Dammit! They got me! (And big up Sunset MTB)

dave_hill

After years of holding out and saying I'd never do it, I've only gone and bought an Orange :shock: !

Mind you, the price was right and it was exactly what I was looking for (it's a Sub Zero by the way) so what the hell. I was going to get myself a new car but with the price of fuel and all this new road tax bollocks I'm not going to bother.

Big up to Sunset MTB in Cardiff for supplying the bike - excellent service, very helpful on the phone and everything arrived exactly when they said it should. Top marks.

Photos up soon !

stumpyjon

Is it coming out to play tomorrow? Or is it staying indoors until the muds gone away :twisted:

If it's playing out you'd better get the photos up before it gets christened.

zero303

After years of holding out and saying I'd never do it, I've only gone and bought an Orange Shocked !

You better start living up to that elitest bike snob image now! Don't let the side down! :roll:

Talking of the Subzero - my LBS reckoned they were going to 180mm on it as standard for 2009!!! I currently supports it but is not shipped with it...

dave_hill

I have a feeling that the 2005/2006 Subzero had 180 forks (seem to remember they were Manitous, either Travis Singles or Sherman Sliders).

TBH even though they say that it will cope with that, unless the change the frame geometry on the 2009 model it's going to be WAY slack in the head department.

dave_hill

stumpyjon wrote:

Is it coming out to play tomorrow? Or is it staying indoors until the muds gone away :twisted:

If it's playing out you'd better get the photos up before it gets christened.

You've got PM fella...!

Anonymous

is this a replacement or an addition to other bikes?

dave_hill

Definitely an addition - I'd been looking at getting a Crush just for hooning about on, but I spotted Sunset were doing the SubZero for £200 more so I thought what the heck! It's amazing the extra spec it buys you!

Keeping the old VT for my all day bike, I''l be using the Sub for hooning about and trail centres.

Anonymous

well, dont forget, pics or it didnt happen!!

dave_hill

sheepsteeth wrote:

well, dont forget, pics or it didnt happen!!

Oh ye of little faith! Avert thine eyes for thou art not worthy, mwah ha hah ha!



I feel a trip to Stainburn coming on...

Full sized image HERE.

taff_94

Mate i envy you, nicest looking ride i have seen in a long time!!!!!!!!
How does she ride? How much was this?

Cheers Taff

taliesyn

ewwww. green :shock:

Seriously though, lovely bike

Chaka Ping

Looks pretty mean.

What's the weight?

dave_hill

taliesyn wrote:

ewwww. green :shock:

Green is the new purple. And in any case, it's not green, it quite clearly states "Orange" on the downtube.

dave_hill

Chaka Ping wrote:

What's the weight?

Not sure, feels a touch lighter than my Giant VT which is 32lbs, so I'm guessing about 30.

stumpyjon

ewwww. green

It's not green anymore, more the same colour as Pennine mud

dave_hill

Well, first ride completed, so...

First impressions pretty favourable. I'm having to "unlearn" a lot of stuff because I've not realy ridden a hardtail off-road in 16 years. I've already re-discovered that you can't ride "through" stuff, you've got to ride over it or round it.

Frame's nice and stiff (as you might expect), but hooning around my local "cheeky" trails has shown that it's not really an "all day" trail bike. But then it's not designed for that and won't be getting used as such - it's a hooning around, short, technical and trail-centre machine and that's how it will be employed. The VT still has it's place in the stable.

It goes round corners like it's on rails. Which is nice. I always feel like the full-bouncer's going to wash out on me part way round but that could be something to do with the crappy shock. The forks on the Orange are Fox 36 Van Rs, but the stock spring is WAY too soft for the huskier rider such as myself so a stiffer one will be ordered from Flooksy come Monday.

Not sure about the Avid Juicy 5 brakes. I'm used to the on/off instant bite, stop you on a 5p, eyeball popping grab of the Hayes 9s on the Giant and at the mo the Avid's just don't cut it. That may change as they bed in, we'll have to see.

The worst bit though is the pedals. On what is after all a £1600 bike, the supplied pedals are CRAP. They're about as grippy as a freshly-buttered ferret - they don't even have proper pins, just in-moulded blobs. For the sake of the price of a pair of Wellgo V12 copies that really is penny pinching. Suffice it to say they're going in the parts box in my shed as soon as possible.

Overall though, really chuffed with it. Just need to tweak those brakes and then get some trail-centre action in.

dave_hill

stumpyjon wrote:

It's not green anymore, more the same colour as Pennine mud

Nope sorry, clean as a whistle again !

beski

Green - like me with envy

Anonymous

i dont think there is a brake on the market with the instant grab of hayes 9's. i had them on my p7 (shite bike) and they were by far the best thing about it. ive heard complaints about lack of modulation and woody feel but the feel is what i liked about em, i have fives on the spesh and they are very good but i am running a 203mm disc on the front and sintered pads, maybe they are things you sould look at too?

artillerydave

dave_hill wrote:

pedals are CRAP. They're about as grippy as a freshly-buttered ferret.

Sh@t, does that mean I'm going to have to return those new sunline ferret pedals or what?

Seriously though, nice ride, welome to the Orange owners club, it is a very nice place to be.

Anonymous

artillerydave wrote:

Seriously though, nice ride, welome to the Orange owners club, it is a very nice place to be.

cr@p almighty, i wondered how long the "join us, join us" song would take to start.....
seriously though, those bikes must be good, i dont think there is another brand on the market with such a following

ps. i thought better of you artillerydave :roll:

Chaka Ping

I was riding Nant yr Arian with my friend on his Orange 5 a while ago and we went past a father and young son stopped by the side of the trail with their bikes.

As we went past, the dad nodded at my friend and said "look, he's got an Orange" - and the son said "yay!"

So there's your explanation - childhood indoctrination!

artillerydave

sheepsteeth wrote:

i thought better of you artillerydave :roll:

Don't worry sheep, I can see the heading coming from you soon, "I've sold my Specialised and bought an Orange"

you know you want to!!
:oops:

Anonymous

funny you should say that dave, i am trying harder and harder to not buy a 5, i know there is better value to be found elsewhere and i will always recommend something else to folk who are only owning one bike and are concerned with spec but i have just sold my newest stumpy and the money is burning a big hole in my pocket, i reckon it would be a big ol' deposit on a new 5.........

just a shame the bionicon does everything i need, another bike would just be an expensive paperweight, watch this space.....

artillerydave

as you know I did mine frame only and built up from there with choice bits, that way I don't think it is bad value and you get to put your stamp on it how you would like it, the factory builds are too expensive compared to others though.

go frame only and pick up the spec cheap from the likes of Merlin etc and you are on to a winner in my opinion.

And I have to say I know I sound like a knob but it is a great bit of kit and very versitile in my opinion.

Anonymous

frame only looks to be the smart moves, its not that much more expensive than other manufacturers offerings and you get exactly what you want.

zero303

tbh, the Five Pro when MBR tested it didn't actually look bad value for money - it wasn't the dearest bike on test, it had the same shock as everything else, best fork on test and was dripping head-to-toe in Hope goodies - I think the problem is, people don't consider you're getting a £1250 frame to begin with! I think it's perceived as a mainstream brand but really it has far more in common with other handbuilt exotic machinery from the states and canada!

Sometimes I think I'd rather have a Yeti, Intense or SC but I'd be scared to ride them - the Orange has an industrial, it's just a trail tool, invincible feel to it and it actually wears it's battle scars like a medal - I feel very attached to it but not in an overly precious, gutted when I crash kind of way.

Meh, I admit it, Orange owners are clearly weirdos with a kinky fetish, forever deemed to be misunderstood

Torres

Wow.
Looks great in that green... 8)

oswald

Orange bikes rule!! They get bad press in some quarters but i dont know why. I have had my ST4 2 weeks now and it is just awesome, turns heads and is so much fun to ride.
I'm a fully paid up fan of the Orange. A few friends said i was mad spending so much on a bike that no one knew much about but they all had a go at cannock chase the weekend and fell in love with it,they too will soon become Orange members!

oswald

Orange bikes rule!! They get bad press in some quarters but i dont know why. I have had my ST4 2 weeks now and it is just awesome, turns heads and is so much fun to ride.
I'm a fully paid up fan of the Orange. A few friends said i was mad spending so much on a bike that no one knew much about but they all had a go at cannock chase the weekend and fell in love with it,they too will soon become Orange members!

dave_hill

I think that the perceived problem with Orange is that whilst they are great bikes, because the monocoque models have the frames built in the UK, they are pricey so the complete bikes end up being significantly more expensive than say a Specialized, Marin or Giant in the same bracket. This has always been my gripe with Orange.

I'll be absolutely honest and say that my purchase was probably about 75% influenced by the fact that there was such a big chunk knocked off the price (20% discount more or less). If I'd have had to have paid full whack, I'd have looked elsewhere.