Hi looking to maybe change my 18 inch Orange 5 AM 08 model
for a Alpine 160 and was mainly wondering was they any good
on long Trail riding being of the geometry of the seat and head
angle. Does it work.
Also any idea of the weight of an 18 inch Alpine 160 in AM version.
Waiting for a test run.

Yup, I have a 160. I can't compare as I only took the 5 for a spin around a carpark. However, the 160 is fine for all day trail riding. The only criticism I have is that it is doesn't fare too well in tight singletrack turns and is more suited to those who like speed, jumps and DH flavours. It does however climb well. I have the AM version although I kitted it out with the Hope upgrades and the Sunline bars and pedals. The bars are really wide, although they can of course be cut down. I don't know about the weight but it is certainly not light. I'd guess 32lb. For once All Mountain is not marketing jib, it's what the Alpine is, a proper do-it-all mountain bike.

Is there any particular reason you are dissatisfied with the 5?

Riding one for guiding out in the Alps. Mostly tight singletrack with the odd DH course thrown-in. The Alpine is superb. Very chuckable, great geometry, climbs really surprisingly well, I reckon it climbs better than the Heckler it replaced. Everything about the bike just encourages you to push things that little bit more.

The only down-side is the monster spring that comes with the coil shock. Swap it for a softer one right away unless you're 15st+. Not a problem with an air shock obviously.

Ive got an 18" Alpine 160, echo the above really, definitely do everything on it, from all day rides to trail centres, to local woods. Its ace. Although im 13.5st and find the 450lbs spring on the shock to be about right, i get around 30 – 35% sag. I have no idea how tight the spring tolerances are but 450lbs seems good to me.

Is a great looking bike – have yet to test one, but a few others worth considering maybe? Commencal Meta 6 (you can adjust head angle too)? Cracking deals at Merlin at the minute.

How tall are you guys riding the 18"s?

I'm 5'10" and demoed an 18. It felt spot on with a 50mm stem and an inline post, except for standover which was decidedly poor (non existant in fact). I suspect a 16 would be right for along and down, but I suspect it'd be a bit short for climbing on.

I loved the bike – handled really well, climbed pretty well (was at Glentress so no technical climbs to try it on). Air shock felt good too, which was a first.

I'm 5'11", 18" is spot-on (50mm stem and in-line post). A little short for a stretched-out riding position, but that's not what it's intended for.

ganic: I'm 14st and barely get 20% sag with the 450lbs spring, plus the back-end feels a bit constipated out on the trail. I'm certain a softer spring is going to leave it feeling much, much plusher.

Thank you for your replys and looking forward to testing one.
The 32 lbs dont sound to bad
Saxabar regarding the 5 AM just want the bike to be balanced
When you put the 160 upfront it feels like your doing press ups
so I put a zero rise stem which helped but want t plough through rock gardens.

alright guys, thinking of getting a alpine 160 frame, just wondering would you guys recommend talas' or floats for it… i'm 6 ft 2 what size do you reckon i'll need as i have yet to demo one..

Talas if you plan on riding it uphill for significant periods of time, otherwise floats surely?

I say this, having never ridden an Orange in my life.

Personally, neither! I'd put Lyriks or Vanillas on it…

+1 for the Commie Meta…. superior machine!

i sold my commencal meta and got the alpine 160, the commencal was ok, but too steep a head angle, too heavy and definitely never felt as good up or down hill.

im 6'3 the 18" is great for me. Whatever you do, dont buy a commencal meta 5 or 6 over and orange 5 or alpine 160.

Cheesey – no way! The Meta is a lumpen lump of lumpy stuff. Good bike, just way too heavy.

Agree 100% there ganic the Commencal is a pile of crap the company had no control of
over the making of there bikes, and for what I know now are looking for a new manufacture
to make there bikes.

MBR mag found the 6 had none of the Angles what was in there brouchure and the maker could not
do it, but was sorted.
Even the 5 as found to be braking and One guy on another bike web site His frame snapped on a
Two foot drop.
And now you see these bikes Heavily reduced and I wonder.
And the bikes are way to heavy.

Staying with Orange brand, maybe expensive but there bikes give me a great buzz
and where ever I go they get me back.
But thank you for your help much appreciated. 😉

So did anyone buy the Alpine 160 over the Orange 5 and why?
And where do you ride over here and how hard!

Any pics

Agree with stevo,
If you want adjustable forks get Lyrik coils if not go for Vans.

So did anyone buy the Alpine 160 over the Orange 5 and why?
And where do you ride over here and how hard!

In choosing the 160 I imagined a continuum of riding I do ranging from coastal road riding with the SO to uplift assisted blacks and natural stuff in the Alps. As I already possess a hardtail this is at least the first half of the continuum covered. For the second half I wanted a bike that I could pedal uphill and be able to take virtually anything I can throw at it whilst in France (where I spend a month or so each year). Although the 160 might come unstuck on the nastiest of stuff, that's probably too much for me anyhow! The bike also had to be a riot to ride on White's Level, The Wall, at Cwmcarn, and around Talybont, Brecon, etc.

So, the upshot for me is that the 5 is too close to the middle of my continuum. A 160 makes sense as I get to turn the slider on to full without sacrificing much else.

I think that makes sense!

I'm borrowing my mates Alpine at the moment, he's running an RP23 and Vans upfront. Claimed weight is 31.5lbs, definately no problems as an all day bike, we are both 6ft and the bike is an 18" with a 50mm stem which seems spot on.

I've had and loved 2 Oranges, a 5 and a 160.
As much as I liked them, I've had problems with cracking on both. The swingarm cracked right next to the swingarm pivot on the 5, so I replaced it with the 160, which developed a fault on the same place.
They ride very nice though, but I couldn't face another failure. I then got a commencal Meta 6 as advised by a few riders, and it's been fine.
So, you would probably have some better luck than me, but I'd have to recommend the commencal based on my experiences

6'3" on an 18" Alpine 160 with a 50mm stem and an in-line post.

36 Van fork and DHX Air shock. ~32lbs with XTR cranks, Stans Flow rims and Maxxis DH UST tyres.

Had it for 9 months now and it replaced a 3.5 year old Patriot when the dropouts sheared off. No complaints there as it had been well (ab)used. No complaints with the Alpine 160. Briefly considering going down to a 5 but wanted something that can do everything from all day rides to sessioning DH tracks.

Does anyone know how much the Alpine frame weighs with shock?

Any body happen to be selling an Alpine 160 frame in 18" by any chance ?

Hmm, in response to Bikefish.
I don't know exactly how heavy the frame was, I'm not one for bothering about bike weights, but I do know it was pretty damned heavy.
I'm a big lad though, so I was ok with it, and it was a hell of a workout!
Smaller riders might have struggled though.

Got to disagree with Sion, the Alpine is definitely NOT a heavy bike. Haven't put mine on scales or anything, but by the tried-and-tested lift test it comes up pretty light considering the amount of travel. I lift all sorts of bikes onto trailers and chairlifts every day and the Alpine is definitely not among those which make me internally exclaim "holy f*ck!" every time I lift it…

I reckon it's actually lighter than the Heckler it replaced.

rode the alpine up the trails at afan last week on demo, while it "coped" i wouldn't say it excelled and i have issues with the HA and long forks, it was causing the frame to drop mid corner on slow bends.. fast stuff was fine no issue was good really but the slow hairpin bends of afan showed a weakness for it to drop the frame when turning the bars in slow corners.
the frame would fall away after you turned the bars past say 30 degree's, felt like it was trying to dump you onto the inside corner all the time. other then this (and the crap, easy to loose Maxel) it was good. wouldn't run one as an all day rig but if i wanted a fun mini DH / alps bike it was good fun.

@ bikefish85 3.7kgs with a dhx5 shock

stevomcd, the 160 certainly didn't have it's own gravitational pull, but it's definitely no trail bike.
I fear that your loading them onto trailers and chairlifts every day hints at the kind of riding it's intended to do.
I certainly wouldn't want it back as a do it all bike.

Like I say, I'm pretty sure it's lighter than a Heckler. Guessing my build is around 33lbs. I'd be happy to ride it all day (and regularly do). Not going to win any races, but very capabale.

Fozzybear – got to disagree. Rode it today on some "do or die" switchbacks and I'm still here to talk about it! Handles tight corners pretty well. Maybe the fork needed a bit more damping?

What was up with the Maxle? No problems with mine, front or back.

im not worried if you disagree (no offence)i rode one, it's my impression and the impression of an orange blood owner.. we both came out with the same "issue" on the slow climbing switchbacks. forks seamed to be ok, coil van's, frame was setup from orange and was all "ready to ride for your weight!"
downhill maybe another story (it went down hills good).

the maxle has a tendency to unscrew itself (we actually lost ours) like the earlier maxle system from RS (pre 260 versions) unless you crank it up ridiculously tight.

sad cuz i wanted an alpine but i'm not willing to put up with that issue sadly.

OK, didn't realise you were talking about uphill switchbacks. I.. um.. well… can't really comment on those… 😳

Weird on the maxle, like I say, no hassles in a fortnight of Alps riding since I got mine. I have seen one unscrew itself on a different bike. I do fasten mine up pretty tight (especially since they hang the bike from chairlifts by the front wheel around here!).

"@ bikefish85 3.7kgs with a dhx5 shock"

Many thanks! That is heavier than the Meta 6 frame, which is 7.5lbs. So it stands to reason with the same parts it will be lighter than the Alpine.

Slack bikes never will do slow tight corners like steeper XC oriented machines – I guess it depends on what you want. The Alpine seems to be on the DH side of 'all rounder' from what I am reading here.

stevo i think you have the impression i was trying to slag it off… wrongly so (maybe my doing) i wanted to like it, i liked a lot about it, still think its a stiffer heckler. but the HA caused this flopping effect sad really.

i was slightly defuddled about the maxle as it's a great system just flaw'd that unless you hoof it up it can spin undone and get lost..

i would say it is more DH based BUT don't let this fool you to think it's a lazy climber because it's certainly not, not specially for a 6 inch rig.

I take mine skiing.

Ive only had it for 6 weeks but really like it. It weighs about 33lb's so isnt too much of a handful to climb with, and downhill it's a blast.

PS – The Rubber Queen tyres are sh*te so have been replaced.

Not at all dude, I just haven't noticed this flopping effect you mention. I run mine with coil lyriks and I do wind them down a little for long climbs, which I haven't done very many of given that it's still chairlift season out here (for another couple of days… 🙁 ).

I do think it climbs remarkably well given the amount of travel.

i think the folks struggling with the alpine 160 as an "all day/trail bike" might be on to something, although its got nothing to do with the bike. Mines 33.5lbs with coil vans and a coil dhx. It rides fine as a "trail bike" or an "all day bike" ive done 30 odd miles in the peaks on it, ive done dalby on it, ive done stainburn, lee quarry, hamsterley dh and xc, etc etc. Its ride great. The slack HA does make very tight switch backs alittle harder, but ive not found anything i cant adapt to and ride.

I think if youre unfit or dont ride very often then maybe 33lbs isnt going to work for you, but ive had no complaints at all about the bike.

No issues with the maxle rear end either, works fine.

I don't think it is for me – am going to try and test a GT Force, the angles look like they may suit my riding better. Am in the same boat as Grantway really, but think the step to something like an Alpine is too much.

"@ bikefish85 3.7kgs with a dhx5 shock"

Many thanks! That is heavier than the Meta 6 frame, which is 7.5lbs

Except you're comparing a coil shock on the Orange to an air on the Meta. Personally I *know* too many people who've broken Commencals to consider one myself.

For the people complaining about uphill switch back ability, well that's always the trade off for being able to rag DH so fast. Travel adjust forks will solve the issue quite nicely though (not that I actually had an issue on the demo one I tried). Surprised you had an issue at Afan as none of the switchbacks on the climbs are either that steep or that tight.

I don't consider 31-33lbs heavy for a 6"+ bike. Any less and I'd be a bit worried about its longevity, or it would be seriously compromised in areas like tyres or wheels. My current big bike is 36lbs in trail mode, and gets used regularly for 5hr+ days in the hills. Knackered at the end, but that's the point isn't it?

Interesting comments about the Maxle…

i was slightly defuddled about the maxle as it's a great system just flaw'd that unless you hoof it up it can spin undone and get lost..

I thought that when i looked at my mates maxle, but he pre-empted it by making sure the end cap opposite the lever had a little loctite on it, therefore no lost lever and it still spins round if you catch it on anything.