Demo’d Five and liked it. Felt very at home on it but still curious to try some other bikes. Hope to demo a Bandit soon but struggling to find a Zesty demo. Any comments from those who’ve tried all 3?

loving my bandit 🙂 never liked orange on looks alone. shalow i know

I like the look of the Five 😆

Have you ever compared a Five to your Bandit?

my mate has a five. i just dont like the look of it. the bandit rides like my bottlerocket but more nimble

Ridden the five never been sure what all the fuss and price tag are about better frames for the money. Quick spin on zesty and spicy and liked the feel.

Haven’t done a Bandit. Five is very good, does nothing wrong, but as far as I was concerned the Zesty did absolutely everything the Five did, at least as well, and it some of it better. TBH I’d be very happy with either though!

I have a 2010 zesty 514 and my bro a 2012 bandit, both very great bikes to ride, I would say the zesty is a bit more lively uphill, look wise the bandit in pewter is lovely and the decals are spot on, lapierre go over the top on decals IMO. With Jedi on 5s.

I must confess the Lapierre graphics are horrid, but if it ticks the other boxes I might just see past that.

No experience with Bandit so cant help there.

Anyway upshot of an extended test on a Zesty and Five I went for the Five.

I love the Five, but I would not buy a built up one from Orange again. I would go down the Frame only route and build up. Perhaps buying a Canyon or similar and exchanging frames. ( you would get a much better spec cheaper and have a frame to build up or sell)

There was really not that much difference between the two they were both great. The Five was £1000 more but as I was intending to keep the bike for years I just went for the one I preferred.

Can you describe what was “better” about the Five? To be honest if I can’t demo a Zesty it’s largely irrelevant, but curious nonetheless.

No… Not Really be I will try 😀

I was coming from a fairly steep angled XC bike so both descended much better but for me the Five had a very slight advantage which I felt was more due to the bike fitting me better rather anything particularly bad about the zesty’s descending.

But the deciding factor was I could feel the Five biting into sharp steep climbs and giving just a little more grip ( perhaps the Zesty was doing the same but i could no FEEL it)

As for long term ownership, the Five can be a pain climbing long hills which is not a problem when my fitness is ok, but when it drops ( my fitness) I can fall behind the group very quickly, I can still feel the back end gripping on sharp steep stuff and still like it. Descending is great, with a dropper post making it even better.

As I said my plan was to keep the bike for a good few years and I liked the idea that Orange were unlikely to change the design much.

Sorry not much help I know, but if you are in the North East I could probably arrange a ride on a ( 3yr old ? zesty and maybe a 1 year old spicy)

currently riding a bandit and loving it, climbs exceptionally well and as jedi said very nimble and direct with lots of feedback on the descents. it is classy looking aswell. i agree that lapierre’s are a bit ott withbthe graphics but they ride well, ridden a mates five and just was not convinced it was not for me, probably so used to the bandit, and not keen on the looks. not sure if this helps but I would definately try to get a demo on the bike you are leaning to, says me who bought the bandit based on reviews. My bandit weighs in at just over 27lbs with carbon bits and tubeless set up rubber queens.

You’re more or less saying what I already thought which is that the Five has the edge on the descending but the Zesty is a bit more capable (lighter!) on the ups. I’m like you in that I like the idea that Fives don’t change too dramatically from year to year with the graphics, so they don’t age as quick as the big brand bikes.

The NE is a bit too far but thanks for the offer.

get a demo on the bike you are leaning to

Demo’d the Five and it felt “right” from the first pedal stroke. On the same day and same trails I demo’d a Yeti ASR5 and didn’t get on with it; I was too conscious of the Yeti and how it rode whereas the Five just seemed to suit me without any fettling. Must get on a Bandit ASAP…

would not necessarily agree that the five has the edge descending, having ridden both (but perhaps I’m a bit biased) if you are undecided see if someone will give you a spin on both plenty of the stw followers will perhaps accomodate you. not sure about pricing but good deals on 2012 bandit frames.

If you can get a go on a blur lt or c same ball park bike felt as good down as an alpine in the lakes but went up like a dream (without touching the pro pedal lever unlike the orange)

i found the exact same withb the yeti i’m in ireland so no good to you with the bandit, currently waiting on the new 2013 frame with the fox ctd.

If you can get a go on a blur lt or c

I’m trying to reduce the options not increase them 😆

No way I can stretch to the carbon Blur but I would like to try the alu one. Anyone know of any shops with that for a demo? 18 Bikes have the carbon one but not the alu.

Look up Santa Cruz site for demo options biketreks do orange and scope demos too. Rode it back to back with a nomad c and 3 weeks after an alpine and was blown away by it. Missus just got the ltc and the red is very nice….

Out of the three, I’d go for the bandit but have read some dodgy things about Transition warranty support on here. People seem to love their Fives and Orange seem to be a good bunch to deal with. Zesty doesn’t do it for me.

I like the look of the new Nukeproof mega TR (130mm) only £1100???

funny how the new mega tr is so like the bandit frame?mrblobby i did in fact have a warranty issue with my bandit but after speaking with graeme at surfsales he replaced the frame without any hesitation’, so great service from the distributer. Abonus is the new frame comes with the new fox ctd shock!

fudge9202 – Member

funny how the new mega tr is so like the bandit frame?

That’s Nukeproof’s R&D isn’t it? Photocopy a Transition.

fudge9202, do you mind me asking how tall you are & what size Bandit you ride? I’m umming and arring as I’m 5’6″ so on the cusp of small & medium & there’s nowhere local to me to see one.

i am 5’11 and went for a large after speaking with the dealers if i were you would go with the medium. btw the large is perfect you should check out transitions website there is a size guide on there, they are as good as the reviews say!

Transitions website is where I got the sizes from, unfortunately they don’t have the standover heights on there. Guess I’m just going to have to jump in the car & find a dealer with some stock to look at.

there sizing is spot on but nothing like other brands.

185 & ride a medium but i’m right on the cusp of M or L

simwit i have 32inch inside leg and standover is very good

Not read the rest of thread but my mate demoed a Zesty in the South Wales area (probably Cardiff) fairly recently. If that is any good to you I could find out where he got it from?

When I was looking for a new FS I demo’d the 5 without a lot of thought about what else I could try, bit short sighted I know but that’s always been me. Took it on a Nidderdale route that I’ve done many times before & when I got back to the car I rang the shop & said, ‘order me a 16″ frame & I’ll tell you what I want on it’. Simple as that. Still got it still absolutely love it.
My mate got one a year later (he used to be called ‘set square desk’ at work cos everything has to be perfect for him), to this day he can’t find fault with it & he still amazes me with what he can climb on it! (He’s got 150 forks on it too)
Proper good solid bike IMO.

Demo’d Five and liked it. Felt very at home on it

Sorry. That is your answer right there. Say you rode a Lapierre and it felt ‘at home’ it’d still be a Five wouldn’t it?

Go for it I say. Contact Orange direct and explain/ask if they’d ship a frame to you as a one off (or via a UK address).

I’ve always felt that the lapierre’s don’t really come alive until you get a model that is nearing the top of the range. The entry level Zestys seem to be poorely spec’d comapared to what you could buy for similar money from someone else. So to get a decent Zesty, one that is imo demonstrately “better” at everything that a 5, for example, you need to either a) spend mucho ££ straight away on say at least a 514 and prefferably a 714, or b) admitt what your spending your money on is a very very good frame, buy the cheaper one (314) and then upgrade those slightly pony components over time as the original parts wear out.

Of course beyond all of that pontificating is just buying a bike you feel comfortable with and fit properly. We are not all the same size or proportioned, so as the OP points out, demo’s are really a must do!

Here’s one i made earlier:

😉

Say you rode a Lapierre and it felt ‘at home’ it’d still be a Five wouldn’t it?

Yep. I don’t warm to the Lapierres at all. They’re on my shortlist because they get lots of great reviews for the type of riding I do and (the more expensive ones) are very light. The Zesty (514 or 714) would have to be considerably better than the Orange or Bandit* for me to consider it.

[EDIT] *subject to demo’ing the Bandit 🙂

I know a load of folk with Fives (I’m in Yorkshire) and without exception they’re very happy with them. Some run more xc set-ups with 32s, others go large with 36s. I’ve seen how they ride their bikes too, and they defo give them some hammer, all year round too. I’d have one in a shot. I’m currently saving up…

I have a number of friends with Zesty’s. All have had reliability issues which include:
cracked chainstays (only one of them admittedly)
Bottom brackets that last weeks
Fork failure ( stantion coming loose in the crown!)
failed rear hubs ( x3)
Formula brakes failing
Two of them have significant surface corrosion where the paint has flaked off in places

apart from that they love them, they have been taken to the Alps, trail centres, entered races in the UK and they have kept them for years without wanting to change for another bike

to be fair, all of the above bar the corrosion were sorted under warranty, but it is a pain in the butt when you have to keep taking them back. Incidentally they have all replaced the original back wheel with a hope hub

18 Bikes have a Bandit if you’ve not found a demo and haven’t decided on a Five. Can you keep it for a month then sell it to me for much cheapness?

I love it how people blame component failures on the bike Jim 😉

Only really the frame failures and notoriously poor bb life due to water ingress down the seat tube are Lapierre specific issues?

Brakes and forks could have happened on any bike.

The 2013 range of Lapierre Zesty’s look pretty well specc’d to me. A 214 specc’d with SLX and Fox CTD 150 fork for £1899 looks pretty good to me in todays market. I’d only be wary of the Elixir brakes on that.

Mtbmoto,

I wasn’t blaming the bike, and as you said the poor paint and cracked frame were not component failures, and in the same period , e.g within the warranty period, those in my group who have Orange 5’s had no issues of any kind that I can recall- I know that they were component failures, but the same issues all happening to the same type of bike is very annoying, suggests poor component choices and and rather puts one off buying into the brand

I’ve ridden 5s and zestys (and own neither) and preferred the zesty. It is subjective though, there’s no substitute for a demo. Skyline cycles have alu blurs, fives and loads more if you fancy a trip. Great shop too.
The 2013 5 spots are a very good price.
Loads of choice 😀
Great innit?

Sam, I’m planning on getting a demo from 18 Bikes. Just waiting on availability. No you can’t nave it in a month 😀

Wrecker, please don’t give me more choice lol (I think the 5 Spots are fugly anyway)