• This topic has 18 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by davo.
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  • Orange 5 29er – apologies in advance :)
  • andysandes
    Free Member

    I know there has been previous threads on this bike with an excellent selection of wheel size related banter. 😀

    Does anyone own this bike and if so what is it like:

    – weight wise
    – rear tire clearance

    Also any other suggestions for 29ers of this ilk? Ruled out the stuntjumper fsr based on price and stupid bottom bracket. But yeti looks tidy as does trek, but not sure if it’s available frame only

    Looking at frame only options.

    Cheers

    Andy

    andysandes
    Free Member

    Wow something to do with an orange 5 and wheel size. Must have reached saturation point!!

    Anyone have one and care to comment?

    catvet
    Free Member

    Andy
    Not owned one but rode one at an Orange demo day Cwm Carn.
    Rocket ship, very fast, mullered everything in sight, need good brakes to slow it down!!
    went over 2 berm lips as going so fast without realising it!
    Only difficulty I found was sharp downhill hairpins, but since then ridden with a gravity Enduro who races a 29 er and he has no problem, all related to a different technique, which I did not have at the time!!
    oh and good wheels as you are going to hit things fast and hard!!
    hope that helps

    Get Orange to send you down their demo Five 29 er through your LBS

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    andysandes
    Free Member

    Cheers that is what I imagined it would be like from the wheel size, head angle etc. As you suggest need to get booked in on a demo of one.

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    only ever ridden the 26″ version but saw both 29 and 27.5 versions next to each other both the same frame size and the smaller wheel one look aesthetically better somehow

    Mal-ec
    Free Member

    I can get an ardent 2.4 in the back end of my Gyro if thats any help. Also a bike that always seems to end up going very fast.

    Sancho
    Free Member

    there is the covert or Bandit 29 and the new kona Process will be the bike to beat as a 29

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    October’s MBR has got a test on the Orange Five 29er comparing it with a Stumpjumper FSR Comp Evo 29er and a Remedy 8 29er.

    They basically give the Orange an 8, the Remedy a 7 and the Stumpy a 10 out of 10.

    They give the Orange component level, shock and fork a bit of a slating.

    The Stumpy has apparently “instantly established itself as the new benchmark for trail riding.”

    There is a big Specialized advert on the back page though.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I don’t own one, but spent a bit of time on one. Weight was a little high because of the poor spec, and a fair bit of it’s in the wheels/tyres so it feels heavy- takes an effort to get up to speed. Felt like it had the wheelset off a £750 Halfords bike tbh.

    Tyre clearance is not great, the rear end is pretty flexy too which means it needs more spare space than most. The one I rode had a 2.2 rubber queen in it and the tyre was pushing into the frame in corners (and that despite the tyres being pish, I never was able to ride it particularily hard). Better wheels would improve that but the swingarm’s not the stiffest either (much as you’d expect)

    But I liked it. The full build was not good enough in places but if you could get a frame for a sensible price, or some sort of custom build with suitable wheels and tyres, I reckon you could make something very nice indeed. A very un-29ery, very Fivey 29er.

    OTOH when even MBR have to find fault with an Orange, something’s gone wrong!

    roverpig
    Full Member

    Not a direct comparison, but I had a demo on a Gyro, which I think uses the same wheelset as the the Five29 (or did at the time). Being the sort of analytical fellow I am I weighed the wheels. Total weight for wheels, tyres, cassette and rotors was 4910g.

    I recently built up a 29er HT (FF29) using Hope/Arch Ex wheels and Racing Ralph 2.1 (tubeless) tyres, which was a full Kg lighter.

    Not a direct comparison, but I’d say that it would be easy to take a fair bit of weight off the wheels that were on the bike Northwind tested.

    grum
    Free Member

    My mate demoed some 29ers and hated the Five. It did have some awful Continental tyres on it though.

    robbonzo
    Free Member

    I think if I were ever to get an orange five whatever the wheelsize, it would have to be a custom build.

    roverpig
    Full Member

    It is hard to justify the price of the full builds from Orange, but the framesets are a bit more reasonable.

    I recently built up a 26″ Five. OK there was a nice discount on the frame as they were dumping the 26″ version and I had various things already, like wheels (hence the lack of interest in the 650B version). But even so, I reckon that you can easily build something with a better spec than the Pro version for a lot less than Orange charge.

    Of course, that assumes that you don’t count the time you spend building it as a cost.

    wilson5spot
    Free Member

    Well I got one of the first batch of black & gold specced bikes. With a few spec changes, namely Mavic Crossmax ST wheels set up tubeless with Ardent LUST’s also a set of Hope 4 pot’s for added stopping power, weight wise it comes in at 30lb & I’m sure I could get it down further by throwing more cash at it. So far its been to a few trail centres in Wales, Gissy Forest and some big days out in the Lakes and the Dales. My general thoughts are that it’s super fast covering the ground and particularly so downhill and very confidence building with the slack angles at the front. It sometimes feel like steering a canal barge on tight & slow trail centre switchbacks, the only other thing I’ve really noticed is despite the bike being quite long the cockpit comes up short which leaves me sat quite upright, which isn’t a problem just different. Spec wise I don’t care for the RF Turbine cranks as they seem to take chunks out of my ankles and will be swapped out for XT 2×10 once the rings are worn out. But all up I love it.

    cardo
    Full Member

    Our guide at the White Room had one , new bike for the season and he is a superb rider, but the 29er definately covered ground at a greater pace than we seemed to be.. he has a blog which might give more info/review Blogclicky

    andysandes
    Free Member

    Cheers for all of the info really helpful. I was thinking of crossmax st wheels. Need to get a test ride booked in and look beyond the wheels by the sound of it!!!

    sharkattack
    Full Member

    The Stumpy has apparently “instantly established itself as the new benchmark for trail riding.”

    I am inclined to agree. It is a very special bike. BUT the reviewers don’t have to live with Satan’s own PF30 bottom bracket. I just sold my mk1 Stumpy evo and the BB and the cost of a conversion played a big part in the decision. I’d have the new 26 or 29 inch version in a heartbeat if they had Shimano chainsets.

    I’ve just checked the Orange website to see what’s on offer. Frankly, I’m stunned. Top drawer prices and mediocre specs. Shocking stuff from Orange really. There’s absolutely nothing there to make my wallet twitch.

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    sharkattack – Member
    The Stumpy has apparently “instantly established itself as the new benchmark for trail riding.”
    I am inclined to agree. It is a very special bike. BUT the reviewers don’t have to live with Satan’s own PF30 bottom bracket. I just sold my mk1 Stumpy evo and the BB and the cost of a conversion played a big part in the decision. I’d have the new 26 or 29 inch version in a heartbeat if they had Shimano chainsets.

    I’ve just checked the Orange website to see what’s on offer. Frankly, I’m stunned. Top drawer prices and mediocre specs. Shocking stuff from Orange really. There’s absolutely nothing there to make my wallet twitch.

    A guy I work with was telling me about the Praxis Works BB conversions and reckons they’re really great.

    The list price of the Oranges is pretty steep for the spec, but I enquired about an Orange Five earlier this year and was offered a good discount. I’m pretty sure it was 18% discount off the list price.

    davo
    Free Member

    i tested a five 29 and gyro pro back to back. i went for the gyro, i got a free hope headset and custom colour and dmr v8 pedals. plus the bike came with kashima fox fork that i didnt ask for and 400 quid off the price! im very happy with it.

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