We went both days – rode in to the venue to save faff with parking etc. Also rode a bit of the course on Saturday – fairly..er…'interesting' on 140mm full sussers, so gotta give it to the racers blatting round on race hardtails – if they were that fast on short travel hardtails, it'd be interesting to see how fast they could descend on a FS trail bike! Worry Gill was a superb spectator venue, 'cos the terrain formed a natural amphitheatre – kind of difficult to put into words, but it felt like you were standing in a 360 degree meele of speeding bikes. Got the impression that a lot of work had gone into making it interesting for spectators. Also pretty challenging for riders, definately a serious step-up to some of the European venues I've visited.

If I had any criticism it'd be that the catering was a pretty poor. The food was almost all chips & burgers (not many healthy options), queues on Sunday were massive and a couple of the tea wagons kept running out of food and water.

The specatators were also a bit subdued compared to a lot of countries, and it lacked the atmosphere of races in other Euro countries – but I guess it was a lot of peoples first time at a big mountain bike race – maybe also a bit of English 'can't be extrovert unless we're pi**ed' reserve coming into play. (the kids were generally cheering and screaching at every rider though :lol: ).

I really hope they get to host the race next year, we'll def. be going along again if it is. (just take a big picnic next year!)

Louie Spence and a load of UKIP et al as his gimps.

Maybe Essex as Gulag.

Junkyard – Member
was it a oestrich egg or hard bolied ?

Pity it was not a dog egg.

or maybe a hard boiled ostrich egg :-)

p.s. er…..Vote for Change – yes, for the worse!!

In my mottly bike collection, I've got a 2004 Fox TALAS, coil sprung Revs with motion control, brand new Dual Air Revs with black box damping, Fox Vanilla RLCs, oh, and some new Floats. (err..and until recently some DT Swiss XMC130's).

TBH, the only one's that I've had problems with were the DT's. The Fox's have been fine, even though the TALAS's went over 4 years without a service (ahem). Performance wise, I think the Rockshox motion control damping is probably the least refined feeling of all the forks – the standard Fox damping is definately better at fast repeated hits. The black box damping on the new Revs is probably the best of the lot, although I've found the dual air takes a bit of faffing to get it feeling just right – despite all the hype it ain't as good as a coil spring.

Wouldn't worry about the reliability of either Fox or Rockshox, both seem way better than the other makes.

Currently v.peed off because a client owes me a few grand for work that I've done for them. There's no problem with the quality of the work or anything, but I've recently found out they're pi$$ing other sub-contractors about (using 'the recession' as a lame excuse to delay paying everyone) :twisted:

…the main downside of self-employment

Apologies for rant – you'd never guess I was peed!

p.s. hope yer luck changes!

unless they're that particular variety of bored lookin' hipster that bikeshops seem to employ a lot- they're all ***ts

hee hee..and there was me thinking that they were only employed by climbing shops :wink:

hmmm….blimey, got me thinking there….red hubs, black rims…yummy! (now if they started offering coloured spoke nip options eh?! – I know I'd never be able to make my mind up:)

Yes I'm thinking pro3 xc3 or 6 on crest to upgrade my XC hardtail. I'm on the borderline weight wise 85kg in kit maybe a bit more depending how much water I carry.

My wife's been running Pro3 XC6 with DT4.2's on her bike (which she's selling BTW) and they're bloomin' brilliant, but she's after something lighter as she doesn't need the extra strength of the 32 spokes and 4.2 rims. I'll let her know about the Crest/Pro 3 combo.

p.s. cheers for the info.

I think it is sort of work in progress and needs time to shake down what stock works for the customer profile in Sheffield for the time of year. Stuff gets thrown up on display for an opening, its keeping the standards up and mix just right.

Yeah, I think you're probably right there. I've recently bought a bike from EBC Sheff (very good deal), along with a few of bits of clothing – and have found the staff there to be pretty good. Seems a good mix of people working there – not just surly/snobby bike geeks. One of the mountain bikers that works there is mega-enthuastic and can talk tech with the best of 'em, but he's very down to earth. Might not be the perfect shop stocking everything a mountain biker needs, but it's a refreshing change to the usual local shops – and nice to see loads of families with kids and commuters using it.

OP, please tell me more. I've been told conflicting stories, some people reckon the Crest is replacing the 355, but when I posted a query on the NoTubes support website, they reckon the 355 isn't being replaced by the Crest.

TBH, I'm hoping ('scuse the pun!) that Hope will offer the Crest on their factory builds. Just wondered if this is what you're waiting for?

I'm running Flows & 2.35" Nevegals on my 'Trail' bike and 355's and 2.1" Nevs on my XC bike. I weigh about 13.5 stone and am a reasonably aggressive/clumsy rider. Have been very impressed with the 355's, stiff and strong, and relatively wide – 2.1 tyres plump up well on 'em. Light enough for the bike to have a real zippy feel. I've wrenched 'em around a bit and they're still true.

The Flow wheels definately feel stiffer though, and they really give 'fat' tyres a good foundation. I run 20 to 25psi tubeless (Stan's) and don't get much rolling of the tyre on the rim. They're also very confidence inspiring through rock gardens. Only drawback is that, compared to 355's, they take a little bit more effort to accelerate up to speed (but they're def not porkers by any means).

Personally, I think for the type of riding & bike you mention, I'd go with the Flows and stick some nice fatties on :-)

So I guess he can afford to take us back to 'the good old days' when MP's couldn't claim expenses – and only the super wealthy could afford to become MP's?

I've got 2.35 DTC Nevs on my Orange Five and currently using the 2.1 version on my Anthem X. FWIW, I run 'em tubeless with Stans gunk. I've also tried Advantages, Minions, er…and loads & loads of others (got a bit of a tyre habit y'see).

Keep coming back to the Nevs, 'cos I think they've got a good pretty good balance of lowish rolling resistance, grip and mud clearing. I'm a pretty aggressive 'XC/trail' rider and love ripping berms and carving corners – and haven't had any problems with cornering grip, although the 2.35's are definately more confidence inspiring for real mentalist cornering :-).

Ah, the thread title brought back fond memeories of a Swedish lady I once knew (almost required safety glasses).

er…apologies for non bike wheel nipple reply :roll:

Am I a freak?

Yes, you wierdo :wink:

Seriously though, I know plenty of people who don't get on with FS's.
I ride a steel HT and FS and can appreciate where you're coming from. Personally, I think there's nothing like a hardtail for keeping your skills fresh – but also like the 'terrain taming' nature of my FS.

A few months back myself and another bloke were shown up by two fellas in their late 50's on 1980's hardtails. We were sessioning one of the Peak District descents on our 5" travels bikes, when the two guys came down on their old HT's – one was a fully rigid Specialized with pannier rack!

I've used various car waxes on quite a few bikes over the years. Never had any problems with the wax reacting with paint or decals, though have had one or two alu frames where the paint has bubbled and flaked – however, I think this were more likely to be caused by poor preparation prior to painting/powder coating. Definately reckon a coat of wax makes the bikes easier to clean.

well its only a 14 inch frame cos im a tiny person that rides it… im 4ft 11 inches small so no point in sticking me on a 15 or 16 inch frame… my legs wud never touch the floor or the pedals come to that ! lol… nope my bike has to be tiny just for me ! my hardtail bike is only 13 inch frame !

Cool – well y'know what they say, the best things come in small packages :wink: (tho big cardboard boxes with new bike frames in are also quite nice :D )

p.s. re:fork lockout – have got 2009 Fox RLC's on my (er..ouch, sorry now my wifes) Five. I only used the lockout 2 or 3 times before I gave up with it – problem I found was that when turning the lockout on and off, it altered the settings for compression and rebound, because these are all on the top of the same fork leg. It works OK if everything is super clean, but as soon as a bit of mud or grit gets on the dials, they start clogging and turn together when using the lockout lever. They might have changed the design of the lever for 2010(?), but personally, I find it more trouble than its worth on my forks.

As far as travel adjust goes, I've had same experience as Mary Hinge. Although I can recommend the DT XMC130's – 'cos thier travel adjust 'lock-down' has an automatic blow-off control, in case you forget to re-extend the fork before a descent – works really well (just a shame I've no longer got a bike that they'll fit :cry: )

Ta for the images of the Apple Green, wow, I can see why you like it – Looks miles better on the bike than the colour sample tube (hmm…now how would that look with white forks…? argh, damn these white forks – knew I should have gone for black) Very dinky looking bike BTW, makes my current bike look like a gate :-)

Take care to inspect them for damage regularly, not just the bits you can see but also under grips and clamps and use a torque wrench for peace of mind and you'll be fine.

I'm also pretty convinced that they are more comfortable than alu bars, based on relative levels of hand pain – nowadays it doesn't bother me but it used to.

Ta for the advice, I'll dig the torque wrench out. Seem to remember reading/hearing someone else who said they're more comfortable for their stiffness than a alu bar – this is exactly what I'm after if possible; something that's stiff & wide enough for a bit of trail wrestling, but not a real palm buzzer.

Never had any issues- and I'm no lightweight jeycore rider…

That's what I like to hear :-) Last time I looked at carbon bars, they were all narrow xc racer type stuff – which isn't really my style.

I can appreciate what you're saying about shelling out £50 – but having made a very expensive mistake buying without demoing off road, I now make sure I demo potential new bikes properly, esp. if they're £1000's rather than £100's.

p.s. I ended up buying an Orange Five after having a 'proper' demo. TBH, when I had a quick bash up & down the roads around the shop I was very underwhelmed by it – but when I thrashed it round my familiar off-road trails, it completely made sense, and I could understand the rave reviews.
Really glad I went to the effort of demoing it off-road.

The ST4 SE featured in the brochure is in 'Pearl Black' – has anyone got a Five in this colour?

Thanks for all the replies – still haven't made final decision on colour :roll: Don't know if anyone has seen the 2010 Orange brochure, but there's a gorgeous Chrome Grey SE in there. I know I'm being a complete anorak, but I really like the look of white outline stickers they've used on the SE in the brochure (really go with my new white forks :-) )

Think I'll have to drop orange a line and see if the frame only in Chrome Grey comes with those 'outline' stickers.

p.s. also like the colour of the ST4 on facing page of brochure (gonna see if I can find the colour on O's website)

FWIW, I've also tried a 140mm Vanilla RLC and, more recently, one of the latest 150mm Revelations. Personally, I felt the Vanilla suited the bike really well – whereas the 150mm fork just seemed to give a little bit of a 'perched on the bike' feel. Headset idea is worth a try – certainly cheaper than a new fork. Best of luck.

I recently got my 5 year old Five refinished back at Orange H.Q. and it looks fantastic!

Wow, very nice – like the little touches of red aswell.

Crikey, what a coincidence, I replaced my Sugar+ with a 405 too (but am currently using it as donor for yet another build). 510mm does sound like the optimum axle-crown length. I ran mine with the DT XMC130 and it suits the bike very well – as simwit has mentioned, it was apparently designed around this fork (or the Pace version).

If you're interested I am thinking of selling the fork, as my new bike is running a 160mm. Fork is in excellent condition and has been serviced by Pace.

p.s. with the XMC on it should certainly be less twitchy than your old Sugar+

has anyone got photos of their 'apple green' or 'kermit green' bikes that they don't mind posting?

p.s. saw a 'standard' orange frame in the shop today and it looked like it'd got a metallic flake in it – can anyone confirm if the standard orange is metallic – 'cos it looked very nice.

That reminds me of my favourite from last year – the geezer who dressed up as Steve Peat and used hand-coloured cardboard to disguise his M3 as Peaty's V10. Class.

:lol: Brilliant! One of my fave photos on the website is 'Shaun the Sheep' negotiating the singletrack through the trees – the boggle eyes just crack me up.

Well spotted (price is certainly more appealing than the DT job)

Or do a half and half colourway, like Trek did on their team DH bikes a while ago. One side was white, the other blue, IIRC. Caused some confusion among the race marshals from what I read, as you end up with a different colour bike depening what side you ride past people.

Orange's folded ally construction would lend itself very well to this actually. As long as you remember to paint the opposite inside faces of the swingarm appropriately.
Absolute classic! You could have a right laugh with this and a 50:50 costume – hmmm….that gives me an idea for this years Wharncliffe Weekender fancy dress ride.

Hey 'TheGingerOne', ta for posting the piccie of your bike, as it's exactly the the same spec as mine will have (stripping bits off current bike to do Five build). Cosmic grey is one of the colours I was thinking of, 'cos as you say, the £100 saving on std colour can be well spent elsewhere.

Have to say though, I'm also well tempted by some of the non-standard colours.

p.s.

Apple Green here, but a British Racing Green……nice.
Begs a question of whether to get one of each

yup, I can see where you're coming from. Can you imagine winning the lottery and having one of every colour 8)

What size are you after?

I'm after an 18" ('large' I think)

p.s. get well soon!

Yea, I knew I was in trouble when my wife had "just a quick go" on the demo Five that I borrowed last year. Tried my best to put her off by telling her it's ploddy on climbs and really ponderous on tight singletrack, but the last time we were on hols she had to borrow the Five 'cos her bike was in bits – & that's when she worked out I was fibbing :?

My current masterplan is to make sure the new bike isn't in a colour that she likes – so powder blue's out of the question really. Gonna see what she reckons to Apple Green :-)

Bit of good news with my bike budget aswell – I've 'guilted' my wife for nicking my Fools Gold Five, so she's said that I can sell or trade in her old Spesh FSRxc to contribute to my new Five….Result! (should get at least 85p for it :wink:)

uuuhhhh…must resist Orange upgrade list…..

Glad to hear they're speccing some decent tyres now BTW.

Crikey, there I was thinking I'd narrowed it down to white or powder blue – then orange pops in to confuse matters :o does look pretty good with white forks. Oh, and as for the dayglo….where's my geiger counter 8)

Another colour I'd thought about was metallic chocolate brown with white forks – although it's OK, you're safe, 'cos Orange don't offer it as a custom colour….maybe if I er…..no don't!

I'm almost going into childish over-excitement now, 47 going on 7 !! Ltd edition 'Blower Five' with white fork…Phwoar, white frame and fork…hmmm yes, and just thought…powder blue with white fork?

(I'm sure it's over compensation for my parents not getting me a Raleigh Chopper when I was a kid heehee)

Ah yes, Fools Gold. That's the colour of the Five that my wife has adopted from me. Love that colour and fork combo btw – great minds think alike. Ace fork for the bike bike aswell, talk about monstering rock gardens and ripping up berms :D

Get a free colour (White here) and use the money towards upgrades

That's a v.good point – also quite lucky that two of the colours I like, cosmic grey & white, are free at the mo.

Got another decision now, buy a frame only and transfer kit over from current bike (a too small Pace 405), or dob the Pace in at Leisure Lakes for an off the shelf Five? ..hmmm..calculators out