Running 130mm U Turn Revs on my 2009 Five – They're absolutely fine. I think the 's' comes with 130mm RS Recons from the factory anyway? IIRC the axle to crown height on the RS forks is similar to the Fox, despite the extra 10mm travel.

Having said that, I will be going for Pikes or 140mm Foxs with a 15mm axle when the time comes to replace them. I just happened to have the revs when I bought the frame. The Five encourages harder faster riding which cries out for a stiffer tougher feeling fork.

Can't believe there aren't more from Withnail & I on here:

Withnail: "We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here, and we want them NOW"

and:

I: 'How dare you. How dare you tell him I'm a toilet trader!'

Withnail: ' If I hadn't told him you were active, we'd never have got the cottage'

IMO this is a very simple system, you just tighten the bolt to slide the crank arm onto the axle, when it won’t go any further you know it’s on right. To remove, you just undo it and the self extracting bolt will pull the crank off the axle. Couldn’t be simpler really, none of the headset style preloading of the Shimano system.

Looking great.

Interesting comment from Tinsy on the shadow rear mech – just put an SLX on to replace an old ( 2005?) XT when I built up my Five, seems much noisier – or is that just the old Orange swingarm amplifier effect?

I’d go with the Five ( which I have!) which is pretty much perfect for most stuff, then stick burlier wheels/tyres/forks for anything more extreme.

That said, the Blood is good fun (Test rode one when I tested the Five), you would just have to put up with it on climbs too. Depends where your preferences lie.

Oooo, not so sure about the wheels now… obviously you will strip the black off the spokes and spray the rims with black hammerite? ;-)

No, as I suspected, they look great. Can’t wait to see it finished.

The black frame/ silver kit reminds me of some bikes I lusted after in the early ’90s – Marin Bear Valley springs to mind.

Love the negative wheels idea, should look very pimpy.

Messages and Wall posts seem to stay indefinitely unless you delete them.

The ‘Chat’ bit (like MSN) I think disappears, though they may hold some on file as other have mentioned.

Estate here. Can get two bikes (wheels off) into the boot with the seats still up.

I’ll second Spesh Adrenalines ( now Resolution ). Folding dual compound 2.0 ones are light, fast and a great all rounder, though do clog in really thick mud, but then what doesn’t other than a specific mud tyre. Mine have lasted over two years in Spain, Wales, South Downs and Surrey Hills.

Would give The Captains a try too. Also on my list are Nevegals 2.1 DTC Folding.Have been impressed with them on a friends bike, and seem less prone to clogging than the Adrenalines in the same conditions.

6’0″ here- Long legs, shorter body. 18″ is spot on for me with either 70mm or 90mm stem.

I had an 18″ inbred too which was perfect, so would say if your 456 was a good fit, the 18″ five should be too.

19.5″ Handjob was way too big for me.

No substitute for testing one though.

mastiles_fanylion – maybe you shouldn’t have been on the footpath, but frankly the guy deserved you to stand back up and punch him square in the face. It takes a lot of self control not to – I think you should take the moral high ground on this one.

I’m also 100 % behind Gingerbloke, if you are on a public road which you have just as much right to be on as the walker and they decide to step into your path, then they fully deserve any elbow/tit interface that may occur as a result.

Still paying 6% on my mortgage as I fixed it 2 yrs ago. Got a kid on the way in June, so we will be on one income for a bit.

Therefore, no foreign holidays this year, we’re keeping our 12 year old car with 170k on it and not buying a new TV, even though we’re currently watching a 20 yr old 14″ portable which only shows everything in green.

But actually I don’t really mind any of this as I’m really looking forward to being a dad. Oh and I just bought a new Orange Five which rocks.

If childhood BMX shenannigans in the woods don’t count, then 1988, shortly after buying issue 1 of Mountain Biking UK at Charing Cross station whilst on a day out to London with my dad!

First was a 15 spd Emmelle Cougar 15 (21″ with room to grow of course – I was only 12!) then, like Joxster – Had a white Raleigh Technium around 1990 – The ‘Chill’ I think, aluminium bonded frame was fairly space age at the time. Followed by saracen Tuff Trax comp which was nicked while I did my paper round on it and replaced by an Alpinestars Al-mega.

Sadly (or not, perhaps) I then discovered girls, cars and beer around 17 and didn’t go near a bike until 2004 – when I was utterly confused by all the new terminology and genres…what happened to just ‘riding’?…things had moved on a huge amount, though I certainly don’t miss the endless hours spent trying to set up cantilever brakes ‘just so’!

Glad to say I still ride with some of the same guys I did aged 12.

Just comb it over/slick it back for the interview. I wouldn’t say it was a particularly long/wild mane!

Wear it with the aforementioned suit/tie/shoes combo, job’s a good’un.

If you still have any play, undo the 8mm bolt ( it’s self extracting) to remove the non driveside arm. Re grease the splines on the axle end, re fit and re-torque the 8mm bolt. It may take a few goes to eliminate all play, as stated in the fitting instructions, this is normal.

Mine was fine straight off and has been for 2 years. IMO it is a far simpler and less faffy method of fitting than Shimano.

Check you are using the correct number of spacers – none for 73mm BB shell, two for 68mm ( I think!).

Right then, I’ll be commencing battle tomorrow night and will report back. In the meantime, thanks and keep any others coming!

Sharki – Vacuum hose? Have you tried this?

I’m thinking I’ll try just the inner on a coathanger, then once it’s through, slide the outer over it back the other way, ie from the rear of the swingarm.

Still not sure about the hose though, I presume I just drain the whole thing then refill and bleed again?

By the way I should add I’ve just bought a 5 after testing one on a demo day. Very happy with my decision!

The Orange 5 and the Orange Diva are essentially the same bike. The Diva being a female specific version with different geometry, eg.it has a shorter top tube and stem, ladies saddle, narrower bars etc. Spec wise the Diva only comes in one spec, roughly equivalent to the Orange 5 ‘Pro’.

If it’s a bit over budget, you can (I think) buy it frame only and build it up to a similar spec as the Orange 5 ‘S’.