Why the obsession with Orange?
Anonymous
Posts: 79,667
It seems like recently Orange bikes are the "fashion"
But, I was at Coed y Brenin today, and there were 12 of them lined up next to each other outside the cafe.
TWELVE? WHAT THE FRICK? Most of them were Orange 5's as well.
Actually, all there was by the cafe door was the Oranges, and two marins, mine, and an old B-17.
So, has Orange become to MTBers, what Burberry and tracksuits are to chavs or something? I mean, TWELVE?
Where's the originality gone?
But, I was at Coed y Brenin today, and there were 12 of them lined up next to each other outside the cafe.
TWELVE? WHAT THE FRICK? Most of them were Orange 5's as well.
Actually, all there was by the cafe door was the Oranges, and two marins, mine, and an old B-17.
So, has Orange become to MTBers, what Burberry and tracksuits are to chavs or something? I mean, TWELVE?
Where's the originality gone?
0
Comments
-
my guess is it's because you get to pick what colour you want
other bikes the choice is normally 'take it or leave it"
other than that .....................???0 -
Its all about the Dawgs!
Living where I am I see a fair few bikes go past and up the hill - I have only seen 1 Dawg and it was an old version - Lost track of the 5's
Dawg dawg dawgity dawg \o/0 -
The magazines gave the Five top marks, its a homegrown brand, It must be the best!0
-
Gotta say my patriot is awesome, so versatile. Does seem to be endless 'i'm looking to buy an orange 5 blah blah...' threads about though!0
-
Amos wrote:The magazines gave the Five top marks, its a homegrown brand, It must be the best!
but the future mags rate out of 10....."Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
Parktools :?:SheldonBrown0 -
So much for all the "I don't want a Specialized/Trek/Giant, they're too common! I'll buy an Orange" threads :P
Maybe all this extra income will push Orange a bit more upmarket so they can afford some nice Taiwanese hydroforming at long last (hoho :P ).0 -
The fact is there are very few Orange bikes that are bad. I'm just waiting until they produce a lightweight titanium Orange P7....Commencal Meta 5.5.1
Scott CR10 -
Indeed, it is the logical thing that's missing from the lineup compared to other brands
0 -
The bikes a are good, but a lot of it is buying into the prestige of the name. But it is like that with many brands.
Its interesting in the world of ever more complex full sussers, the rich tea design that is the single pivot still seems to do the best. Is it the geometry of the 5? Carefully selected components? Plenaty of other SPs out there!0 -
They are good bikes but they are not good value. Personally I wouldn't pay more for 'made in the UK' transfers. Now if they outsourced like Planet X / On-One........? Then again i don't pretend to know much about Orange but most of my mates ride them (the other 'acceptable' brands are Specialised or Whyte it seems). I went Tawainese.'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.0
-
Didn't we have a thread like this about 3-4 months ago? Ending up about 15 pages long.
It's a shame all the mainstream brands have used the "evolve or die" mentality and gone to complex linkage systems. There's still a gap in the market for a few more good value single pivot bikes in my opinion.
I bought my Meta as I was after exactly that.0 -
That the Meta with a linkage? ;-) ;-)0
-
I think you miss read that Nick me old bean.nicklouse wrote:Amos wrote:The magazines gave the Five top marks, its a homegrown brand, It must be the best!
but the future mags rate out of 10.....
They gave it top marks.
Not 5 marks.
Yes, I do still remember you're dyslexic.
Meh. I went to Bristol to see a friend, all I saw was Nicolai everywhere. Standing became difficult, had to crouch.
0 -
Just odd that WMB broke a P7 and identified a pretty significant design flaw on the mech hanger...
Not for me.0 -
it is clear that orange make good bikes and they tend to be more than the sum of the parts (as they are rarely good value in my opinion)
i have no issue with orange as a brand or people's choice to ride them, its just the endless gobbing of about them by the owners, especially the "5 fraternity"
i wonder if the bike had been built by emmelle using the same parts and frame (how hard could it be, its just got one pivot) how awesome everyone would think they were then.0 -
Well IMO that was bad journalism from WTB - there was a problem because the bike had been assembled with the wrong bolts, NOT a design flaw, which is a pretty major difference. Unfortunately a lot of people believe what they read in the tabloids......and careless journalism has probably cost Orange a lot of sales of P7s. I've got a P7 and compared to my Meta 5 it's ultra reliable - it just goes on and on through thick and thin without hardly ever needing more than a bit of oil on the chain. It's your loss if you discount a P7!Commencal Meta 5.5.1
Scott CR10 -
And look bloody ol' Sheepsteeth I'm not proud - I'll ride an Emmelle or an Orange (see www.flickr.com/fatherfaff for proof!) and while an Emmelle got me 1800m up Mount Canigou in the Pyrenees it was a fairly terrifying ride down again, whereas the Orange would have been FUN downhill. If you can't tell the difference between an Emmmellle and an Orange you must have the brains of a...uh..sheep!Commencal Meta 5.5.1
Scott CR10 -
you appear to have missed the point entirely.
you dont own an orange and you dont gob off about them as being the best thing since sliced bread whilst ignoring the fundamental floors in their design. all whilst pretending you bought the bike for a reason other than buying a brand for exclusivity.0 -
All full suss bikes have their design flaws!
0 -
yup, all except the designs on my bikes0
-
:roll:
4 bar linkage suspension isn't the best, nor worst, nor is it perfect by any means, not as good small bump sensitivity & not as good climbing as a single pivot.
Single pivot's aren't perfect, they can bob if the rear shock isn't very good and some can suffer from brake jack.0 -
Bit over enthusiastic on the moderating there Nick :P
I really like Orange, and if I had gone for a bike off the peg the Five SE would have been high on the list.0 -
Father Faff wrote:Well IMO that was bad journalism from WTB - there was a problem because the bike had been assembled with the wrong bolts, NOT a design flaw, which is a pretty major difference.
Murphy's Law, in its original formulation, is a design principle: if something can be assembled in two ways, and one of them is wrong, the wrong way will always be chosen.
If crucial part of a bike can be assembled using the wrong bolts, and those bolts happen to be lying around because they're needed on some other part of the bike, then that is a design flaw.John Stevenson0 -
Clutching at straws there aren't you John?
Anyway Sheepsteeth you are wrong because I do own an Orange - a P7 and it's the bollocks and I bought it because I wanted a decent bike (well actually my neighbour was selling it cheap!). I am sure most people buy an Orange because they like the ride.Commencal Meta 5.5.1
Scott CR10 -
Sheepsteeth, as I am new to this Forum and also a new Orange owner, thank you very much for making me feel most welcome.
I hadn't realised that all the research I had done into buying my Orange 5 was wasted as I only bought it because of its rarity. Thank you for taking the time out to clear this up for me.
Also, whilst you're in such a helpful frame of mind, would you care to explain the fundamental flaw that I have purchased, thanks again!0 -
sheepsteeth wrote:it is clear that orange make good bikes and they tend to be more than the sum of the parts (as they are rarely good value in my opinion)
i have no issue with orange as a brand or people's choice to ride them, its just the endless gobbing of about them by the owners, especially the "5 fraternity"
i wonder if the bike had been built by emmelle using the same parts and frame (how hard could it be, its just got one pivot) how awesome everyone would think they were then.
remember that^^ if it doesnt apply to you, you can calm down. for the record, if i was gonna buy a single pivot bike, the 5 would be on my list but i would do as others have and buy a frame and spec my own bits.
as for flaws: small bump compliance, brake jack, faulty/cheap parts on a 1700 quid bike.0 -
Right I've calmed down now!
I wouldn't say small bump cimpliance is a flaw, more a characteristic, I would suspest bikes with good small bump compliance aren't as good on the bigger bumps, for example, my old Stumpjumper. Any way, I thought that's what big tyres are for.
I must confess, whilst I much prefer my 5 to any of my other bikes, there are areas where I would rather be on, say my Stumpy or even the hardtail, but throughout a whole ride, I know my Orange will give me the biggest grins without spoiling the less exciting elements to the ride. That's not to say there aren't other bikes I'd love to own, but I think I've got enough currently...................goes off to dream of Honda downhill bike........0 -
i want another bike too (i always want one) but figured i dont ride my existing ones well/often enough to warrant it.
can you believe those honda dh bikes were taken away and crushed?0 -
Seriously, there ARE flaws to Orange's deisgn. They are EXACTLY (apologies, very drink again, moreso thatn last night) the same as Marin's original Mount vision setup.
Square edge bumps, progressivity, etc.
The commencal doe away with most of these by having a linkage activated shock, but still retains the single pivot peddaling eficiency.
The orangfe just accept these "nuances".0 -
Meta vs Orange - both are single pivot bikes. The linkages main advantage is to provide lateral stiffness to the rear triangle. A tuned shock can provide exactly the same responses through the stroke (for a given axle path, in this case we are assuming they are the same) as a linkage driven single pivot.
Pedalling efficency of both will be largely the same. The anti squat (extension of the suspension) vs the compression from weight shift per pedal stroke is what provides so called efficiency, and it is the pivot position that provides this. The lower it is, less anti squat and generally more bob. Higher it is the more pedal feedback from bumps: the Meta and 5 cannot get away from this! 4 bar designs try and tune the axle path, via a varying path (and therefore virtual pivot) to have desirable characteristics through the suspension stroke, trading off samll bump response, ani squat and pedal feedback.
GT Idrive and Mongoose Freedrive move the bottom bracket to lessen chain extension through the travel: the goal being that pedalling over bumps provides a better drive, smoother ride and wastes less energy.
Small bump compliance is usually a rear sloping axle path - or no stiction in the bearings with a minimally damped shock at low speed compression. Again, Meta and Orange are simialar. If anything the iidrive is best! (high pivot, large rearward arc, less compression damping)0
)
