Orange Blood mini review

Sailor74 +1

However…

I sometimes think a 1×9 Five with 36s etc might do much of the fun and be slightly better on the ups. Not sure it would feel as do-anything as the Blood right enough.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread – but does anyone know if the blood has a 1 1/8″ or a tapered headset?

Cheers.

1/18

i demo’d one and loved it but the linkage cut/grazed my inner shin when inverted/tabled. settled on a bottelrocket

Liking the look of the ‘blood’ although the 150mm rear hub and 83mm BB seems a little odd.

Also liking the Transition Double/Bottlerock, although, because they have tapered headsets, would mean I’d need new forks too… which ramps the cost up for me a bit.

The blood is a frame for larking about, not putting your seat up and using 3 chainrings. Orange have f-cked up it seems….

i have a 2011 Blood – standard BB shell (can’t remember if it’s 68mm or 73mm, but deffo not 83mm) & 135mm hub spacing. Previous model years had the 83mm shell IIRC.

Prezet – you can still use a fork with a standard 1 1/8″ steerer in a tapered or 1.5″ headtube, you just need a different headset.
The Blood looks like loads of fun as a play bike, no idea why Orange have tried dressing it up as a do it all trail bike.

i have a 2011 Blood – standard BB shell (can’t remember if it’s 68mm or 73mm, but deffo not 83mm) & 135mm hub spacing. Previous model years had the 83mm shell IIRC.

Bugger – then this may mean it’s affordable. Surprised at the lack of info on the Orange site for the measurements of components etc. Or I just can’t see where to find them.

Just bear in mind that the specs on the site are for the 32 fork build. Obviously with the ‘proper’ forks its slacker and longer. Someone mentioned a comparison with a five and 36 forks. I used to have a five AM as well as my Blood and yes the five climbs better but I much prefered the Blood going downhill. My blood was my downhill bike last year, I now have a new DH bike and it was a toss up which to keep for trail duties, my Five or my Blood. I kept the Blood, its heavy at 33.5lbs and I run it 1×9 (with a coil shock), but it was just too much fun to give up.

The Blood looks like loads of fun as a play bike, no idea why Orange have tried dressing it up as a do it all trail bike.

Perhaps they weren’t selling many?

Only a day has passed and already there’s another opportunity to put up my newly-painted-Blood-photo! 🙂

i heard they where going to stop making the blood? anyone know anything?

The Blood looks like loads of fun as a play bike, no idea why Orange have tried dressing it up as a do it all trail bike.

Thats what the market demanded.When they introduced the Alpine 160 they expected to sell 9 coil/burly ones for every one air/traily one.It ended up the other way round.All the bikes migrate towards the middle ground eventually and they’ve ended up with 3 or 4 bikes that all do the same thing.

Righto, Ive owned a blood for over 2 and a half years, and it was my bike which daveyboywonder rode in the bikepark @glentress. I bought the bike as I sold my beloved patriot 66 16″ .

I thought as an owner of one of the first production bloods i am well suited to give a review, rather than someone who has ridden it for a couple of hours. No offence inteded.

So i thought id start of by giving you boys and girls the spec.
As a note I am 5 11 and 12 stone
Frame-15″ Standard frame maxle with 83mm shell and boost valve rp23
Forks- Lyrik coil with medium spring minus the gate valve on the rebound damper side.
wheels- mavic crossline 180mm/160mm rotors
Tyres- Minions super tacky for alps/ Kenda Nevegal for uk
seatpin-Thomson LAYBACK 410mm
Saddle -fizik aliante
Stem- 70mm Thomson x4
Bars- 800mm blackspire zero rise or fsa dh 740mm
Grips-lock on odi
Groupset-Full saint double (new stylee) 165mm cranks.
Pedals- Fatspanner pukka pedals!!

So as I said this was the replacement for the 66. I thought that the blood would be of a similar ilk, and it is but it isn’t. The similarities are that its tough and stiff on the back end and has the trusty tracking characteristics of all the orange range. The shorter travel on the back end makes it a bit more of a uk specced bike which is capable of alpine terrain( this being long pedals and techy descents. think steep verbier, queyras, ecrins trails rather than alpine waymarked downhills) unlike the 66 which is a lightweight do it all bike, and something which is still unmatched on the bike market today.

So back to the blood, over the years I have used this for 30 more full days in the alps, and 2 days a week in the uk up in north yorkshire, snowdonia and the lake district. Its been on 10 hour journey rides, woodland thrashes and seen some trail centre use but not much.

So how does it ride? Well I am a big fan of getting a bike well set up and well suited to its chassis. This is one of the biggest mistakes people make. The second is buying a bike which isnt suited to them. I believe I have the setup/spec pretty well dialled on this blood.
uphills
Right when pedalling up this bike will give you loads and loads of traction, due to its weight mostly but the seat angle does help a little. The advantage of having u turn forks is obvious and I often run them at around 140mm travel if dossing about. But try and remember to use full travel on the steeps 160mm.
Flat
Well if you use pro pedal then this bike is dull as a dustbin, but take the poopedal off and the bike is lively and you get loads of feel straight away, just remember to turn on lots of rebound as the linkage driven shocks seems to helps speed up the return rate of the shock. This isnt a xc bike remember.
Down
Get the front end sorted with the correct spring weight, and the back will follow as said on a previous comment. This is quite accurate! Setiing the rebound to your riding style and making sure you are using all the stroke on the shock is what its all about. This thing is super solid, no flex feels great on the corners and gives you loads of confidence to power through things. Its a tough little cookie! Steep and technical is where this bike excels. Not that good at high speed big hits, due to the air shock i believe. I would like to try a good titanium sprung coil but havnt got round to this. I think that overall running a coil/oil would be better on this bike, but as i havnt tried it im not sure.

Overall I think that this bike needs a good rider, and it needs to be ridden hard. If you think your up for the job you will be rewarded. perfect bike for these gravity enduros. I think the patriot is a better mega bike and alps bike, but this would be good for a one bike does all with more uk action rather than alpine.

Things to consider.
Cable routing is crap- paint wear and cable wear is chronic so if your fussy about this then you will be frustrated.
Chain slaps the chainstay and rips it to bits.
83mm bb gives you funny chainline, and these would be better for 1×10 use. I presume the 73mm will be better.

Sorry its a bit rambly but Im better at riding bikes than writing about them.

That’s great – thanks. I’m trying to find someone who has one in stock to see how it feels.

Basically I’m looking for a big of a tough all rounder. I don’t need 6″ of rear travel like the bigger bikes. I want something I can take to trail centers, and thrash it on the way down. Play on the DH tracks at Forest of Dean, and hammer around Chicksands. Ideally it’d need to handle some Alp’s action too.

Sounds like the Blood might be the way to go. I’ve found someone selling frame only for only £995… which is a bit of a bargain. Just a bit nervous to go blow all that cash on a bike I’ve not demo’d.

This is turning out to be a good resource for the Blood. The cable routing issues have been discussed on other threads, and whilst a pain there are ways around it without re-routing, and without causing damage to the frame.
It has already been mentioned on this thread but a point to note is that the newer models 2010 onwards (I think) came with a different shock. The early models had a standard air can and I think a firmer tune, the newer models have an xv can and a medium tune which results in a wallowy ride. I run a DHX RC4 on my blood now but if I was running an air can I would be experimenting with fox inserts to improve the rear suspension. Get the suspension right and its a fantastic bike.

Prezet, its worth riding one just in case, but I think it fits the bill for you. Dont forget its maxle rear end if swapping bits over from another bike and check bb width.

Sailor 74
I agree with your comments on the cables.

I have re routed mine with some witty cable tie action. I have a medium tune high volume can. Just be very precise with the pressures and remember the tempertures can have a dramatic effect on tuning. Just takes time.

Bonfield – the problem is finding a dealer who has one in stock I can try… no one close by seems to stock them. From what a previous poster said the newer version of the frame now has a 135mm rear – so that should fit with my Pro 2 Evo’s, except I’ll need to modify them for the maxle. Also newer version has a 73mm shell?

Just spoke to Rutland Cycling, and a VERY helpful member of staff told me the Blood was being discontinued, and that there’s no ‘frame only’ options in stock at the warehouse 🙁

Apparently Orange are going to be replacing it with something, however no one knew what with or when.

Lee Quarry this morning. I’m contributing nothing useful to this thread I know…

yo Prezet,

Yes Orange are going to be changing this bike around a bit. Might see something next year that wont be a replacement, but something similar. Best thing to do would be for you to call the orange factory, they are super helpful and will help you locate a demo bike and give you the most up to date information. One of the many positive things about purchasing a uk bike brand where they are made in the uk aswell. Where abouts are you located?

Have a pic of my 17″ Blood, just for the hell of it!

Can’t really add anything to the above comments really, only that I have a Five SE too and they are totally different bikes.

I’ve not had any issues with chain slap, but I’m running a chain device and a layer of velcro on the frame.

Get one, just not in Neon Green, they’re a bit common!

well ive just ordered a 15″ passion red blood frame, thanks for all the info on this thread, its helped me loads.
does any one know if hope pro 2 can be converted to a maxle?

Good man – and yes they can but you’ll need a new axle

I bought mine ex-demo, it was described as 3/5 but other than the freshly painted frame, the wheels and the cranks, everything was new! Worked out a right bargain, hate to tell you, but there’s a red 15″ one on Oranges website right now!

My loud Blood.

Rear cable routing sorted by fitting a clear plastic outer tube (from B&Q) along the seat stay that the gear cable can slide through as the suspension compresses (I carved small notches in the tube so the zipties would hold it firmly). Unfortunately this doesnt work for the brake hose and the original will burst at some point. I replaced mine with a goodridge that is slightly fatter, which means it locks in place on the seat stay and is able to move slightly with careful zip ties under the top tube.

Sailor,

Got any closer pics of your cable routing solution?

aye seen that one on the orange site, but couldnt strech the extra cash, got the frame for £995, so still not a bad price.

I’m not a massive orange fanboi but those bloods are very very nice indeed.
Hope I get a good bonus this year!

el_diabo I dont have any pics close up enough to show whats going on but I could take some and post later tonight if it would help. Its just a piece of clear plastic hose, the kind people use for siphoning home brew, not sure on the size, i think it comes in 2mm increments (got mine from B&Q), but it is cut to length to sit across the 3 cable guides and held in place with small zip ties. The gear cable is then pushed through. It basically acts as an anchored sleeve that the gear cable can slide in and out of as the suspension compresses.
I occasionally squirt some fork juice inside just to reduce wear. So far its been perfect and there is obviously no damage to the frame.
I did think about re-routing but this works great, especially if you use an aftermarket gear cable and seal the open section under the top tube.

Cheers sailor, so when the suspension compresses does the excess cable now loop near the mechs rather than by the seat tube? Think i’ll try that as when the cable bends at the top, down shifts are near impossible.

cant be arsed reading that massive review.

in summary?

yes the cable loops out by the rear mech. I replaced the mech cable with a JagWire one which allows for sealing of the open section under the top tube and ever since it has run perfectly. Prior to doing that I was still having some problems with shifting which was down to crap getting inside the cable.

The above was my last resort, if it didnt work I was going to re-route along the chain stay, over the BB and up the down tube, I already bought the stick on cable guides but havent needed them.

WTF is going on with that seatpost on the green one? That is an abomination. Does the owner actually ride it like that?

It’s called a Gravity Dropper, you may or may not be familiar with them, they’ve been about for a while…

What do you think the “dropper” part of the name is for?

“Dropping” it when riding on technical terrain; as I wasn’t at that point, I didn’t bother. I’m sorry it’s upset you so much…

I’m just amazed that you can ride on any territory with the post that high. Seriously, that’s not normal. Your arse must be higher than your head.

I’m amazed your amazed.

Having suffered a fairly saggy mid-stroke on the RP23 BV with XV can that came on my 2011 Blood, I swapped the XV can out for a standard volume can yesterday. A vast improvement – I was previously having to ride with the ProPedal on all the time to try and firm up the rear. No need for PP anymore, it feels a lot better and I can tell from the o-ring that I’m using “appropriate” amounts of travel instead of nearly bottoming on every hit.