Orange 5 AM

grantway

Hi all just wanted to know if i buy the Orange 5 AM is it still a XC country Bike ?
Or do i just change the cranks?

Or simply scrap the idea just as this bike has most of the updates as standard at a good
price just not sure to change the cranks for low level flooring.

Please reply

zero303

What riding are you planning on doing? The non AM Five is pretty hard hitting! I've got a Pro myself and it can take a fair beating yet climbs really well!

grantway

I ride mainly in Epping forest and go to Dartmoor

I tried the 5 pro and liked it as well as the new Stumpy but could not get on with
the brain shock had to keep getting of the bike for when the terrain changed
also felt the bike was slow.

Is the cranks on the 5 AM to small for cross country?
It looks like there missing one ring, the larger one.

Just want a bike where i put it in the back of the car and ride the trails

zero303

If thats the case, don't get the Five AM...

Yes, you'll be missing the outerring on the Five AM. Also, you get the heavier 36 Bolt thru axle Fox fork which if you're just trail riding will be unneeded extra weight.

What about the Five AM is appealing? Don't forget the Orange upgrade system is brilliant so you pretty much have whatever you want (inc colours), I just think having the 36 Float instead of the 32 Float would be a mistake, as would the 2 ring chain set...

grantway

ok cheers

I thought having the larger adjustable fork i could ride mostly anything going
down wards.

The shop did say i could put an extra ring on the crank and lose the
chain gard.

Just looked a great spec for the money.

What type of riding do you do?

zero303

Trail riding, occasional DH, freeride parks, black routes, small drops, bit of everything really.

I guess the thing to consider is the Pro comes in somewhere between 28lb and 29lb which is bloody respectable considering the travel and what it can handle. The Fox 36 Talas on the AM is going to add 1 1/3 lbs straight away, I suspect the Hope Moto V2s may add a fair bit too, I find the Hope Mono Minis with the 183mm rotor to be more than adequate stoppers!

You ain't going to be disappointed whatever you get though, I was out at CwmCarn and I bumped into a bike shop owner from the Isle Of Wight. He observed my bike looked fairly new (was it's first ride) and asked how I was getting on etc. Then said - "you're riding the best all-round trail bike ever made there, enjoy it!" and cycled off. Nice Chap!

grantway

That sounds great to know you have a perfect bike
How many other bikes do you hear people say that !

I think ill go ahead with the AM as the brakes are M4s

And the ring i can change and add one

Just so much money over the Stumpy but the ride was lifted to another level.

Are you in London ?

You will find your one is 28lbs in weight.

Cant wait to take it in the woods

Colours Disco Black have no idea what that looks like??

I could always find someone to sell the forks too as they on there own
are £ 699.99p God that sounds mad for a set of forks.

Could always swap for a set of Pike 454 which what i was going to stick
on the 5 pro

Thank you for your time in replying

Grant

zero303

There's just a lot people who don't rate the 5 though - although so far it's mostly been bike shops that don't stock Orange and wanted to sell me something else - one guy was trying to sell me a Stumpy, he said "oh yeah don't really rate the Orange Five, not that great and overpriced...". Ok, kind of a slight contradiction to just about every review of the Five since it came out. The test rides of both showed the Five to be the one to buy.

What I like about the Five is it never feels like a 5.5" travel bike until things get mental and you need it. I can be grunting up hills or be whipping through singletrack as if I was on a 4" bike (hardtail even!), go too fast into a rock garden or drop off and you suddenly remember you've got another 1.5" in reserve to soak it all up. I like that I can use the same bike for general trail riding, team enduro races and also for the local freeride park.

I'm in Bristol btw, South Wales is my playground.

If mine is 28lb rather than 29lb then that's awesome, looks like my target over the year is to get it down to 27lb now then!

I've only seen the Blue and Gold (which I went for) in the flesh. I'm sure you can't go wrong with the Black - especially if you get some black pikes on their as well - speak to your LBS, they might be able to get it built with Pikes! I went for the 32 Floats but I was offered RS Revelations which isn't even on the options list.

Re: selling the forks, mine came with the steerer completely uncut so you should get a good price for them.

Lemon Eddy

AM or Pro, you're going to be a happy bunny. I took both out for test days, and ended up buying the Pro - but it could quite easily have gone either way, the AM just that little bit handier up a hil, the Pro just that little bit handier going down.

Andy B

My 5 started out as a 'S' model with factory fitted braided hoses & Fox Float 130R forks, over the 18 months or so I've had it I've upgraded a lot of stuff, it handles everything I throw at it, red & black trails, xc stuff AM stuff, 2-3ft drop offs etc...

She looks lovely in Chrome Grey:

scottalej

I'd save a load of cash and buy the S with the wheel hub upgrade. Nothing wrong with the Recon fork or Avid brakes.

zero303

But the Fox Float is a steal at £65!!!

I actually started with an S and specc'd up to a Pro but went without the XT mechs/shifters and the RaceFace Crankset.

scottalej

I've never had much joy with Fox forks. They never give you anything near their advertised travel. I get 80mm from my Float 100 RL and got 105mm from a 130 RL. The Recon 351 130mm gave 125mm on yesterdays ride. Fox's also seem to need serviced more often at huge expense. Overrated IMHO. If you really want a good fork that's stiff, reliable and cheap to service buy a Magura.

zero303

Reviews seem to suggest they've fixed all that for '08...

papasmurf.

zero303 wrote:

oh yeah don't really rate the Orange Five, not that great and overpriced...".

funny I had nearly the same when looking at bike and asked about the 5 and was told oh ewe don't stock em anymore as they aren't value for money...why not try this kona dawg... erm no thanks.

anyway get a meta 5.5

zero303

I have to admit, the Meta does look like another bike where they've got the long travel, all day, do it all bike right!

Not ridden one yet but if it rides significantly better than the Five I'd be:

a) astonished and quite frankly terrified of it as the Five pushes me faster downhill than I ought to go and
b) not overly worried about my purchase as the Five is so good anyway

papasmurf.

well the new meta and 5 must be very similar as commencal seem to have stolen the rear end of the 5..though orange seem to have stolen the old meta linkage for the stp4..

Lemon Eddy

papasmurf. wrote:

well the new meta and 5 must be very similar as commencal seem to have stolen the rear end of the 5..though orange seem to have stolen the old meta linkage for the stp4..

Rented a new meta for a day. It's very good, but just seemed marginally less sorted than the 5. A little heavier (probably the linkage assembly) and a bit less happy on the climb, it also did not quite manage to absorb downhill silliness quite as well.

Of course that's likely to be very personal factor dependent. I'm a chunk heavier than most, so tend to test a suspension system rather hard.

Andy B

scottalej wrote:

I've never had much joy with Fox forks. They never give you anything near their advertised travel. I get 80mm from my Float 100 RL and got 105mm from a 130 RL. The Recon 351 130mm gave 125mm on yesterdays ride. Fox's also seem to need serviced more often at huge expense. Overrated IMHO. If you really want a good fork that's stiff, reliable and cheap to service buy a Magura.

Sounds like you've not got your forks set up properly if you're not getting the full travel, I do & I'm only 10st.

All forks cost about the same to service £70, that includes Rockshox, Manitou, & Fox.

I've not serviced my Float's in almost 2 years, still buttery smooth & working just fine.

scottalej

'I do & I'm only 10st' You've hit the nail on the head there. You only need low air pressures so there's less air to compress, you're therefor going to get more available travel.

Andy B

Er, forks & shocks should be set up on sag, so it doesn't matter if a lighter person has less pressure in the forks, it's all relative to the sag.

grantway

Was told the Meta 5 was slow and not as active and slower
and wouldnt lie it and its French!

Cant wait to get this bike be here in the week hip hip !!

Cant wait to see what thesr forks are like as you can wind down
the travel to 100 but would be kept at 140


Zero303 Looked at an old bike reveiw on the 5 and to get the weight down
they chose the Shimano EX T wheels and changed the seat post to
carbon.

Andy tell me regarding the sag thing is this not the amount of air you
put into the shock for your weight?

Thank you

clarkson

scottalej wrote:

I've never had much joy with Fox forks. They never give you anything near their advertised travel. I get 80mm from my Float 100 RL and got 105mm from a 130 RL. The Recon 351 130mm gave 125mm on yesterdays ride. Fox's also seem to need serviced more often at huge expense. Overrated IMHO. If you really want a good fork that's stiff, reliable and cheap to service buy a Magura.

really?? my 06 36's have been brilliant!! i prefer them to rockshox at the moment.

nicklouse

grantway wrote:

Hi Just about to pick up An Orange 5 AM this week but unsure
if i bought the right bike.

I was looking at the Orange 5 Pro but this bike had most of the additional
updates ont this bike.

Wanted adjustable shock and they are longer but are adjustable
was going to add the Pike 454,s

So if made the wrong choice i can always swap them with
someone else as these are worth £ 699.99p

The crank i am aware has only two rings but if i need to add a third ring
the bike shop told me they could to make it more XC

Just would like feed back on the above thank you

Grant

you do not need a new topic.

Andy B

grantway wrote:

Was told the Meta 5 ... and its French!

Wrong, it's from Andorra, not France.

Andy B

grantway wrote:

Andy tell me regarding the sag thing is this not the amount of air you
put into the shock for your weight?

Sag is linked to the amount of air in a fork, for a given rider weight. The heavier the rider the more air is needed to achieve the desired sag rate.

Regardless of rider weight sag should be set at approx 25%-30% for general XC/trail use.

scottalej

'Sag is linked to the amount of air in a fork, for a given rider weight. The heavier the rider the more air is needed to achieve the desired sag rate. '
Exactly. There is more air in the fork. So where's all that air going to go when it's trying to use up its full travel!!! That's why lighter people get more travel out of air forks. Less air to compress therefor more travel.

fozzybear

Andy_B wrote:

grantway wrote:

Was told the Meta 5 ... and its French!

Wrong, it's from Andorra, not France.

Andy being right that Commencial are from Andorra

it's a small principality between spain and france

here


more info here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra

nicklouse

scottalej wrote:

Exactly. There is more air in the fork. So where's all that air going to go when it's trying to use up its full travel!!! That's why lighter people get more travel out of air forks. Less air to compress therefor more travel.

Not quite correct. as the lighter rider is .... Lighter so has less force to apply to the fork to compress the fork....

i get the same travel out of my air forks as someone 1/2 my weight.

fozzybear

LOL @ thread

fozzybear

scottalej wrote:

That's why lighter people get more travel out of air forks. Less air to compress therefor more travel.

LOL not the smartest tool in the box are we?