Orange bikes, love or hate?

My love affair with Orange started back in the ’94 I think it was. In MBUK they tested a Kona, a Raleigh Activator and a Orange Prestige or Aluminium O. Then I went up to the lakes on my first MTB trip that summer and walked into Biketreks and saw a beautiful P7 loaded with STX-RC (as per the one mentioned earlier in this post) since then I loved them. I’ve had a Clockwork, a P7 and a Prestige. Now I’m looking for another one.

Sure they’re not the cheapest out there but I love the way the ride. They’re one of the reasons I ride.

The 5 is ok. I’d like a new patriot though.

If you like them ride them. If you don’t, don’t….

Doesn’t seem to warrant a debate.

Had a few Orange full sussers in my time. They are the only bikes I’ve never sold. My old Sub 5 died a sad death in France. My 2002 Patriot is still going strong. My new 5 is great.

Every other brand I’ve tried I’ve enjoyed, but sold on at some point.

Love mine, 7 months old and been hammered in that time!!

Wasn’t gonna buy one, was looking at a Lapierre and drooling. Smitten after the test ride and was ready to splurge my wallet on one. Took my old bike to Afan only for a branch to take out the rear mech and hanger. Was with friends, so hired a 5 to use for the day. By the time I’d got half way round White’s, I was totally smitten and had completely forgot about the Lapierre. Ordered a 5 the next day. Not once have I regretted it. It gives me so much confidence everywhere and looks better the more scratched it gets. As I’m Welsh, couldn’t give a toss that it’s English built.

Quality; I do love an Orange/Audi witch burning.

Always liked their HT’s but the full sus bikes are horrible.

I think mine looks pretty cool and would love to see some pictures of bikes owned and ridden by those who throw scorn on the looks

Why?

Edit; and the comments on noise? IME no louder than any others once you protect the swing arm as you would the chainstay on any other bike

Yes, if you use it for mincing along Surrey’s perfectly smooth singletrack then it wont make a noise at all. Perfect!

like the hard tails. Of course mine is only English “designed.”
end of British industry and all that?

I used to have a 2005 Patriot aswell!

And one of my favourite bikes for a while was this:

The shame

The nothern thing with Audi’s and Oranges is a regional thing

Down near Swinley its bigger Audis and lots of Yetis

I don’t own an Orange, but i do like them. They certainly looks different, which i great when there are lots of Cubes and other identikit European mainland bikes around

But, its each to their own – what ever floats your boat and i’d never criticise someone else’s bike, because its their pride & joy

oh yes – i do drive an Audi, but its from 1997 and cost me £700 – so no abuse please!!! 🙄

i had an r8. imo, did the bare minimum required. no involvement, it acted like a surly teenager, would only move under duress. in a word, it was boring.sold it, bought a salsa ala carte, on paper it’s inferior but rides a whole heap of fun

No audi here!!! Although wish I could afford one! I’m just a rough arse northerner with a no nonsense trail bike! Called a 5, in the long run they work out a LOT cheaper and you’ll have more fun on em! Although you’ll only really benefit from a 5 if you have good handling skills! So basically, good riders ride orange trail bikes shite riders ride snappiers! 😆

Got a crush, had it for 2 years, looking to upgrade to a alpine 160. Will look good on my green Audi estate. (in the RAF not a business person lol)

I have a 5. I like it’s rugged simplicity and it’s superior performance characteristics which make up for my deficiencies. It’s the VFR of mountain bikes.

Hate ’em, for purely irrational reasons.

I associate them with the North, and because I used to live up there and it was NOT a good time in my life, I tend to dislike anything that reminds me that there is anything beyond the Midlands.

That, and the fact that I don’t tend to trust anything made in Britain since the Spitfire.

cheekyboy – Member

Can someone please explain why they are overpriced.

Because they know people will pay for it.

At this point someone’s likely to say something about it being expensive to make things in England, so to save a little time I’ll just point out in advance that most Oranges aren’t made in England, and it doesn’t explain why a P7 frame costs £ZOMG.

Don’t really have much of an opinion on them, think they seem very overpriced when buying new and look quite ugly. i did almost buy a patriot once though as it was cheap on ebay, decided not to bother in the end as i got a better deal on a nicer looking frame!

In terms of something that is so personal to feel you get from it, cost “justification” becomes a flawed argument.
It’s either within your budget or it’s not.

My love affair with Orange started back in the ’94 I think it was. In MBUK they tested a Kona, a Raleigh Activator and a Orange Prestige or Aluminium O. Then I went up to the lakes on my first MTB trip that summer and walked into Biketreks and saw a beautiful P7 loaded with STX-RC (as per the one mentioned earlier in this post) since then I loved them. I’ve had a Clockwork, a P7 and a Prestige. Now I’m looking for another one.

Sure they’re not the cheapest out there but I love the way the ride. They’re one of the reasons I ride.

I grew up lusting after the same models as you did. I REALLY wanted an Orange P7 with full LX, it looked sooooo cool, but even back in 94/95 when faced with the choice, I stopped short of getting one. I think I was probably better off with the Marin I bought in its place, it was certainly better specced if not quite as nicely painted.

But for my next bike, I did buy an Orange… And as much as I rode it to death back then, for I was 16/17 with no driving license, and loved it for where it took me, to be honest it wasn’t very good. OK, it was Orange’s first full sus bike, the X1. And the first version of anything by any company is never that great, but I was sold on it mainly cos I was young and it was so different, and the magazine ads for it were soooooo cool! Little had I realised Orange probably spent 10x as much on the advertising budget as they did for the R&D into the frame. FFS, a 1″ steerer on a full sus frame, even in 1996! 😕

Sold it about 2 years later (well, practically gave it away, nobody wanted it) after buying a 2nd hand Specialized M2 hardtail, which was infinitely better in every way.

I think this is really the point for me, that though I know Orange probably do still make better bikes now (and did even back then), they’ve always spent far more on advertising and endorsements in my eyes, than they have on developing the bikes…

Wunundred 😀

What’s this Audi thing all about, if your judging someone by what they drive/ride then you’d probably hate me,

Audi -check
Orange FIve – check
Orange P7 – check

I ride because I love riding, even if all I could afford was a cheap halfords bike I’d still ride, why be a hater just because some people worked had to afford nice cars/bikes, and the whole thing I hear about people only buyin them so they can boast there bike is uk built(even though some aren’t), I like to think its people wanting to support the British economy rather than sending our hard earned pounds overseas, I think orange bikes are awesome, I’ve never ridden anything as much fun as my five!

Tried and wasn’t hugely inspired.

First demo was of the first 5 after the Sub, not as good as the Spec Enduro S-Works I got instead.

After a while demoed an Alpine, good bike but for the £1800 the frame would have cost I could get a Nomad which pisses all over it.

My current Heckler RRP was about £900 the 5 was about £1400, I’d get the heckler again and spend the extra with Hope

Leaving aside HUGE assumptions which I’ll ignore, this point about price and product development mboy raises is interesting. Out of interest why do you think Orange don’t invest in product development? They may not but I’m fairly sure they have played with other suspension systems, for me the fact that they continue with a proven system is reassuring. Is it perfect, no, but neither is any other, and I’d rather spend my money on simple bomb proof design than filling the pockets of expensive research departments who spend all their time fiddeling… only for the marketing and sales team to take the latest fiddel to market and tell us it’s the next big thing – this year. Poor argument IMO.

As for being expensive, Orange charge what the market will wear, if you think it’s too steep go buy something else and be happy, but for those of us who get it the cost is worth it 😀

I’ll admit I nearly fell into the ‘big brand’ trap and buy based on market penetration, but then I tested five bikes. The Orange won. How many people can honestly say they tested several bikes before buying? In the wider market not many I’d guess. When it comes to replacing mine I’ll do it all again, and I my buy a DWRVPP4BARHORSTYLINKYTHING then, but right now no thanks.

Oh, and David, for those who have strong opinions about the look of Orange bikes I’m curious as to what they decided to spend money on – I’d like to see what’s so much better looking about their choices, no more. I’ll admit there are better looking bikes out there, but I didn’t buy my five because it was pretty I bought it because it’s bloody good fun to ride.

Here’s mine…

I would like to see members own ‘better’ looking bikes… It’s all immaterial but fun all the same isn’t it…

Woohoo. Two oranges and an Audi…

+1 – don’t tell a soul…… 😉

The two mates I know who have Fives both love them and have both gone from 08/09 models to the latest bikes.

They have both experienced, very good customer service Orange. And they are both decent riders.

Weirdly, they both drive Audi Avants, but have never met.

I on the other hand think they are alot of money do bought a Mega 🙂

As someone posted before, I don’t get hating a bike company, unless they have done something to wrong you, i.e poor service. My experience with orange, which is limited has been excellent, really friendly and helpful. Plus admire them for supporting UK events (which I know a lot other companies do too) and riders.

But most of all, again as has been pointed out before, I admire them for producing a large portion of their bikes in the UK. Something that I feel should be supported, much better than buying a bike made china by workers that have to endure painfully upsetting working conditions, just so we can have a cheap, or not so cheap in some cases, bike frame.

And on the aesthetics side of things, an clearly everyone is entitled to their opinion and (this is where I sound like an arse!) but as a professional artist I really appreciate the look of 5 (which I do not own). It’s got a real industrial beauty to it. I understand they are not for everyone but don’t get the need to slag them off every time anything gets posted about them, especially when someone posts a picture of their own bike, it just seems rude (and their is some serious bricks in glass houses situations, in a couple of cases).

And my last point (again will sound like an arse!)but as someone who also works with comedy, comedians and has a real love for comedy, PLEASE STOP the boring “they look like a filing cabinet joke”. It seems to be one of those “funnies” that a certain section of STW thinks is worth posting again and again, like the exploding 29er wheels joke. Its so tedious to read again, again; jokes like that are not really worth airing the first time let alone that 1002nd time. Now I am all het up! Stupidly this bit is what annoys me most, what an idiot!

Had a Clockwork back in the 90’s. Liked it. It did its job. Swapped the frame for a Kona Explosif. Loved that bike.

Bought a 2008 P7. Fox, Hope and XT. Very nice until I ripped the rear dropout out of the stays. Orange screwed me over on warranty. Claimed I had not used it for intended purpose.

Never buy another.

Audi -check
Orange FIve – check
Orange P7 – check

I ride because I love riding, even if all I could afford was a cheap halfords bike I’d still ride, why be a hater just because some people worked had to afford nice cars/bikes, and the whole thing I hear about people only buyin them so they can boast there bike is uk built(even though some aren’t), I like to think its people wanting to support the British economy rather than sending our hard earned pounds overseas, I think orange bikes are awesome, I’ve never ridden anything as much fun as my five!
Ok, this is wierd. Do you think you’re supporting british industry by buying an Audi? Do Audi make any cars here?

When people say that Oranges are too expensive, they mean for what they are (poor value), not absolutely. There are PLENTY of bikes costing the same or more than oranges (and audis), but they are generally better specced.
I don’t hate on any bike (or car) but to insinuate that people are jealous because you can afford an audi and a five is stupid and makes you look like an asshat.
FFS look at all the bike porn on this site; Nicolai, Turner, Santa Cruz, Intense etc etc and you’re jabbering on about a flipping five.

i’ve had a crush and a five and loved them both, saying that i currently ride a Rocky Mountain Altitude.

Some people on here are pushing their bloody luck! If you carry on dissing Oranges, he’ll come round and force feed you gallons of tea until you explode

Don’t say you weren’t warned 😉

I’ve only ever seen them in the shops, so don’t really know.

They do look like filing cabinets tho.

They’re alright, a bit expensive for what they are. I’d say the geo is very sorted and for a single pivot, it’s as good as a single pivot gets (i’m not saying single pivots are bad).

Used to hate the look, now it’s growing on me.

I don’t get how an item can stir such angst in grown men.

Again, bikes have got to a point where you really can’t buy a dud, it’s just excuse making to justify the next shiney, new, best thing hype is selling.

mboy

they’ve always spent far more on advertising and endorsements in my eyes, than they have on developing the bikes…

you mean that bike advert they always had with the old man biking all the time – massive white beard!

Always wished that was my grandad. 🙂

There’s a reason that they’re so popular up here and its not because they’re made up here!
It’s because they WORK up here.

After the first six months of use, my comparison of the Five with the Meta 5 which it replaced is:
It climbs better, it descends tight slow Calder-tech far better, it descends fast rocky stuff no worse and it’s simple to maintain.

Bottom line:
I can get my Five up/down/over/round more stuff than I could its predescessor.
Another happy Five owner here.

Also looking for a “bigger” bike for when no pedalling-up is required and I’m struggling to look beyond the Patriot.

It’s a funny old world. Really don’t get why they (Orange) attract such a polarised opinion.

Personally I think they are a bit expensive, and a bit crude; however I think they’ve got plenty of character and I’ve had my current one, and the one before for a good few years now, so I don’t consider them bad value. I’ve had great service from Halifax as well.

For years I had no interest in Orange bikes, all my friends had them, but they just didn’t do it for me. I’m now the happy owner of an alpine 160 and after owning many linkage bikes this simple single pivot is my favourite and I no longer have the issue of changing demo 8 bearings to look forward to. I also love the look of them, well the nice ones anyway.

I love the out of date single pivot stuff. What you guys want is one of those new fangled “four-bar” bikes that hit the market 20 years ago.

Fives used to be expensive, to be honest the value is pretty much the same as an equiv Trek/Specialized/Santa Cruz nowadays.

The majority of warranty issues seem to go smooth, the frame weight is very similar to other trail bikes (~7lbs), bearings all very easy to maintain, dropper post routing, tapered steerer, normal bb etc.

Can’t see any huge issues to dislike to be honest. You’d rarely hear people making a thread about how they hate Canyons steep head angles, Zestys QR rears, £75 wheels on a £3k bike. Yet a rage filled Orange thread about how someone finds a swingarm ugly is common place. 🙄

My first ‘proper’ mountainbike was an Orange O2, and from the moment I swung my leg over the top tube I realised it just felt right. It fitted my shonky body shape (6ft 1in, but stumpy wee legs), like a glove. I loved that bike, and after foolishly selling the frame to a clubmate, and seeing him transform it into a commuter, I swore I’d never sell another bike.

From the O2, I went to a 2001/2 Patriot that took me all around the Highlands, the Lakes, pretty much everywhere I could have wanted in fact. She’s sitting in my garage now, on her 2nd bearing change in 10yrs and still running as sweet as when she was new.

Next up, my lovely P7, bought as a frame in 2005 and built up with Hope kit. Again, she fits just right and is brilliant fun to ride. I may even go for a spin on her tonight in fact.

Who’s next? A 2006 Orange 5. Now here, I was tempted by an awesome deal to buy a frame that was a tad too wee for me (Medium). It was really good fun to ride, snappy and fast, but snap it did…eventually.

A quick dally with an Orange Gringo, fast yes, but a bit too harsh for my aging bones, and then I bought a 2009 orange 5 frame, again building it up with Hope kit. It’s a lovely bike.

Having ridden loads of other bikes in my 20yrs or so of mountain biking , (most recently I tried out an Ellsworth Epiphany), I think I’d still stick with my single pivot Orange. It’s simple and it works. I don’t care how it looks, and I don’t really care how other folk perceive me or it. I enjoy it, so there, nerr nerr! 😉

Brycey, I think the polarised opinions boil down to a couple of things: The simple folk who ride Orange Five’s do so very happily, not a care in the world. The fact its simple and British is what appeals, but truth be told, they’d be happy riding any bike.

After buying a Five, the simple owners then feel they have to reel off endless amounts of dribble on cycling forums about how much fun they are, how well they ride, how well they descend (thats what we ride to the top for, eh!) etc. With no real proof/data/figures to back up these claims. They just simply work. Plus they get to wave the Union Jack around in everyones face whilst doing this.

The thinking folk are absolutely bewildered. How can it be that one man can be riding so well and having so much fun on a bike thats so obvious, so simple, so over priced and welded on the skew? And it riles the thinkers right up! They’ve just spent the best part of 6 months agonizing over a new bike purchase. Reeling off endless amounts of dribble on forums about carbon lay ups, axle paths and shock tuning. What a waste of time, they end up wishing they’d just got a frontal lobotomy and a tattoo of a british bulldog and just gone to the nearest Orange dealer with four grand in their back pocket and done the simple thing. Why is life so tough! Why are people so different!