Ok, I thought I’d write this because there are very few reviews on this bike floating around the internet. I recall Chipps had one for a bit, but his reviews seemed to dry up for this one, and I don’t recall a conclusion of any sorts. Furthermore, the Dirt review was possibly the worst I’ve read for anyone looking to buy one – I mean, the origin of Neon??

I got this bike to test because I’d always been curious about it. I’m a bit of an Orange fanboy having owned numerous full bouncers and a 2010 crush. I keep coming back because they fit me perfectly, always ride better than any of the competition I’ve tried, and excepting my 1st sub-5 I’ve never had any issues or warranty claim.

I’ve always been a long travel hardtail fan, and find it easy to adapt my riding style, ride the forks and let the back end follow any which way it can. This meant that the mismatched travel – 125mm at the back and 160mm at the front didn’t seem that odd. In fact, having some “get out of jail” travel at the back made perfect sense to me. I reasoned that it should still feel “engaging” like a hardtail, but allow me to push on on bigger terrain. I have a mate who lives in Morzine so generally have an annual Alps trip plus the Mega to look forward to, so any bike I have needs to be up to a few weeks of full on battering with minimal fuss. The Blood is incredibly solid at the front, much like a circa 2006 224, and I’m certain it’ll take it.

What I’ve done is order a demo bike in through my LBS. Unfortunately it came with the 2011 spec’; gone are the 160mm Fox 36 forks and double and bash, and in come the triple and 140mm 32 floats. This is not how I would build it up, and having ridden it now for a few days, I think it is a mistake on the part of Orange – perhaps they think it overlaps the 5 AM and the Alpine too much??

On the trail – the bike rides like a decent bike should. It has a low bottom bracket, which I like, but have had a few pedal strikes just on normal woodland trail riding. It is very easy to chuck around but oddly the front is a bit harder to pick up when compared to my 2011 5. Looking at the Orange website it shows that the Blood has a slightly longer wheelbase and chainstay than the 5, so that would possibly explain this. Also, I think the shorter forks place my weight too far over the front. It feels like my Titus SuMo did when I replaced the 36’s with Pikes. It puts weight on the wrists and shoulders and doesn’t encourage wheelies, or bunny hops etc.

Having said that, in its current form on smooth groomed trail it is simply brilliant. It’s possibly the best trail centre bike I’ve ever ridden. Every big root or tree stump begs to be popped off, and skids have suddenly become fun again (I turned 40 last weekend and this seems plain wrong). The back end is very stiff; it’s quite overbuilt and has a maxle, which may affect things.

However, as good as it is on the groomed trail, the RP23 xv just doesn’t seem to suit it. Either it’s the cold weather or this particular shock that is knackered. Its very noisy for a Fox, with a lot of sucking/squelching noises. Back to back with my 5 with the same shock (albeit a different tune), shows some odd behaviour. The rebound is virtually ineffective – its on fully wound in and still feels like it needs calming down a bit. As soon as I rode a section of downhill that is a very bumpy frozen bridleway, which is well chewed up by hooves, it was trying to bounce my feet off the pedals and me over the bars. The great feeling of being able to pop off anything in sight soon become a chore of trying to keep my feet planted. I don’t even get this on the hardtail so I’m certain it’s the shock. Having said that, the forks also struggled to keep up with the rear. They constantly wanted to dive into their travel. They are the 32 RL versions and nowhere near as controlled as my identical set or my more basic float r’s. I think their readiness to dive actually exagerated the rebound speed at the back. In short I was not impressed with the balance of front to rear, but something tells me its not the frame design but the shock and forks. Does cold weather affect damping this much? I thought it would actually thicken the oil as it got colder.

It is a very good climbing bike. It obviously has a steep seat angle, and this seems to overcome the slack head angle. This may be helped by the 140mm forks, which I personally wouldn’t fit. Turning pro-pedal off helps traction for climbing, but I think this is because it softens the pedal stroke a bit by absorbing some of the energy. Turning the pro-pedal off also helped the downhills slightly but it was still a bit too lively for absolute caning it.

I don’t really know what to make of this bike – it is seriously overbuilt and could take a real beating, but the way the shock works, on a big mountain, it would try to kill you in the process. Again, I think (In fact I know) this shock is a bad example, and I think a good coil shock would suit it more. The 32mm 140mm forks do not suit it at all; for my personal taste it needs to be higher at the front to be fun and comfortable for a longer ride. As it is, I struggled for much over 1 hour before wrist and shoulder ache started creeping in. In fact I found it fairly tiring to ride this bike for much over the hour. Some may argue its not designed for this kind of riding, but if I was to buy it, then it would have to.

To sum up, it has a low bottom bracket and I think the triple ring setup is wasted on this bike. It seems to suit the big ring better than the middle so maybe a double + bash with 36 or 38 teeth ring as the big one would be the way to go, or a 1×10 for those who fancy that. 160mm forks would be ideal to lift the front a bit. The rear is a bit “springy” and needs calming down. It has that typical Orange fit (i.e. sat in not on), that is possibly helped by the low BB. It is fast on the smooth more groomed trail but a handful when it gets very bumpy and fast. It is very stiff but not that heavy.

If anyone is thinking of getting one be sure to test ride it. I’ve got it for a few days more so if anyone wants specific measurements doing just give me a shout.

Mini?

Well that’s how it started!

“Unfortunately it came with the 2011 spec’; gone are the 160mm Fox 36 forks and double and bash, and in come the triple and 140mm 32 floats”

The orange website (for 2011) is showing 2 blood models:
a 160mm double/bash Blood
a 140mm triple Blood Pro

They didn’t 3 weeks ago when I asked for a demo to be sent. Must’ve changed their minds.

Interesting.
Sounds like you may have talked yourself into a CCDB and Fox36 van though 😉

Thanks for the review. I’ve been looking to replace my LTc with a blood but I think I’ll hold on to it now!

I noticed the spec change on the website- a month ago it was specced with 140 floats but now is offering 36’s, maybe they already had some feedback?

Proper review that 🙂 Ben (warranty bloke at Orange) has his built up like this:

Decent coil shock, double and bash, not sure which fox forks they are.

Be interesting to ride one back to back with an alpine. Mate has one of those and seems quite happy to use it as his only bike.

I have a Blur 4X and had a spin on a mates Blood as its possibly one of the only bikes I’d want to change my 4X for. Felt at home on it straight away down Glentress’s freeride park but that was running 160 forks. Not sure it’d have felt so good with 140s…

Think dream setup for me would be:
Blur 4X with 140s
Blood with 160s
Ragley Ti with 150s

🙂

Although a lot of people use it as one (and why orange have introduced a spec with 140’s-at the behest of dealers) it certainly is’nt a ‘trail’ bike imo.For one its far too much fun and having an 83mm bb/150 rear end makes you ride like John Wayne!Sure you can winch up/plummet down but its not about contouring trails.
I’d also back up what dirt says about the sizes-the 15″ is fantasticly balanced ,even at 6’2 but the 17″ feels all sorts of wrong.
Riding back to back against an alpine 160 the blood is far more lively wanting to pop off everything and seems to go 2ft higher over jumps .The alpine feels just like a mini 224, scrubbing jumps and pinning corners.

Nice dissertation, sorry I mean mini-review Mildred.

I demoed one a year or two ago, no issues at all with the RP23. Maybe you’ve got a dud.

Great fun, agree absolutely with comments about fun, confidence-inspiring, encouraging you to jump off anything, etc.

Just couldn’t see where I’d have ridden it. Might make more sense for a more skilled rider who lives near a chairlift.

So if someone were looking for a versatile mini-DH type of bike (uplifts, alps etc), would you recommend the alpine or the blood?

Good review – how strong do you think it is? I thought orange didn’t rate it as a freeride/ragging around bike, more as a trail centre thing.

Yes, sorry about the not-so-mini review, I just kept thinking of other stuff.

I’m convinced I’ve got a dud rp23; my 5 has the same shock, & that doesn’t make any of the squelching noises. Looking at it this morning it does have quite a bit of oil on the shaft so maybe a seal has gone.

It really is a bit of a conundrum this bike. I really want to love it but there’s something holding me back. Ben’s looks pretty much spot on and looks to make more sense like this.

Chakaping, one if the things I really like about it is that I don’t think you need an uplift to get the most out if it; I think its brilliant on swoopy singletrack, popping off roots, rocks, and I found myself looking for trail features to launch off. It carries speed very well. What I didn’t like was the way it coped with hard successive hits; the damping felt all to cack. Having said that, it may be that normally I’m using only a bit of available travel on the 5, but when I hit fast rocky terrain the extra little bit of travel takes out more of the shock. Maybe it’s compressing hard and fast and it’s the boost valve that’s pinging me off the pedals. I don’t know… I think I need to try one with a coil shock before I make me mind up.

So if someone were looking for a versatile mini-DH type of bike (uplifts, alps etc), would you recommend the alpine or the blood?

Personally I’ve never ridden an Alpine, though I have had plenty of patriots and a 224. Having ridden it again today I’d say the the geometry is perfect for mini DH, but again, i believe coil shock us the way forward. Using the pro-pedal lever there’s a definite advantage to very light platform; switched off it’s a bit boingy. I think a well set up vanilla would be ideal.

Good review – how strong do you think it is? I thought orange didn’t rate it as a freeride/ragging around bike, more as a trail centre thing.

It feels bullet proof, and as stiff as my 1st generation 224. I’d say it’s ideal for ragging; I don’t do “freeride” so can’t comment. My personal preference with bikes is to feel planted and for the suspension to do the job it’s meant for (without sterilising the trail). The blood feels planted until it hits successive fast hard hits – think babys head boulders & frozen hard churned ground. It then struggles to recover. Yes it’d be the ideal trail centre tool for someone who likes to launch off everything and land tied in knots and with the right shock I think it’d be a great mini DH, but in it’s current setup it just doesn’t feel “right”. Big forks & coil shock is the way.

I have to agree with most comments. The Blood isnt really a trail bike and I cant understand why orange have produced the 140mm light weight version, it seems odd to bolt light components to a burly frame. Surely if you want a light trail bike Orange already produce them.
Anyway, I have posted a few threads on this bike but to sum up in my opinion it is really a play bike, perfect for a day on the jumps or as a more ‘involved’ DH bike. Sizing is surprising too, im 5″11 and ride the 15″ frame.
This is absolutely the most fun bike I have ever had but it didnt come without some issues.
Firstly is the rear mech cable routing, if left as is it will cause severe cable rub wear to the guides and frame on the rear seat stay. I have managed to stop the rubbing but now the cable kinks slightly and so the rear shifting isnt anywhere near as precise as it should be. I have been toying with the idea of just re-routing it along the chainstay and downtube and turning a blind eye to it not looking so good.
The second issue I had was with the rear shock which I think is incorrectly specced. I have posted about this before so I wont repeat myself. The end result is that I fitted a DHX RC4 which has improved the rear end no end.

Sailor74, do you have any hassle with the rear brake hose routing? I find it kinks under severe suspension movement, and mine eventually burst. Also anyone (Orange employee above aside) have a CCDB fitted?

I find mine a slight chore on the ups, but as said above you can just sit and winch away. Everywhere else I love it though. Bulletproof and big fun.

I’ve been tempted by a blood for a little while now – how do you think it compares to something like a SC Nomad?

no problems with rear brake hose, it does bend a lot under full suspension compression but its pretty supple so been ok so far.

DT78, I dont think it compares at all to a SC Nomad, they are completely different bikes. I have used mine as a trail bike but I think it works best with a single front ring and a coil shock, and just push it up the hills.

Its funny you mention the rear cable routing along the seat stay – I’ve been pondering why Orange sent the bike out with a couple of zip ties between the rear cable guides on the seat stay; not actually securing anything, just tied onto the stays between the guides. Looking at it, I’d say they’ve done this to lift the cable away from the paint. Its the only explanation I can come up with.

Sailor, just read through your previous posts – On the one hand I’m glad I’m not the only one to have his feet knocked off the pedals after the 1st fast hit, but sadly this may point away from my shock being faulty and more to, as you say, incorrect speccing in the 1st place.

Given the cost of the frame in the 1st place its starting to get a bit pricey to buy another shock on top of it.

mildred
my original RP23 was actually faulty, Mojo repaired it under warranty, they said it was cavitated. Even after repair it still didnt feel good, the large air can coupled with a medium compression tune made the shock very wallowy. I noted that dirt mag had a firm tune on their test bike (not available from orange). I found setting it up and running it with propedal (2) permanently on improved things a little.
I agree swapping the shock will be pricey, it may be worth speaking to your LBS to see if orange will supply a frame without a shock.
Its been a long drawn out process to get the bike setup to how i like it but it has been well worth it.

I have been running a Blood as a replacement for a 224 after a bad accident and absolutely adore it. In the past I have always run bikes quite stiff but with the Blood I try and run as soft and slack as possible.
It is the first and only bike that I have ever had that I think is a ‘keeper”. I don’t care what new standards and technologies they invent I struggle to see how any bike could be more fun. More gears/linkages and more travel doesn’t do it for me.
Short travel but with a big front and very stiff and not suitable for most (probably) terrain with its stupidly low and slack stance but ideal for where I ride and what I do. Not my only bike though. Certainly not all mountain, yes it does climb (unless you have SwampThings on) but it is not fast except on the downs. I am happy with Fox air shocks and Float 36 forks
Expensive but no regrets

Bought an Ex demo from the hub a bit over a year ago so a 2009 model (Pre boost valve RP23) Stock bike apart from a set of V2s. I would agree it is not a do it all trail bike (with dual ply tyres mine is about 35Lbs) but it will spin up the hills no problem in a way that a 224 wont. Havent had any issues with the shock performance. Much less inclined to blow through the travel than on a single pivot where I seem to be forever buggering about with the shock pressure trying to keep some small bump sensitivity and not blowing off the O ring every 30s. It just gets on with the job.

Handling totally sorted. Strong enough to take the knocks. I landed short off the stepdown at Ae (it was going dark OK) and it didn`t complain.

Fantastic bike for the Mega (Not that I have done it on any others) Did both the quali and the race on it and will do the same this year if I can get out there.

the 2009 came with a standard size air can, coupled to I think a firmer compression tune which I reckon they should have stuck with.

Now this may be total balls but I’m wondering if the linkage design has a certain amount if initial anti-squat, or platform built into the design, but once into the travel it overcomes this, becomes more linear until it gets towards the end of travel where it ramps up sharply. What I’m thinking is this may explain the midstroke wallow some people have mentioned (dirt included).

This may be what makes it feel snappy on the pedals, then very quick on the rebound on the faster hard hits. That is, i set it up at around 30% sag and it doesn’t have a lot of small bump sensitivity but feels like it pedals well, turning hard big ring sprints into good acceleration. However, once I hit something bigger/faster/harder it goes into the more linear aspect of the travel, blows through this quickly until it gets to near the end if stroke where the shock ramps up harshly due to the combination of leverage and the nature of air shocks.

Looking at linkage demo software I see that certain designs exert different amounts of leverage on the shock througout their travel. Meaning that often greater force is needed to get the shock moving initially. Hence some bikes need minimal platform damping on their shocks. Maybe, as hinted at above, having a large volume shock exaggerates the feel of the linear portion (I.e. Midstroke), and causes this wallowy sensation. Again, this may all be balls, but I am ver ver drunk…

Happy Xmas all.

hmmmmmmm looks nice. how much can they take?

I’d say shed loads. It really is a solid feeling bike. The head tube, top tube and down tube intersection and gussets etc. look like they’re straight off a 224. The rear triangle is far beefier than my helius ST was. Curiously it doesn’t feel heavy.

one of my clients (robin i think) had one. looked nice and i forgot about it.
its on my shortlist i reckon 🙂

cant belive i am saying that about an orange bike 🙂 🙂

I see Leisure Lakes have a 2009 Blood for £ 2000.00p

The shock on the demo bike sounds like it’s cavitating. Had the same issue on my RP23XV and Mojo sorted it.

I have a (2011) ST4 which seems to perfectly suit that shock. PP (2) on and it’s a good climber, not really wallowy but enough movement for technical climbs. PP off and it really sits in the travel.

Next year in the Alps, I’m going to hire an Alpine or a Blood. Quite fancy a blood if it’s an ST4 on speed 🙂

Makes me think that Orange are testing the water with the Blood.
With lighter parts and a triple to see how much interest there would be in the strange ST5.
If they brought out a ST5 where would it sit in the line up?
Would they drop the blood?
I have an Alpine and its just marvelous and my other bike is a Soul, so something in between would be perfect. Looking at the ST4 but its not quite perfect and the new Transition Bandit looks good something like how I imagine the ST5 to be!

Mildred
The quick rebound is probably due to a fault with the shock as was the case with mine. it was much better after it was repaired, cavitaiion can make it behave in all sorts of odd ways.
As i said before the XV shock seemed to perform best with propedal permanently on, although it was obviously less sensitive to small bumps.
I found that running the propedal open resulted in the rear end just wallowing and generally feeling dead, it was particularly noticeable when trying to push the bike hard through turns.
If you are concerned about the standard shock but dont want to spend a fortune on an expensive coil replacement it would be relatively cheap to replace the air can for a standard size and perhaps even have the compression tune adjusted.
I think before you make a decision you should try and get a demo on on a Blood fitted with a pair of 36’s as it will feel like a very different beast. Think mini downhill/slopestyle.
I bought mine complete but have since replaced most of the components, so if i was buying again i would buy it frame only and build it up.
I will just also add that I have demoed an Alpine and own a Five AM and the Blood is a completely different ride.

I do know this years’ ST4 had some design cues from the blood, the most obvious one being the change of linkage. But it’s slacker as well, and having had a 2010 before, it definitely is more like a (very) mini DH bike.

So agree if Orange make an ST5, where does that leave the blood? I’m sure there’s some product designer at Orange who has a plan 😉

Looking at the ST4 but its not quite perfect and the new Transition Bandit looks good something like how I imagine the ST5 to be!

Agreeing on this

So agree if Orange make an ST5, where does that leave the blood?

I think it should remain, I’d love to have a blood and the idea of the bike is great but its not really suitable for where I ride I don’t think. I think the ST5 would be 5″ front and back (unlike the blood with uneven travel) and the ST5 would be easier to ride uphill but take some of the fun and pop of the ST4 mixed with a bit more hard hitting of the blood.

intersting reading, thanks for sharing the info…
have been tempted by a Blood ever since they first showed up…agree that Dirt Mag reveiw was pretty shonky! I geuss the main thing with Orange is how they gradually progress their designs bit by bit (segment by segment!)

St4 geometry has stayed the same between old and new linkage bikes-statically anyway.
There has/is already been a strange ‘st5/blood light’-it was canned (at least in that iteration).
The problem orange face is that they are in danger of having half a dozen bikes which basically fulfil the same brief!

if anyone thinks orange are doubling up on any other bike with the blood then they are missing the point.
It seems to me that the people who are enjoying it and getting the most out of it are running the big forks, a 1×9 drive train and a coil shock.
Its a playbike! perfect for chucking about on the local dirt jumps, 4x track or as a short travel dh bike. Think of it more as a sprung BMX.

Yes, I’d go along with that.

Pics of the demo’:

“If they brought out a ST5 where would it sit in the line up?
Would they drop the blood?”

“I think the ST5 would be 5″ front and back (unlike the blood with uneven travel) and the ST5 would be easier to ride uphill but take some of the fun and pop of the ST4 mixed with a bit more hard hitting of the blood”

Logically, an ST5 would replace the 5. Given the reputation of the 5 I wouldn’t be suprised if they were tl sell both side by side?

I don’t get orange speccing Mavic XM317 rims with Maxxis Advantage 2.25″ tyres on some of their bikes. Its a 17mm (internal) rim with a tyre as big as a 2.5″ High Roller/Minion. IMO a 2.25″ Advantage is pushing it on a Mavic XM719 (19mm internal)