well i put a pic on a while ago, it looks pretty much like the one on the orange website, i bought frame only and built it up from there.
I wanted a bigger bike that i could use for pretty much everything, wanted a slack head angle, 160 mm and bolt through rear and long wheel base. So i looked at the Nomad, the 160, Intense Uzzi, Meta 6. I wanted coil shocks so out went the meta, uzzi wasnt (still isnt) ready. The nomad, well i liked it, but didnt like the ride as much as i thought i would, so went with the 160.
I had a Stumpy FSR and a 08 Meta 5 with pushed pikes (for sale btw) prior to buying the 160. SO far i really like it, its done all my local rides, tow paths, woods, moors etc plus Stainburn, Hamsterley DH and black route, Dalby red route and i cant really fault it. Its exactly what i wanted, a bike that’ll do everything well.
Got round Dalby in 2 hours 30 mins on it, its fun to ride as you can go anywhere on it, its great to pedal, doesnt bob that i can notice (i sit and spin as opposed to mash thou) seems to carry speed well enough on the flat (im pretty fit though and commute to work 3 or 4 times a week)
Its not exactly going to be the best hill climbing bike, but its got up everything ive pointed it at pretty well, its not a handful, just slower than the stumpy, but better in every other way. I do the clims cos they are there, some are fun, most arent kind of there to get me to the good bits,so i dont care about being first to the top etc.
Overall i really like the bike, the coils feel soooooo much better than air forks or shoxs, so much more responsive and use their travel better and more effectively. It rides easily as well as the meta 5 but feels more stable and capable of pushing me alot further. However it is a big bike, and it is a single pivot, i can tell the difference from the FSR, but its not a bad different, just different. So if you want to use it for all day XC you need to be fit, so be realistic can you or do you want to carry the weight about with you, and will you use the extra umph you get as a result.
If you want a bike that’ll get to the top first, and sprint along in the big ring then get a skinny race bike, but in my opinion mountain biking is supposed to be fun its not road racing, the fun for me is in bashing through the landscape and jumping, dropping, riding whatever i fancy (or am capable of doing) so for that the alpine 160 is pretty perfect!