Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 87 total)
  • Orange Blood
  • Richyb
    Free Member

    wl: you’re wasting your time, if its not made in california and has a thousand pivots its not “cool” on here!

    were you riding in Hebden last friday by the way?

    rj
    Free Member

    Funny, I thought the general consensus on this thread was that the Blood does indeed look, as you young folks put it, “cool”.

    Sanny
    Free Member

    I had a brief (too brief!) shot on a prototype in Switzerland last year. It just felt right to me. A good solid feeling bike that could tempt me away from my much loved 5 Spot. Having seen how well the Orange full sussers last out there with day in, day out riding, I’d happily get one as my next bike.

    Cheers

    Sanny

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    MrNutt
    Free Member

    I’m very much liking the look of it, just wish they would make one that could handle 180mm forks, now that I would be very interested in!

    I_Ache
    Free Member

    I keep telling myself that I can afford one. Im tempted to save up for one but not sure. I might try something like a prophet first.

    GW
    Free Member

    Mr Nutt – Get a comencal Furious then 😛

    oh, or of course a Bottle rocket.

    wl
    Free Member

    Richyb – yep, I was out last Friday round Hebden. Might sound like a daft question, but was I riding with you? If so, that was a mint afternoon, considering the miserable weather. Can’t ride tomorrow thanks to deadlines, and I’m away all next week, but the Friday after I should be riding – hope to see you out again for more of the same.

    Richyb
    Free Member

    Ah thought it was you putting 2&2 together, no wasn’t me last week, was my brother. I have been out when you have before though sometime early last year I think, a saturday afternoon? I was hoping to come over and ride tomorrow afternoon, but might be best to leave it till next week!

    MrNutt
    Free Member

    Comencal Furious? damn that’s fugly bike!

    and what is it with every suss frame (only) coming in at about £2k now??

    wl
    Free Member

    Thought so Richyb – my mistake (doesn’t take much to confuse me!). I remember hooking up on that Saturday afternoon. Shame you couldn’t make last Friday – we had a good one, riding some smart but tricky trails. Reckon there’s gonna be heaps of snow still tomorrow, but I can’t ride anyway. Dan might be out though – worth giving him a call. Sure I’ll see you a bit later in the month or sometime in spring. Hope you’re well – enjoy your weekend.

    Richyb
    Free Member

    Just texted him, lots of snow will be interesting to say the least. Did Dan mention the scottish trip in March, loads of room if you fancy a trail centre weekend (K’tree, Dalbeattie etc..)

    Cheers mate, you too.

    Pieface
    Full Member

    Looks like an AS-X

    tinsy
    Free Member

    Did I invent the short travel rear longer front travel trend?

    wl
    Free Member

    He hasn’t yet, no. Sounds good – might be interested, though it depends a bit on work and stuff. Defo can’t be away between 14-22 March. Have a good one tomorrow – should be a laugh. Hopefully catch up in the next few weeks sometime.

    Richyb
    Free Member

    Ah its 20-21st so no good by the sounds of it. No worries, see you soon.

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    Somone commented that it would have a rearward axle path but looking at where the pivot is, it must be ever so slightly reaward to beging with, but then moving forward.

    OrangeSteve
    Free Member

    Have you sorted out your social lives?
    I think I’ve been sucked in here; hopefully I can clear up a few things.
    The Blood came about as I wanted a new XC bike. I’ve been messing with different prototypes for about 4 years now and haven’t been happy with them.
    The bike had to have about 5 inch of travel and a low BB, any more travel and the bike would have to lifted to give pedal clearance and with this pivot position the rear lengthened to give tyre/seat tube clearance, the tight geometry would be lost.
    It had to be able to climb well with 160mm forks and ride downhill like a small DH bike.
    As for the putting a pivot on the chainstay, I don’t believe in it.
    If you find a Five hard to climb on I think you need more time on a bike.
    As for the price, its made in Halifax, unfortunately that costs a little more than in some other countries; also some other manufacturers make more bikes in a day then Orange do in a year.
    I haven’t tried 180mm forks on it but on paper it should be OK, it would lay the angles back about 0.88 degree and lift the BB about 7.5mm but I think it would be overkill.
    Sanny, I’m still using that bike you rode last year it’s looking battered but is going well.

    I_Ache
    Free Member

    So the blood is an XC bike?

    MrNutt
    Free Member

    Cheers for that Steve,

    I run an subzero 07 – 011/100 (head angle 67deg) with 180mm 66’s at about 40% sag, the forks are effectively running shorter tightening up the head angle a little more and giving really good tracking over the rough stuff. (with 50mm stem, wide bars) it feels about perfect.

    The blood is listed as having a 66deg head angle, would I be right in thinking that if I factor in the sag from the back end as well as the longer forks I’d be looking at hugely slack angles?

    I love the look and concept of the Blood, any chance of a “long travel” slightly “strange” head angle?

    solamanda
    Free Member

    It’s an overpriced Transition Bottle rocket with a daft noisy front downtube and a shite short warranty from a company with a poor backup record. You’d be mad to but one.

    You can buy a similarly aimed Nicolai frame for less money, which gets you a ‘flasher’ bike with 5 times the warranty. Go figure.

    hora
    Free Member

    I feel strangely robbed. I was really expecting someone to be worried by the hue of their blood 😐

    Orange Steve you definitely dont have to justify yourself to me however there isnt any shipping,import duty or a far eastern manufacturers profit/cut to pay on these frames. I just struggle with how a aluminum frame can be price-pointed at £1600. The shock costs £300 if bought at retail?

    Like I said this is just a grumpy person here. Its an opinion folks, everyones allowed one.

    MrNutt
    Free Member

    would that be the Helius?

    Helius FR £1,550.00 + 5 year Nicolai warranty (although that could be voided with me running 180mm?)

    or

    Orange Blood £1,499.95 + 1 year Orange Warranty (although that could be voided with me running 180mm?)

    To be honest I don’t think a 12mth warranty is too little, sure there are bigger firms offering lifetime replacements etc but I’d say that 12 months is pretty much long enough for any manufacturing faults to surface don’t you think?

    (although I can’t help but thinking that Ton was very very unlucky!)

    OrangeSteve
    Free Member

    All those negative waves
    I’ve just sat on my bike and my wife measured the angles, they don’t change that much if the front and rear sag are set up equally. 67/73 degree’s

    hora
    Free Member

    MrNutt, agree but it all comes down to the manufacturers confidence in a product and customer backup. Say you own 2-3 bikes (I know some of you due you decadent-lot) then you may only ride a particular frame say 25 weekends (say 40times) out of the year in total?

    GW
    Free Member

    As for the putting a pivot on the chainstay, I don’t believe in it.

    Class!!!

    I hope you typed that in a Victor Meldrew accent 😉

    GaryLake
    Free Member

    I’ve seen prototypes of this kicking around for ages and seeing as Orange just seem to make bikes that they want to ride themselves – and they always turn out good – I say keep sticking to what you’re good at (making bikes you enjoy riding). If the Blood didn’t make sense to them – they wouldn’t have made it.

    I quite fancy one but on a practical note, my Five does everything I need for now…

    rj
    Free Member

    “If you find a Five hard to climb on I think you need more time on a bike.”

    Ah, I see. My apologies for implying that the 5 might not suit every single rider on the planet when it’s my fault for riding like a knob. Clearly the same was true of the G2 that I never got on with. Presumably the Commencal which climbs in an entirely acceptable way is some sort of aberration against god and nature.

    Despite your obvious marketing genius Orange Steve, I’m cooling slightly on the idea of the Blood now. Can’t think why.

    solamanda
    Free Member

    would that be the Helius?

    Helius FR £1,550.00 + 5 year Nicolai warranty (although that could be voided with me running 180mm?)

    or

    Orange Blood £1,499.95 + 1 year Orange Warranty (although that could be voided with me running 180mm?)

    To be honest I don’t think a 12mth warranty is too little, sure there are bigger firms offering lifetime replacements etc but I’d say that 12 months is pretty much long enough for any manufacturing faults to surface don’t you think?

    (although I can’t help but thinking that Ton was very very unlucky!)

    That would be a bike like mine, a Nicolai UFO. Available in short and long travel options. About £1.3k currently. You can get the geometry modified to however you like it for a modest cost! It’ll give you the frame you want with a far better warranty.

    The problem with orange is they have a dire record for breaking DH frames, right through to the current models. Combining that with no back after a year makes them a poor choice. I can’t see how the blood will be any different. If orange offered a reasonable warranty I’d change my tune.

    Several mates have been caught out by their Orange DH frames breaking just outside warranty.

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    It might only be a small point, but there is a crucial design feature of the blood that I think really does set it apart from a lot of other bikes out there and that’s the combination of a very low (but still ‘pedalable’ BB), slack head angle and c.130mm of travel.

    I own a Nicolai Ion and I just love it. The quality, the cachet, it’s performance down hill etc. I love it so much I decided to investigate a Helius AM just because I wanted another Nicolai, so I test rode the bike and here is the crucial problem – the BB is too high. My current trail bike is set at around 13″ with 140mm of travel. The Helius is about 13.7″ with 150mm of travel and the difference in how it corners and goes DH is quie big. My current trail bike is a much better DH bike because of it.

    I thing Orange have designed a really insightful bike with the Blood – it offers something that is niche but which I think we will see a lot more of.

    I do agree that it’s pricey though but Orange will charge what it will charge and either we will buy their bikes or we won’t. If we don’t then maybe the prices will come down. The problem as I see it for Orange is that Halifax may well be a more expensive place to build bikes, but that doens’t mean they are any better than those made elsewhere although they might well be – I’m just saying that price does not always equal quality. The challenge is to build a brand that allows you to charge a little more, which is what Orange have thus far been able to do.

    I have also heard stories about warranty back up being poor. Now that may not be entirely accurate but it’s what I’ve heard and it seems to be what other people have heard, so Steve, you need to get your marketing team onto that and find a way of changing our minds.

    A key question is how much would a typical Blood weigh say with Lyriks/Fox 36s and a good build?

    hora
    Free Member

    Just googled the UFO…11,4 lbs FACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Del
    Full Member

    Presumably the Commencal which climbs in an entirely acceptable way is some sort of aberration against god and nature.

    i doubt it’s any aberration but the commencal is a single pivot same as the five. i’d be inclined to suspect that the 5 you rode wasn’t quite set up right, that’s all. if i hadn’t bought my five as the deal i got i would have looked very seriously at the commie ( assuming they knew what geometry they had this year… 🙂 ), as a good value alternative with similar characteristics. good that you’re happy with your bike though.
    as for pricing, well if it’s what the market will stand, then they’ll sell. if you think it’s too much, you won’t buy one. pretty simple really.

    mark_b
    Free Member

    it’s an overpriced Transition Bottle rocket with a daft noisy front downtube and a shite short warranty from a company with a poor backup record. You’d be mad to but one.

    You can buy a similarly aimed Nicolai frame for less money, which gets you a ‘flasher’ bike with 5 times the warranty. Go figure.

    That would be a bike like mine, a Nicolai UFO. Available in short and long travel options. About £1.3k currently. You can get the geometry modified to however you like it for a modest cost! It’ll give you the frame you want with a far better warranty.

    I still love the way all owners of any bike are prepared to defend their choices. I guess it wouldn’t be STW if they didn’t 😀

    Del
    Full Member

    nothing very unusual about that. anything that anyone invests money in after some thought will be defended. no-one wants to think they’re pi55ed their money away on a POS. i doubt you’d spend over a grand on any bike these days and come away with rubbish though.

    hora
    Free Member

    TBH if I was going to spend c1.6k on a new frame I’d chose either a Santa Cruz or Intense VP. I wouldnt buy a 1.6k single pivot frame. The Heckler would tick that box very nicely.

    mark_b
    Free Member

    Maybe it’s the need to be negative about others choices whilst claiming their bike is ‘flashier’ is what bothers me the most.

    Perhaps it’s time to stick to constructive criticism only ?

    Orangeanorak
    Free Member

    A Blood frame ex. shock weighs in at 3kg’s. The Blood AM weighs in at 14kg’s.

    solamanda
    Free Member

    Maybe it’s the need to be negative about others choices whilst claiming their bike is ‘flashier’ is what bothers me the most.

    Perhaps it’s time to stick to constructive criticism only ?

    If that is aimed at me I didn’t mean to sound like ‘flashier’ matters but to some people it does. I’d say appearances and ‘all the gear no idea’ has to be a big factor if you’re prepared to buy something so expensive with such poor backup. Personally a bike is a tool for a job and if you only have a year of it being covered it’s clearly not fit for purpose. There are plenty of manufacturers out there able to offer lifetime or sensible backup periods.

    If the Orange had sensible backup or price my opinion would be different.

    The comparison I was going to make to Nicolai was the UFO DS, their lighter short travel bike but I now see it’s not in the 2009 product line up so that comment isn’t valid. The UFO ST is too heavy to compare as Hora points out.

    I’d get the transition if I was after that kind of bike. A friend has had brilliant support when he had issues. Orange really need to address this issue to get good word of mouth recommendations.

    I’m not defending my bike choice, I’m trying to stop more people suffering the annoying cracked 18 month old Orange scenario. I and many mates have suffered from broken Oranges.

    hora
    Free Member

    We all think of cycling as a hobby. What we forget is to manufacturers its a business and businesses exist for profit at the end of the day.
    People go on about ‘supporting your local bike shop’. Which at the best of times I find abit rich. I have a preferred place where I buy my car tyres and a preferred place for mechanical work. They are preferred as they offer a competitive price and service. Not just price and a good service.
    As the economy gets tighter and tighter I do believe theres an opportunity/nay opening for bike makers to become homegrown and offer on price and quality. It is possible to offer both…
    May one step forward please. My wallet is ready.

    Richyb
    Free Member

    I think you’re being a bit naive there, if the manufacturing costs associated with building bikes in the UK and in Taiwan were in anyway similar lots of UK based bike companies would still be building competitively costed UK bikes.

    acjim
    Free Member

    Looking at the UFO DS, it’s nice but has a full on 4x seat angle. I wouldn’t fancy doing much climbing on it.

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 87 total)

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