Don't have any experience of Orange so what are the 5 range like as a do it all general bike . Is it heavy, industrial that sort of thing.

Would like a comparison with these 2 bikes also……

Trek EX8

Lapierre Zesty 314

Found some mag reviews but would like "real life" experiences of these products.

I have used mine for:

long XC rides
short XC rides
rides with my wife
DH racing
dirt jumping
BMX track
riding to work
riding to the shops
riding to the Indian

so, yes. It's pretty versatile.

There is a reason the 5 consistently gets 10/10. It's not heavy and industrial is just a visual concept which is totally subjective. It is British made and designed for British riding. It has a 3 year warranty and 5 years on the bearings. It has great geometry and a superb ride.

Tick, tick, tick

They "look" heavy. How much do they come in at roughly?

I don't mind the look of them as i had a Marin Wolf Ridge which look a little similar.

I've ridden a mates and it's a great bike. Looks can be deceptive his one is pretty light but best of all it's easy to maintain and the suspension is pretty much sorted now after so many years of refinement. I'm completely biased as I like single pivots but for the money, in fact for any money, a great bike.

I've got a 4 year old one.
Done bugger all in the way of maintenance on suspension pivots etc….
There are bikes that do downhill or single track or trail center stuff better; but the '5' does it all quite well, and being single pivot, doesn't need new pivot bushings/bearings every 2 minutes.

Tried the Trek EX8. Nice bike. Too many pivots for the average british winter.

With regards to weight, I've had it down at under 27lbs with lightweight tyres etc.

I like mine and if I lost it tommorrow, I'd buy and buy exactly the same again.

Had mine for a couple of years now, and to be honest I'm looking to get rid. I hardly ever ride it these days, preferring a hardtail. It's worthwhile if you ride somewhere quite rough like the Peaks / Lakes all the time, but if you just ride general trails / trail centres then they're just too bloody heavy. Saw a few people riding the Merida (CRC) the other week on them too and I felt sorry for them dragging that much weight around!

I know I'll be in the minority here, but I thought I should offer a contrasting view to most folks.

I would add that I'd probably say the same about most 5 inch travel bikes I guess. Oh, and I did give the 5 a thorough test, as I rode Trans Wales on the bloody thing! 😉

I have an Orange 5 for nearly two years and a Trek ex9 for just over one. The Orange is an very versatile machine as Jam Bo has said. It is comfortable, secure, climbs reasonably well considering it weighs 29lbs, is fantastic downhill, is very tough and I love it.

The Trek climbs better, partly because of the rear suspension geometry and partly because it weighs 3 lbs less, is also very comfortable, goes downhill well and I really like it.

I have probably ridden the Orange four or five times more often in the past year…..I have used it in the alps, at trail centres, locally, on the road etc.etc. I tended to use the Trek for events such as Mountain Mayem, HONC, FOD enduro.

Both have been generally very relaible.

5 Years on the bearings Nope Orange recommend you change these each year.
But yep I use mine for everything and right through the year.
My 08 Orange 5 AM Medium comes in at 29lbs
Just spec it to what you want it to do.

As everyone else has said, very versatile bikes. I use mine for everything and i wouldn't change it for any other bike.
Mine comes in at around 28lb's with 150 maxle rev's, 5.1 hope hoops, xt drivetrain etc.

With regards to the warranty, the dealer who i purchased kine from and my warranty card says 2 years on the frame and 5 on the bearings.

Warranties straight from the Orange website.

Warranty Period from date of original purchase

Frame – 3 years, Pivot Bearings – 5 Years, Paint – 1 Years

My Sub5 did 7 years of riding trails in Peak, Scotland, Lakes and Wales. It was (on road) commuter for 5 years of that as well, was used for instructing for first two years, did a coast to coast and also towed the kiddy trailer and tag-along.
It needed one set of pivot bearings as they got a tad rough just as I sold it and a set of shock bushes. Wore through every other part of the bike (wheels, forks, BB, bars, headset, cassettes, chains etc), but not the frame.
All day / every reason bike? perfic.

I tested one alongside 2 other frames. I liked it a lot and would recommend it but its not the one I went for. Very comfortable in a favourite armchair kind of way. It felt safe, predictable and smoothed out everything in its path. It's just the other two bikes I rode felt more alive and urgent and I thought they climbed better for me. I was changing back from a hardtail and I guess I was looking for a fs with hardtail traits and that is not an orange 5.

Horses for courses I guess – they are all bikes, so they are all good.

…and from a womans point of few….the orange five is a perfect all rounder…..cant fault it in anyway…
use mine on local rides- (big hills-climbs well), downhill rocky decents- performs ace… trail centres- ruddy marvelous… just learning to do drop off with it too..great. one word for it .. "Awesome"…

Love mine, 2010 model with boot valve. It's quite light with perf pack about 27lb ish I think maybe tad more. Used for trail centres one day then lakes epic bike the next.

I bought a Five last year after demo'ing a LOT of others (Blur LT, Turner 5-spot, Pace 405, Trek EX8, and more) and love it to pieces. It does depend on your riding style and preference I think, I'd always wanted a 5-spot for example but when I rode it it was just too smooth. The Five has a very different ride characteristic to bikes with more complicated linkage, much more feedback which is good IMO.

It's not the best climber out there which I think is more to do with the slack head angle and single pivot than the weight of the bike – mine comes in at around 27lbs. My old (2004) Stumpy is a far better climber, but point the Five downhill and woosh! Instant fun!

I don't use it for riding to the shops but I do ride mostly XC (local) with a fair bit of trail centre riding and the occasional trip overseas (Sierra Nevada this year!) so I'd say it's pretty versatile and happy on most terrain.

Best thing to do is get out and demo each of the bikes you're looking at – we each have different riding styles, body size, requirements, etc so you won't know which is best until you ride it.

Afraid we've only demoed one for a day on the Qs. Performance wasn't a patch on my Giant – slow up and down. Maybe it was the setup or the iffy Continental tyres, but despite really wanting to like it, we couldn't wait until it was someone elses turn to ride it 🙁

You must test ride it before you buy IMO.