH/slower uphill than the '08 one according to MBR. An Orange demo rep told me it was to create a bit of fork clearance for things like the Fox 36s.
Y'see shandy is making an assumption which is not correct. I have a 6" bike, but at no point do I ride it in the north downs.
Lol at Shandy 😛
The Blood (relatively) is a bit of a lump - I seem to recall reading that the frame is heavier than the Alpine 160. It's low and slack, so isn't a great climber. The brief spin I had on one was a LOT of fun DH though. Cornered fantastically well.
The 5 is a much more all round, up hill, down dale kinda bike. Not as playful down, but much faster and more user friendly up.
Funnily enough, for Surrey Hills riding, if I had to pick one of the 2* I'd probably go for the Blood. Grind it up the fireroads, blast it down the singletrack. There's not much in the way of hard climbs, but there are quite few fun, albeit short, dh's.
* neither would be my actual preferred choice.
I'm over biked and under legged, I've got a Kona Coilair Deluxe and ride on canal paths.
loddrik I expect you are keeping that bad boy in the shed for an assault on the North Face of the Eiger?!
No offence intended to you, but you were going OT on a wind-up now weren't you..?
Don't worry about offending me, I am a northener living in guildford, so some of the sights I see on the north downs make me s**** at regular intervals when I ride there. It is, shall we say, a culture shock.
Rather than the Blood, what about the Alpine 160??
[i]A few of them are probably looking at pictures of a nice comfy Five right now in preparation for flagellating themselves with the rusty chain of their dad's old 1970s racer and heading out for 25 miles on the rigid singlespeed.[/i]
[b]Is there a prize for Post of the Week?[/b] 😆 😆
Seriously though, I'd go for the 224-Evo World Cup
Hello mate I haven’t ridden the Blood but I have a five, pro with upgrades to fork performance pack 819 rims m4's etc I did this to get a bike I wanted the se was not quite what I wanted so went lower and upped the spec using orange own options. Its an amazing bike I ride it all over the shop south downs, Afan, Hamsterly keilder, meridas its a fab bike as an all rounder.
The Blood to my untrained eye is the burly chuckable bike in the range big drops gaps etc so less of an all rounder aim towards the more extreme end of riding??
If your after a tough versatile trail bike which climbs well and flies down hill, can handle jumps drops etc then I cant speak highly enough of the Five mate really cant!!
North Downs makes me smile, all the body armour on show at Peaslake is hysterical. I'm sure some people confuse body armour with arm warmers ;0)
Oh hang on, that's not right is it. Judging by the amount of Nomads with fox 36s you see on leith hill, I would suggest you get something much burlier!
Ever thought that those Nomads might actually get ridden other places too. It might also be their only bike, so because the terrain doesn't demand a 6" travel bike, does that mean that they're not allowed to ride tamer terrain???
Someone asked what sort of riding I do. Well until recently I was pretty much exclusively a DHer - every other weekend was spent in South Wales on one uplift weekend or another. If there wasn't a Dragon event/race then I was at Cwmcarn.
Then about six months ago things started to get a bit tight financially and as a way of saving money I went to south wales less and started to ride the local trails a lot more. Things are less tight financially now but that coupled with having got my trail riding mojo back (I had started out a trail rider before the DH mainline injecting) means that I am thinking about a new trail bike.
The current steed is a very lovely modified 2005 Enduro, much lower and slacker than standard and with 'only' 135mm of travel; about as light as its going to get but still a little heavier than is ideal. I'm now riding with people much fitter than me so something well below 30lbs would be ideal, but ripping single track and berms as fast as ****ing possible is still the main goal. I'm happy doing medium sized jumps and drops, say five to six feet but going fast is more of a priority. I could see myself ditching the DH bike in favour of one bike that does it all, assuming that I'll be riding full on DH less now that I've got a kid on the way!
I was most interested in how the two bikes handled - low centre of gravity balanced against stability at speed and agility in the corners are my key concerns.
i have a five. its great. i'd also like a blood. I test rode an alpine 160 the other day and really liked it.
however, i've seen rowan sorrell tear down my local DH track on a five faster than most ride a DH bike down it.
i'd probably go for the alpine 160 out of all of them.
Which track would that be Jam Bo? I've been on tracks at the same time as Rowan and been passed by him going at warp ****ing speed. He came past me at Mountain Ash like I was standing still. Having spoken to him a few times it's also quite clear that he's quite the gentleman as well.
gawton, down in devon. he was down yesterday as well on a prototype. looks like the new 225. its like a big blood.
Have they not moved the Five towards a 'lighter' build - skinnier downtube etc..Well it's now slacker and faster DH/slower uphill than the '08 one according to MBR. An Orange demo rep told me it was to create a bit of fork clearance for things like the Fox 36s.
They've also made the downtube and rear swing arm smaller and lighter.
Might be a bit of a curve here but what about a Spesh Pitch? Evans Gatwick have a medium in stock at £997 at the moment Some light components, large can RP23 / Monarch 4.1(I think) and 454 Air Pikes and that could roll in at un 30lbs. A hoon of a bike at home on the ups and the downs. You could get the lot for less than a Five or Blood.
Greg feel free get my number from Ian i can arrange demos on both for you.
Nick F
Ah so that's who you are. OK will do - would be great to demo them. Talk to you soon.