Orange 223 - 2nd may 2012 new bits! :)

ilovedirt

So I fancied building up a 'proper' downhill bike on the cheap, ended up going for an Orange 223, frame arrived this morning. All I'm waiting for now is the fork and rear wheel to turn up, probably on monday, and that's it! I know some of you guys really dislike Orange bikes, but I keep coming back to them because I just love how they look, how little maintenance they are, and the geometry on them!

sanchez89

blimey, is it just some RSJ's welded together?

looks like it could handle a whack or two.

ilovedirt

Hopefully! It is burly as hell.

buzz1

Tidy your room will ya!!

ilovedirt

Haha, that is tidy!!

mrmonkfinger

not five = not controversial


what fork is going on this beast?

ilovedirt

This one 888rc





Needs a couple of links out of the chain, and there's a few niggles, brakes need bleeding, shock makes a bit of a clunk etc, just small things...

mrmonkfinger

a flimsy wobbly fork to go with that lightweight frame

is that the coil or air flavour?

ilovedirt

haha, the fork is pretty solid. It's coil.

delcol

i thought students were ment to be poor,, you have to top class bikes..

were did i go wrong in life.. :P :P :P :P

when is its first shrelping session....?

lawman

delcol wrote:

i thought students were ment to be poor,, you have to top class bikes..

were did i go wrong in life.. :P :P :P :P

when is its first shrelping session....?

Students often make wrong choices!! Drink a shed load of booze or have a nice bike... the actual cost of living at uni is tiny, but add booze a few nights week on top... bye, bye new bike fair play though to guys who do both :P

ilovedirt

Lawman has it right, not much drinking and using a bit too much of my overdraft = some nice bikes :P

Should be taking it to Foel Gasnach on Sunday for a first proper shred!

ilovedirt

So I took it to Foel Gasnach yesterday for it's maiden voyage. The front end is pretty short, which felt weird, and the shock/gears need some work, but apart from that, it felt really good. after a few runs, I could feel myself getting faster as it seemed to give me a lot more confidence to get off the brakes, and from the go pro footage compared to my previous trips there, I was riding faster than before, which was good!

Anyway, after a clean today, I took some slightly better photos outside.

chez_m356

ilovedirt wrote:

Anyway, after a clean today, I took some slightly better photos outside

i don't see what cleaning your room has to do with taking pics of your bike joking aside, that looks a proper beast, very nice

ilovedirt

Haha don't worry, I haven't cleaned my room
and thanks!

mrmonkfinger

Tidy looking machine now its all together DHX shock I presume?

I quite like Orange's industrial look... was trying to locate a second hand Patriot recently.

Have you played with the geometry yet?

ilovedirt

Cheers, yeah it's a DHX3, it's pretty crap in all honesty, need a good service/bin.

I've had a little play with the geometry, took the shock back a notch (little steeper/higher) as it is in the recent photos for foel, felt alright, not overly slack, but it could have been a little more stable, so I might try and slacken it out a touch more.

ilovedirt

New shock time! Got me a Rockshox Vivid R2C in rather good nick on the cheap. Could probably do with a service, but it's nowhere near as fucked as the DHX... Also stuck a hope chainring on today and a new cassette. Some old style saint cranks and new tyres (minion DHF 2.5 maxxpro dual ply for front and rear). And yes, before you point it out, both my bike and my room need cleaning! I have since hoovered the floor





Oh, and I got a little bit 'inventive' with the chunky "bomber" stickers Stuck them down better/straighter now with some super glue

ilovedirt

So I've replaced the crappy raceface cranks with some old style saints, got some slik graphics crank covers on there as well, not entirely sure whether i like them or not... Got some 2009 boxxer races on there as well, they're in really good nick and a helluva lot lighter than the 888s they replaced! They look a wee bit skinny on the frame though...

buzz1

unfortunately even fox 40s would look small on that frame, the old 223s are massive in comparison to the newer models, I personally like it though, looks like you could ride off a house!!

ilovedirt

Haha i dunno, 40's look about right, wouldn't mind some, but they're pricey! It's an awesome frame though, just ploughs over everything. It's amazing how much quicker this thing is down the local DH tracks than my slayer! And this is pretty much retro now, I'd love to have a go on a modern rig!

ilovedirt

Got some new brakes (avid elixir 5s) the other week. They look nice, but in all honesty, I don't really rate them next to my formulas. Oh well, at least I got them cheap. They do the job anyway.

Anyhow, went on an uplift day at Moelfre yesterday, here's a headcam of one of my runs (that place is FAST!)

mrmonkfinger

What's up with the elixirs? I find them pretty effective. They don't have great modulation but fairly powerful.

Are you looking for a better shock after upgrading the forks?

agg25

Nice run bud! Seems like a fun trail, you going up to Scotland this/next week with the MBNW crew?

ilovedirt

mrmonkfinger wrote:

What's up with the elixirs? I find them pretty effective. They don't have great modulation but fairly powerful.

Are you looking for a better shock after upgrading the forks?

Nowhere near as powerful as my formulas, and far too much lever travel (probably down to a crap factory bleed).
The vivid is a pretty high end shock, it's not going anywhere!!

agg25 wrote:

Nice run bud! Seems like a fun trail, you going up to Scotland this/next week with the MBNW crew?

Cheers dude, really fun! Nah I'm not, can't really afford it (going to morzine in a few weeks instead ), though I would have liked to. Are you?

mrmonkfinger

ilovedirt wrote:

Nowhere near as powerful as my formulas, and far too much lever travel (probably down to a crap factory bleed).
The vivid is a pretty high end shock, it's not going anywhere!!

Doh - didn't spot that you'd already changed the fox van!

Does sound like there's something amiss with your elixirs, mine will put me over the bars if I pull hard enough - power has never been a problem with them.

jay12

ilovedirt wrote:

Got some new brakes (avid elixir 5s) the other week. They look nice, but in all honesty, I don't really rate them next to my formulas. Oh well, at least I got them cheap. They do the job anyway.

Anyhow, went on an uplift day at Moelfre yesterday, here's a headcam of one of my runs (that place is FAST!)

i hope you were drunk at that time because there is no excuse to go from formula to avid!

ilovedirt

It was a DHX 3, but yeah, the Vivid is pretty sweet!
Quite possibly, I forgot to clean the rotors before I swapped the brakes over, so maybe they're not as clean as they could be. To be honest, I didn't have any problems with a lack of power at the uplift on sunday, they're just not as grabby as my formulas, and the lever feel isn't as nice. They're good for what I paid I guess.

ilovedirt

jay12 wrote:

ilovedirt wrote:

Got some new brakes (avid elixir 5s) the other week. They look nice, but in all honesty, I don't really rate them next to my formulas. Oh well, at least I got them cheap. They do the job anyway.

Anyhow, went on an uplift day at Moelfre yesterday, here's a headcam of one of my runs (that place is FAST!)

i hope you were drunk at that time because there is no excuse to go from formula to avid!

You're right, the Formulas are on my slayer still Went from J5's to elixir 5's on the 223. I prefer having better braking on the smaller bike because I don't have as much travel to save my arse when something goes wrong! I'd like to have gotten some more formulas, but I couldn't really afford them.

ilovedirt

Nice photo from sunday showing the bike getting some abuse



Credit goes to Turnip Towers for the photo.

ilovedirt

Gave the bikes a clean today and took some better photos