Well have fun mate. If you're gonna ride mainly ntural and trail centres in the UK and not do uplift days I reckon the 5's your man. Its a very flexible unit.

Find the way if you can to get the handle assmebly off the window. Some of mine have blanking plates where two screws are and you can just take them off and replace them.

Well I guess you could ask for nothing. Not sure which year they changed the floats to Silver. Give Craig a ring at Stif in Summerbridge. He's ultra helpful I'm sure he could sort you out. You could even bob up to Stainburn with a demo bike and try my 5 at the same time :wink:

I only believe what I know through experience

So when did you last ride a decent kitted 5 and Alpine and what did you dislike about them ?

A guy in Morzine took my bike off the lift at the top and was shocked how light it was. Its a good strong bike no question. No matter what colour forks you prefer Chris you can always swap em easily enough :wink:

Maybe some of my love of Oranges is due to the fact I never buy a complete stock bike. I always buy a frame and build it up using my own components so I never have to worry about wheel spec, brakes etc. I therefore don't really feel qualified to comment on component spec on standard bikes.
But thats part of the atraction of MTB to me – if you don't like something or you need to upgrade, its easy and fun to do so.

I always thought single pivot very clearly didnt work perfectly, thats why they need to use fancy shocks with platform damping etc

Why does the 5 keep winning trail bike of the year then ?

Don't get suckered into believing that all these linkages are required. I had a Trek Liquid before my 5 with a mulilink back end and the 5 is unquestionably better.

I'd say look at the options from Giant, Specialized, Trek, Santa Cruz etc (any of the big names) because they know what their doing when it comes to suspension and they use sus designs that actually work, as opposed to a single pivot

Wow what a load of old tosh that was. Do you work for Halfords ? :o

I could write chaper and verse about how my 5 has lasted much longer at the back end than my mates Stumpy and how much stiffer it is but you sound like you've already made your mind up.

Whats wrong with single pivot ? You saying Orange have had it wrong all this time ? You mentioned Santa Cruz – despite your claim they use a single pivot so what exactly is your argument ?

You know, thats the main thing I love about my Oranges – absolutely simple at the rear, 2 bearings, any play change them and not have to worry if you've picked the right pair of bearings to change out of 16 or so. Whats the issue with single pivot when clearly (and very clearly) it works perfectly ?

Chris I haven't got a stock bike – I bought the frames and built both bikes myself. The Alpine only weighs a tad more than the 5.

IMO its all down to what sort of riding you're going to be doing. If its general XC and trail centres I'd get the 5. If you're after regular trips to the Alps, uplift days and more aggressive use I'd consider the Alpine.

Having said that, I took my 5 to the Alps in 2007, gave it a really good pasting and it coped admirably, embarassing some much bigger bikes in the process, and I wasn't hanging about :P

Sometimes when I ride my 5 I wonder what the point was of me building the Alpine. It seems to jump better than the Alpine, but the Alpine does land pretty sweet with that extra bit of travel.

I honestly think if I did an enduro event on both bikes there would be nothing between them.

The Alpine does look pretty sweet though, even with rental forks :P

Here's what it should look like;

I've got both and got to admit the 5 feels slightly more nimble than the Alpine. I've got 160 Floats on the Alpine and it doesn't feel that unpleasant to climb at all – quite surprising.
I've taken both to the Alps and not a huge amount in it, though the Alpine does come down very well indeed.
I've also done a couple of enduro races with them both and again theres not a lot in it.
The 5 feels super sweet when I'm back on it. To be honest it really does take some beating. I've got 36 Talas on it and trim the travel when climbing & descending.
The one thing I do like about the Alpine is the external routing for the rear mech cable. Keeps the back end much quieter. My 5 feels noisy when I ride it now.

I've just solved my Alpine rattling noise. It was the pads in my tech M4's jiggling around a little in the caliper, the front particularly. Try dragging the brakes on slightly when its doing it and see if it goes away.

Forks were rental Pikes. I busted my 36 Floats on the first day and they ended up spending most of the week being sorted.

Well back now and everything went fine. Case was 16kg and bike bag was 24 on way out. I put my armour in the bikebag and never was an issue.

Coming back I had some extra stuff in the bike bag and it was up to 27kg. The case was still about 16kg. The check in staff wanted to look inside my bike bag but a quick glance confirmed what she had thought – there was only a bike in there :)

Anyway, I found Easyjet superb. They dealt with a LOT of bikes on the way out as it was Passporte week but were admirable and didn't leave any behind despite teh pilot saying they were on the verge of not fittign them all in.

Top marks Easyjet – I for one will be using you again.

btw I did have an e mail from Easyjet which confirmed the 50kg limit for bike and suitcase, no single item can be over 32kg. You can also have a piece of hand luggage that has no maximum weight limit so long as it meets their dimensional requirements and you can lift it into the overhead locker unaided.

He brought Heskey on when we needed 3 goals.

Enough said. Our lass could have made an equally pathetic decision.

I deal with Chinese manufactured products through my work and visit China fairly regularly. My experience of them is that the large western company branded products are OK (Sony for example – of course they keep quality standards tight)

However, in terms of engineeing, if the Chinese areleft to their own devices they get the basics right but miss the detail and their domestically designed and manufactured product ends up being garbage. All the underground mining product I'm involved with thats being copied by the Chinese is absolute rubbish as they cut corners on steel quality etc.

Bat on by all means but be wary of what you might be buying. They generally have a very different view to us on what acceptable quality is unless they are properly controlled.

Hmm defo got a problem with mine. It does me 2 hours sat on my desk but 15 minutes or so on the bike, obviously with some vibration.

The audio crackles when on a bumpy service so I suspect something is loose :(

Cool – I'll leave all well alone then. Thanks chaps :)

Thanks again guys. I will print off their terms and run a highlighter through them before we leave on Wednesday.

Weather has been terrible for the last week but its looking like its hotting up just in time for us :)

Apparently the Chevanne was back to being dry and dusty today. First day with no rain for a week.

Sorry Inkster I'm not old enough to remember the national anthem being played last thing at night.

However, regardless of the contents of the song, it IS our national anthem and I feel a sense of pride whenever its played, either on the box or at an event. And I will stick my hand on my chest and belt it out when I'm at a national game.

I just think its crap that some players don't think its necessary to join in. I reckon theres more pride in the national rugby union squad.

Nice one thanks. I'll dump as much stuff in there as I can.

Are you sure this 50kg limit is correct guys ?

I really hope I'm wrong about this as I'm off to Geneva on Wednesday, but this is straight from the Easyjet website. I still can't work out whether I have a 50kg or a 32kg limit for my case and the bike. Does anyone have any experience of this ? At the moment I'm interpreting this that my bike and case must not weigh more than 32kg.

Each passenger is allowed a maximum hold baggage weight of 50 Kgs including any sports equipment, subject to available space. The maximum weight for any single piece of baggage is 32 kgs.
An additional non-refundable fee is charged per item per flight for the carriage of the sporting equipment as set out in the table below:
Currency Per flight (when pre-paid) Per flight (paid at the airport)
GBP 18.50 26.00
EUR 25.00 35.00
CHF 39.00 54.00
DKK 190.00 255.00
CZK 690.00 970.00
HUF 6,600.00 9,200.00
PLN 100.00 140.00
SKK 935.00 1,265.00
MAD 275.00 380.00

Payment of the additional fee increases your checked-in hold baggage allowance (including additional item) to a maximum weight of 32kgs.
Where your total checked-in hold baggage weighs more than 32Kgs, normal excess baggage charges as set out above shall apply in addition to the above fee.

"Refusing to sing it was the best thing Rooney did all night"

What a load of garbage. We're not talking about scrutinising the lyrics here, which Rooney would never fathom anyway, we're talking about putting a clenched fist on your heart and singing with the fans with pride and passion.

Liek it or not thats our national song which should provoke pride and determination. Opting out of it shouldn't be an option.

I'm pretty angry with their whole attitude, who knows how those poor buggers that paid thousands to go watch are feeling these morning.

Utter garbage. I'm not at all concerned now that I'm missing Wednesdays match. Especially as I'll be checking in for a flight to Geneva for the Passeport Do Soleil in Morzine :)

Higgo you'd probably think differently if you'd spend a couple of grand to go watch that pile of carp

And Rooney hasn't even got enough passion to take part in the national anthem the miserable little scrote.

Rooney played with passion ? I must have been watching a different game.
What a load of old horse cack. Overpaid prima donnas. Gerard was crap, Rooney, Lampard, Heskey say no more, I mean come on – we're playing potentially against the best teams in the world and Heskey was on the plane as the best we've got. We might as well have sent Ainsley Harriot. Sorry but Capello is no better so far than any other manager we've ever had, including Graham Taylor.
I really hope Rooney gets his lip out about this and realises why the crowd were so vocal after the game. Did he really expect applause ?

Yeah theres always room for optins, especially at Glentress, surely theres enough room there for trails to suit all abilities. Shame if they ruin it, its by far the best of the Stanes IMO. Looking forward to the Mash Up there in July :P

Foxes kill chickens for the fun of it. I grew up on a farm and from time to time a fox would get into an enclosure and kill every chicken in there but only take one or two.

Farmers for this reason hate them – Warton protecting them is almost impossible. Everybody wants free range eggs and you can't build a foxproof fence right the way around huge fields full of chickens. They want to be outside in the daytime and in the coops at night.

Snaring is a terrible means of dealing with any issue like this and I'm sure the fox would have much to say whilst trapped in the snare, no doubt scarring all the kids in the street for life. Assuming its crapping in your garden or rummaging through the bins, contact your council and see if they can get someone to sort it.

Foxes might be nice to look at but they do cause problems that need dealing with, especially for farmers.

Becky Mantin every time. Superb.

btw theres plenty of pics coming online now at :

http://www.olivercoats.co.uk/index.php?option=com_g2bridge&view=gallery&Itemid=59
http://www.ksgphotography.co.uk/portfolio97112.html

Had a great day. Have to say Ae wasn't the best venue, felt like it was there as the only option. Would have much preferred Glentress or Kielder.
That said, still had a great time. As 128, I saw the guy that came off on SS4 pretty early as the marshalls were seeing to him. Hope he's come out of it OK.
Didn't like the seeding run thought the corners were too flat with it being a descent made out of a climb, but then I do prefer it fast and bermy. All in all I think it was a good test of all aspects of riding combined, including the nasty climb on SS4 and the pedally SS3.
Closing the gap jump may have disappointed a few of you but I reckon it was teh right thing to do. We saw the guy that faceplanted off there shortly after and he was a bit of a mess. Hope you've patched up well mate.
I wasn't sure about the 2 x 2 thing before the race but Andy my compardre was quality. We had a laugh and it put a nice new angle onto the event. Good to see strangers meeting on the line, shaking hands and I'm sure some leaving as mates.
Massive respect to Sam, the guy on the blue rigid that came off on the logs on SS6. Me and my mates got to him to try and help him out. He had a bit of a hole in his temple but jumped to his feet when we suggested he wait for a medic and finished the stage to a massive roar.
If anyone wants to contact him to offer some respect his name is Sam Karangatha and he's on Facebook. He's also got a couple of vids on youtube if you Google his name. Looks pretty quick through the woods in Sheffield as it goes.
Saw him at Kielder last year and hope to see him racing again soon. Gonna link him this thread to see if he'll come along for some praise :P
Finally, testament again to what a great crowd MTB'ers are. We accidentally left a PRO2 wheel outside the van when we left for practice on Saturday. When we got back it was still there, untouched 8)

Uppers for my 36's are £180 and Mojo wanted about £90 to service on top so best part of £300.

Got one mate but I'm thinking of dropping the stack height. Inset would be perfect. Tried a Crank Brothers Iodine but cracked on pressing in. Utter garbage. Made me realise how well made the Kings are.

Thanks very much for that. Looks perfect, just nees to be 3 grand cheaper ;o)

Ask them if its true they're gonna start re-opening the coal mines

Have a look on Coronation Street – theres a couple on there.
Oh hang on – they're Rugmunchers.

If a decent looking bird can't hold onto a bloke she's either healed up or a nutcase – period

You're a saint Rochey – takes a real man to go down there not knowing what really to expect. Only a true friend would do such a thing.
I'm sure you'll be one day happy in the knowledge you got to say goodbye properly, many don't get such a chance.
Respect to you mate, my deepest sympathy and keep doing what a friend does.

Sorry to hear your terrible news mate. Spend plenty of time around friends and family and don't get hung on up thinking you'll always feel numb. You'll learn to deal with it in time, of course you'll always miss her and so you should.
Post up on STW if you need to ride – even if your bikes somewhere else, you'll get a volunteer to ride with you and probably lend you a bike at the same time. That goes for me if you're in the Leeds area.

My 5's aren't noisy but then again i did build them with TLC

Got two fives and I love em both. Both have noisy Hope freehubs and I love those too. In fact I love just about everything that qualifies to have a Union Jack on it, apart from Austin Ambassadors :D
LOL @ Cupidstunt – I find my "noisy" bikes soon disappear out of earshot on the descents :lol: