Orange – why no short travel 26" single pivot bike?

The Sub-5 had around 110mm travel.

I still love my Sub-5.
*high fives ex Sub-5 owner and lover*
I also had an ST4 (the first one) until I snapped it a few times.
I have also ridden on ‘5’s a lot.
I am a fan of quality of travel and enough to help but not a skills compensator / just an excuse to go uber fast beyond my skills limit.
I suspect that most of the market would see amount of travel is directly related to how ‘good’ a bike is.
However a fun bike is not just down to mm’s of travel, in my view.

No-one makes short travel bikes for 26″ wheels any more, because it’s a dead market now – except Transition, Banshee, Pivot, Specialized, to name a few….

3 of whom manufacture less bikes in total than Specialized do of one line of a sub model. What do Specialized do with less travel than an SJ in 26″?

People are buying & selling bikes that were designed & spec’d 18/24 months ago. Once this lot are gone that’s it. There was an article on the home page about wave of changing wheel size which is very close to the truth.

I’ve said before on here I work for a large manufacturer. We arn’t designing ANY 26″ wheeled bikes now. Right or wrong, everyone is in the same boat.

For the record, I love my 26 bike!

Any shorter travel than 140mm and you might as well move to better trails or pick a hardtail, of which Orange do plenty.

Any shorter travel than 140mm and you might as well move to better trails or pick a hardtail, of which Orange do plenty.

Have you just started riding mountain bikes?

Any shorter travel than 140mm and you might as well move to better trails or pick a hardtail, of which Orange do plenty.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

i just bought a 4″ 26er frame. low bb, slackish head angle

its 2005 vintage. its great. why do you need a *new* frame?

I run a banshee rampant, 100m of pure fun…and quick as you like..
perfect for surrey loam….

Any shorter travel than 140mm and you might as well move to better trails or pick a hardtail, of which Orange do plenty

ballshit right there, I’d rather be riding surrey everyday rather than vast parts of the UK…lots of rocks don’t always make for good trails.
Peak district springs to mind

ballshit right there, I’d rather be riding surrey everyday rather than vast parts of the UK…lots of rocks don’t always make for good trails.
Peak district springs to mind

Er, WTF?

Rocks make good trails. Always. The Peak would be nothing without them.

The Peak would be nothing without them

exactly, there is zero flow…

Don’t get me wrong, I love rocks but in the right context on a trail.

You aren’t riding fast enough. Batter over them and there’s flow. I’m not an especially good rider and I can get over them with something resembling flow.

not really my bag..!
by flow I mean loamy turns
https://vimeo.com/22691773
typical surrey riding and why a 100mm short travel 4x type bike is perfect.

I have to agree a bit with that, while I love the peak all my fave trails are the ones with more flow less rocks.

I’m currently trying to work out how to mix the front end geo of a reign with the forks of a trance & the rear of an anthem. I keep getting close but there is always a comprise & it’s working out which is best when nothing is quite right

Flux

I can floe the Peak on a HT if I try, same with the lakes, 150mm for the rest. Short travel for some trail centre stuff but in the end HT (with 150mm up front) or 150mm for me in the UK. Works fine, though so did 125mm

https://vimeo.com/22691773
typical surrey riding and why a 100mm short travel 4x type bike is perfect.

Wouldn’t agree re Surrey. There are loads of rocky & rooty trails, I guess you just need to know where to look. The one in the video isn’t bad, but I guess thinking about it I can see why trails involving loads of pedalling such as Barry knows best might give Surrey that sort of reputation.

olie – Member
A 100mmish “5” with a slack head angle and steep seat angle would rock!

Dropper seat post, maxles, big tyres, big bars and a 1 by. Perfect!

this works for me, pivot m4x
very low, very slack. r 100 f 120, 12.7/66 ish longish front/short rear

Look at 4X bikes. Some are very short in the top tube but not all – slack, strong, short travel.

Nicolai developed the Helius TB as a shorter travel trail bike – c120mm front or rear (you can run a little more or less). Looks like it would be ideal for trail centre riding. Not selling at all though – the interest is all at the 140mm level or above and has been for some years now.

As others have pointed out, you don’t save a lot of weight reducing the travel on the frame – most of the weight saving comes from lighter parts. 150mm forks etc got lighter. An air shock weighs the same on a 100mm bike or a 150mm bike at 200mm eye to eye (which will cope with both).

Wouldn’t agree re Surrey. There are loads of rocky & rooty trails, I guess you just need to know where to look. The one in the video isn’t bad, but I guess thinking about it I can see why trails involving loads of pedalling such as Barry knows best might give Surrey that sort of reputation

rocks, really where…the odd stone but rocks no!

That Nicolai ticks a lot of the right boxes, just way out of my price range.

There are a few 4x frames that look good too but I want them at trail bike weights, I know weight is a minimal issue but its a selling point

its not all about weight. my banshee is about 29lbs but accelerates so quick when you put the power down as there is minimal bob.

I know its not about weight but I think that does put some people off some of the 4x frames

Has anyone said SC superlight yet?

SC superlight? I’ve got one and it’s great 😀

🙂

I had one in my pre Nicolai days. 100mm on the back, 85mm set of Bombers on the front. I rode that all round the same natural trails in the Lakes and Peaks I ride now on my 150mm F+R Helius AC…

Certainly slower and would have been with more dabs but it coped…

As others have said, a lot of manufacturers are starting to feel the 26 short travel bike overlaps too much with a 29 inch hardtail/ 26 5 inch travel bike. Yeti would be another example doing away with the ASR-SL C.

For short travel single pivot currently being made I can only really think of the Santa Cruz Superlight and Morewood Zula…

I’m sure I had seen Cy say somewhere that if they weren’t looking for hardcore big bike strength, they could use a lighter tube set which should lead to an overall reduction in weight compared to the rocket.

Another vote for the Santa Cruz super light here, love mine.

Look at 4X bikes. Some are very short in the top tube but not all – slack, strong, short travel.

No good. I am 6’3 and need a 17.5″ seat tube minimum.

161037315288
Put that number into ebay job done 8)

That’s it 💡 , I’m getting my Turner Burner down from the loft & fitting it with a set of 120mm Reba’s this weekend, should be interesting ❓

The Hemlock came with 100mm rocker and a reasonably slack headangle.

this works for me, pivot m4x
very low, very slack. r 100 f 120, 12.7/66 ish longish front/short rear
Past caring
Got one coming for a test ride to replace my 5 🙂

Hmmm… That St4 looks familiar on eBay…

The superlight isn’t particularly slack is it?

I always thought the Saracen Ariel should have gone to 120 not 160

rocks don’t always make for good trails.
Peak district springs to mind

………. there is zero flow…

There’s plenty of flow, you just need to ride them quicker.

Can be difficult when the trails are clogged with out-of townees minceing down them complaining about a lack of ‘flow’ though. :p

Orange used to make the Blood – 127mm rear travel, slack, low, tough.

Best bike I owned up to the point it got nicked….

OOOhh look a thread for the same old names to spout the same old bollocks.

How very STW.

Just maybe some one wants to ride a bike that you don’t.

No need to try and make yourself look big by trying to shoot them down in flames because you can’t see a use for what they want. 😐

Though i’m sure there are a few bikes out there that aren’t made out of old filing cabintets that fit your bill OP. 🙂

I have a Superlight with 120 Reba’s full XT and Hope hubs and Stan’s rims 70 degrees headtube and 25.5 lbs. Just brilliant cope’s with all the UK mud and all the trails and singletrack I ride and totally bullet proof a real classic they always say in the mags.

Morewood Zula – soon to be available in 650b as well.

Well I built my old Turner Burner up (although obviously not a single pivot) & It’s not as slack as I would like, it also has a very high bb & not much stand over height. I have only given it a spin but I don’t think it will be a bike I will enjoy, but a low travel FS is on the wish list, I’m just undecided if it should be a 26, 650 or 29er, this choice malarkey just isn’t fun considering the money involved 🙁