Im in the market for a new trial bike and looking at the new Five, my last Five was an 18″ and it fit great, but its now 17″M & 19″L,
Question is which is closer to the 18″ did the 17″ replace it on the size chart, and what size did you buy?
Here is a picture of a filing cabinet to ward off haters from the get go.

How tall are you / what is your cycling inseam?

A few mm under 6ft, 32″ inseam.

The 17″ is going to have the geometry that is closest to your old 18″. The effective top tubes are roughly the same (602mm vs 600mm) and the standover is in the same ballpark (755mm vs 745mm).

I’d say if you are happy with your current bike then the 17 would be the way to go but as always test ride if you can.

Theres a Orange demo day coming up at Biketreks Ambleside on the 15th of March.. 😉

Yep I’d reckon slinging a leg over one really, same with any bike

I intend to, I just don’t have a lot of time off.

I had an older 18 inch 5 and when it came for upgrade went for the 19 – The 17 seemed a little too small and too much seatpost.

We’ll I tried both sizes, the reach on the 17″ felt best but it needed a mile of seat post, the 19″ with a short stem felt like a gate, intact it felt like the most numb bike I have ever tried.

My older Five was an 18″ frame and I’ve replaced it with a new 17″ 650b version – my position on the bike is very similar proably because the effective top tube lengths a virtually the same.

I’ve ended up with the right length of bike plus a bit more (much valued) standover!

The 19″ would have added another 25mm (ish) to the top tube length and I’m not sure whether I would have had enough room for a 125mm drop dropper.

How tall are you Simon?

I went from an 18″ 5 which felt fine but always as if I was right at the limit of the sizing to a 19″ 5 29 that feels perfect. Had a 20″ 5 way back when that was too big.

I guess it depends how your 18″ feels. Do you have loads of seat post showing? Have you shortened the stem and if you did was it better after? If your 18’s bang on the money I’d probably go 17″ rather then bigger.

I don’t have a Five at the moment, I’ve been riding my Patriot which feels pretty good size wise that’s an 18″ with 600ish top tube but has less standover.
This is how I ran my old Five seat post.

that bike ‘looks’ too small for the rider IMO. Always think full sussers look odd with saddle higher than bars too, but thats just me 🙂