A multi-layered question and, as ever, I value your opinions please:…
I have a savings scheme about to mature (£3k) and have been given the 'all clear' to purchase a new toy. I currently have a Giant Trance (nice bike) but am thinking of buying a single pivot – such as a Santa Cruz Blur or Orange 5.
It's been a few years since I last rode an Orange 5 and I would take one out for a test ride before (if ?…) I placed an order for one. Can't find anywhere that does a Santa Cruz Blur on test ride.
So my questions are:
1 – is the difference between a single and multi-pivot bike so much different (I mainly do mountain XC and trail centre riding every weekend)
2 – IF …. I do go for single pivot, Santa Cruz or Orange (and why please – I must admit to having a sense of duty to buy British this time..)
3 – anyone know anywhere I can test ride a Santa Cruz ?

Thanks all

Get in touch with your local Santa Cruz dealer and see if they can get a demo from Jungle. Thats how I got my demo of a Bullit. Cost me £40 to have the bike for a weekend, but most place give you the money back if you buy the frame. Although a Blur isn't a single pivot.

You can demo Santa Cruz at Glentress through The Hub or through Alpine Bikes (Glasgow/Edinburgh/Innerleithen).

Do you mean Heckler? Blur is a VP link….

I've got a Bullit with single pivot and a Banshee Pyre with a VP link, love 'em both.

If you're Yorkshire-ish contact Stif. Jungle and Stif are effectively the same people if I remember correctly. I certainly demoed a Heckler from them previously.

Simple really just buy a 5 and have done with it!

Once you've ridden one you'll love it!

Oh and mines for sale if you're interested, just bought a Blood and can't keep em both by order of my good lady!!!!!

Orange 5 Mate easy to service and £ 15.00p for bearings and a bloody good ride

Dont know if your near london I have an 18 inch Medium 08 Orange 5 AM in disco Black for sale
I have not filled out the Warranty card and have 6 months left on the bike.
Forks and Rear shock serviced in Feb by Mojo and put 09 inners into Talas fork
Just about to order another Orange

Yup, Blur is a VPP. Heckler is the single pivot. Why do you want single pivot? VPP is more sophisticated and all but eliminates pedal feedback etc – why are you taking a step back by looking at single pivot?

Even more importantly, why have you limited yourself to Orange and SC, and done so little research that you thought the Blur was single pivot. For god's sake you are about to splash £3000 on a bike that you will live with for years.

Go and try both single and multi pivot designs, and the geometry and feel of the bikes – you will have no idea until you get on them. At the very least look at Giant (Reign), Trek and Spesh as well as Orange and SC

"I have an 18 inch Medium 08 Orange 5 AM in disco Black for sale
I have not filled out the Warranty card and have 6 months left on the bike."

Now there's a recommendation…

"Once you've ridden one you'll love it!

Oh and mines for sale"

Hahahahahha!

Let's be honest, they're **** ugly overpriced bikes.

Never believe a statement beginning "Let's be honest……" 😉

"Never believe a statement beginning "Let's be honest……"

Says Derren "SeanOrange" Brown….

It makes little difference in terms of riding.

You seem to have half read some magazines tho so that may not matter.

had a giant reign x and it was good but could feel quite dull and lifeless unless you rode it on some nasty nasty steep stuff and made it work for its money. Just bought an orange alpine 160 and i love it, its as capable but the ride (as a single pivot compared to a linkage) is much more lively and informative. yeah it is a bit indusrial and yeah if you brake round a corner or through a big pile of trouble it wont work as well. But… its not that dramatic an effect and If your making misakes like that anyway your a muppet, plus because of that i really like the way it makes me think about my riding and has made me smoother and quicker simply through making me ride smarter.

its also light (for what it is) should be tough as old boots and easy on the maintenance front. For me now the benefits of a decent well set single pivot outweigh any negatives they are supposed to have and i like the simplicity of them and the ride they provide esp on a trail bike

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easy on the maintenance front. For me now the benefits of a decent well set single pivot outweigh any negatives they are supposed to have and i like the simplicity of them and the ride they provide esp on a trail bike

HEAR HEAR! (apart from the Orange bit…) single pivot bikes DO feel so much "livelier" in my opinion. I had an 05 enduro for a while, and while it was certainly stiffer it didn't feel anywhere near as lively or responsive as a Heckler….so much marketing guff is unnoticable when riding a 5-6" bike, and a hell of a lot less maintenance and frame weight is.

I think shock technology has pretty much leveled the playing field between single and multi pivot bikes in the last couple of years.
Fair enough, each still has pros & cons, but since I've ridden a 5 for the last couple of years I now leave the back brake more off than on for descents = faster 😈

Hi Jiff, Firstly please tell me why you are only concentrating on linkage design? If you have 3k to spend you should be thinking about the geometry, build quality and customer service if the frame fails. Also fork, wheel, component choice etc etc. Nowday's 3k is easily spent especially when your buying a boutique brand of frame.

IMO single pivot suspension is good but linear, an RP23 can help combat pedal bob, using Propedal but i think that technology has moved on. Also things like changing the air pressure in the rear shock and in the tyres can help to make any ride feel more or less plush. Two linkage systems i have personal experience with are VPP and DWlink, both of which i highly rate.

VPP is great at eliminating pedal bob and is very good but i feel DW link is more compliant over small bumps and tracks the back wheel sligtly better than VPP.

Here is a list of the bikes i have owned and i put them in order of which is my favorite. Remeber though the list is not based soley on the linkage type, its on how responsive and comfortable the FRAME felt to me.

1, 2007 Santa Cruz Blur LT (VPP)
2, IBIS MOJO (DW Link)
3, Trek Fuel EX 9
4, Giant Reign (Maestro)
5, Commencal Meta 5.5 VIP

Why not hold on to your cash and check the classifieds generally a bike de values by about 50% over a year so you could get a good second hand bargain. There are two bikes which i have not tried but may well in the future, they are the 2009 Intense Tracer and the Yeti 575. But i can highly rate the Santa Cruz Blur LT and can honestly say i will never sell it on.

Hope this helps, Naruto.

LOL Dolittle Personal view their
Agree with NickyB 100% percent there.
I am sticking with Orange for same reasons and going to focus on DownHill riding.

Thats the reason to sell my Orange 5 AM bike and yes does have 6 months left of unsigned warranty

For info I bought Stif's 2005 showroom display Five in Jan/Feb 2006. Total maintenance on the frame so far?

None – ridden on average 20-30km a week off road

The shock could probably do with a service though.

Tested back to back with an SC Heckler when I bought it and the Orange just felt better (to me, not to anyone else)

I have had a Heckler and now have a single pivot Ellsworth I've also ridden lots of my mates multi linkage doodads.

As far as I can tell with platform shocks bob is pretty much a thing of the past, I run a float R and have no bob at all but anyone who rides my bike tells me it's plush whatever that means..
Seems that single pivots are less complex, often lighter and have less maintenance to worry about. I really like the 5 but prefer the ST4 as less travel is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.