I’m coming off an Orange Patriot 66, with 180mm travel to a new(ish) Orange Five, as I really like the idea of being able to ride anything, and compete in Enduro races.

As some may know I had some Fox Float 36s to go on my Five, but the steerer was too short. I’m selling these forks, and I like the idea of running 32 Float 150s, but not sure if they’ll take everything.

I mainly ride at the Forest of Dean which is pretty tame in terms of DH, the biggest stuff are a few roadgaps and drops.
I was wandering whether anyone has ridden a 150mm fork over similar stuff and I’d love to know how they found it?
I’m reluctant to get a 36 again, because apparently it screws with the climbing ability.

If it’s any relevance, I’m 6’2″ but not that heavy, so I shouldn’t be too hard on the fork.

Many thanks!

the new 34 maybe a good alternative set up at 150mm

I highly doubt I can afford it – my budget is around £300, so it’s these : http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FOFO32FRL/fox_32_float_rl_150mm_suspension_fork

or second hand

dont see why not tbh…. my old norco had 32mm front forks and they were ok for it!

i also hope so as my rocky altitude 50 has fox float 32’s and am still planning to do light DH / aggressive trails

I’d get something phatter. 32’s are meant to be pretty noodly.

I thought 140mm 32s felt flexy on a hardtail in the Chilterns. Ok to ride, just not very ‘solid’ compared to a Revelation or DT. 6′ / <12st here. If you’re doing DHs etc I’d look for a stiffer fork. They’d probably be strong enough for a smooth/light rider, it’s just the brake-flex I’d be bothered by.

Yeah, I have seen some pretty amazing riders riding downhill at the Forest of Dean on trail bikes, and Rowan Sorrell and Joe Barnes seem to cope – not that I’ll be sending it like they do.

Hmmm, if that’s the case, what else is there, other then a 36 or 34?

After your Patriot I think you’ll find 32’s a bit on the flexy side when things start to get really fast and rough, and the same goes with 150mm Revs. I certainly noticed a difference after years on 36’s…they seemed to twang off every single rock. If you really want the 5 to handle DH stuff I’d stick with 36’s or try Lyriks.

Oh right, what about Marzocchi 55s? are they any good?

Can you get a new steerer fitted? If so might be worth sorting your current fork?

I had 36’s on my 5 set to 140mm with spacers , when at 160 the bike was horrible to ride, 🙂

I’ve looked into that, and it would end up costing over £100, so it would be cheaper to sell it, and then try to find a similar fork 2nd hand.

I went from a Patriot with 66s to a Five, I toyed with the idea of keeping both but decided there was too much overlap between the 2 and that for 90% of my riding the Five would be far better suited so sold the Patriot. I did miss the stiffness and coil on the front end though so bought some 160 Van36s to go on the Five, in theory I was going to keep the Floats to use for year round stuff, but I ended up enjoying the Van so much on there that I sold the Float. I switched to a flat bar and still manage to get up all the technical climbs rounds here and it rides more like the Patriot on the descents, which is ace!

Marz 55 RC3 Ti’s are awesome forks if you can find a pair at a decent price….I had a pair for a few months until they went back to their owner. Two others in our riding group are also running them and really rate them over pretty much every other 160mm fork.

Sounds like 36s are the way to go then, I’ll try and pick up another pair 🙂

It won’t cost much to spacer down your 36’s if you do it yourself. And it’s not a hard job.

For regular sustained proper dh use I’d say no.