Orange Crush 650b

allymcmurdo

Hi guys,
This is my first off road bike for a while having spent a few years getting a lycra obsession out of my system...

2014 Crush 650b with the Fox float 32 upgrade. Fitted a set of Shimano saint flats and looking to replace the Avid elixirs with some XT kit as they really arent much cop.

Really pleased with it though.....

paul.skibum

Nobody ever has anything nice to say about Avid brakes but I run a set of Juicy 3's on my Big Hit and the thing I like about them is they aren't that strong - means I brake for a corner don't slow down as much and have to deal with the speed - best way to make you a better bike handler is not being able to stop!

welshkev

I do like those bikes

I also have juicy 3's on my big hit and I used to run elixir 5's on my old trail bike. not great brakes, but no the worst either. but xt will definitely be an improvement

allymcmurdo

The Avids do work (eventually) but they just don't seem to have the abrupt stopping power I've had with previous bikes. My girlfriend has a Kona Tika with a Shimano 160mm setup and it feels much better.

*AJ*

Nice looking bike that! Love the colour!

mike hunts alpine

Bang tidy.

iand-83

Nice bike have been considering one of these for my next bike will be interesting to see how you get on with it.

The Northern Monkey

REALLY like this bike, sat on one a few times in Sunset... they feel "just right" geometry wise.

Will be interested to know how it handles trails!

Kowalski675

allymcmurdo wrote:

looking to replace the Avid elixirs with some XT kit as they really arent much cop.

CRC have XTs heavily reduced at the moment. I just got a pair for £113.68

Matt-r8

Looks really nice. It wasn't the power of the Avid Elixirs I had on my previous Trek Remedy, it was the faff involved in bleeding them. Always upgrade to Hope, not everyones cup of tea, but they work for me and they look great.

lawman

Matt-r8 wrote:

Looks really nice. It wasn't the power of the Avid Elixirs I had on my previous Trek Remedy, it was the faff involved in bleeding them. Always upgrade to Hope, not everyones cup of tea, but they work for me and they look great.

I'd never buy hope over shimano these days, my old tech X2's got nothing on XT's and frankly spending double the money for an inferior brake that might look a little bit nicer (imo they don't) and says hope on it is silly. For once I agree with Kowalski, Xt's all the way, versatile (can and are used on all kinds of bikes, chaps here at uni use them for DH through to XC racing), can be bought mega cheap (a pair for the price of 1 hope brake without a rotor or any hardware) and both my sets have been flawlessy reliable and given me zero issues. By far and away the best brakes on the market.

paulski1966

allymcmurdo wrote:

Hi guys,
2014 Crush 650b with the Fox float 32 upgrade. Fitted a set of Shimano saint flats and looking to replace the Avid elixirs with some XT kit as they really arent much cop.

Beautiful bike, how does it ride?

And agree with what everyone else has said here - XT brakes all the way - great design, tons of stopping power, excellent price and probably the easiest brakes to bleed.

Kowalski675

lawman wrote:

For once I agree with Kowalski,

You should try it more often, you'd find youreslf being right a lot more...

allymcmurdo

Beautiful bike, how does it ride?

Its fantastic. The geometry is brilliant...it just 'hoons' around the local trails so well, a real 'fun' bike. Im always looking for the next thing to throw myself off/down and climbing is effortless too. I know Ive come from the roadie side straight into 650b but it feels unstoppable. It just rolls over big roots, rocks, dips with ease in comparison to my memories of 26".....just those brakes to sort now.

mike hunts alpine

GIVE ME YOUR BIKE NOW!!!
Actually having to persuade myself not to buy one. :roll: mainly to ride to work and spare fun machine for my brother to join me on some rides.

morepower

Nice bike... I got a 2010 crush and love it... I only got back riding again this year.. I say this year in the past couple of months to be honest. For an unfit old bloke it seems to soak up all I can give it and all of my mistakes too. Done Cannock a few times and either I am fitter than I expected or it makes it so much easier to ride compared to my old rigid. Mines on 26 inch wheels not 650B's but it feels great and for me the best bike I could find due to my motorcycle related injuries. Enjoy and I think you are spot on with the brakes.. Mine has the Elixir 5 brakes and they need constant adjustment and squeal as well as drag. It will be the first real thing I swap on mine thats for sure...

benpinnick

Nice bike, although you did spend £100 on forks that are no better (or maybe worse) than the ones you took off.

poah

Matt-r8 wrote:

it was the faff involved in bleeding them. Always upgrade to Hope, not everyones cup of tea, but they work for me and they look great.

shimano are basically the same, two syringes push-pull, drip into bag. avid and shimano are a lot cleaner to bleed than hope

Matt-r8

I found Avids an absolute pig. That's why I got rid and bought some Hopes. We followed the instruction to the letter and bought the appropriate bleed kit. Took several attempts to get a satisfactory feel.

Kowalski675

Maybe I've just been lucky. With all the anti Avid sentiment on here I expected mine (Elixir 3s) to be crap, but they've been fine from day one so far. Needed the pads advancing (hadn't been done on Halfords' shoddy PDI), but after a few minutes doing that they were fine - plenty of feel and nice short lever travel.

Matt-r8

How are you getting on with this? I bought mine a week ago, and have already started changing parts over. Fitted a reverb straight away though.

OceanOne

Are those pedals Shimano Saints ? I've just bought a Whyte 901 and was trying to decide what pedals to buy. Nice bike by the way.

rakeshv

I really liked the bike...wish i could buy one day


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fizik

Why not try some different brake pads, and get a bigger front rotor?

Matt-r8

Yeah. Running 183mm rotors front Nd rear now, but with Hope e4 brakes
So sweet!!!

allymcmurdo

Sorry I missed your replies Matt, forgot all about this thread.

Still smitten with the bike. Its been to Afan and Brechfa loads of times now and its been faultless.
I binned the Avids for XTs with Superstar floating rotors. Also fitted some Fatbars with a bit more rise.
How is that reverb? Definitely on my shopping list...

I managed to scuff the fox decal on one of the legs pretty bad so replaced them with the Orange edition graphics from Slikgraphics. Love 'em!

Cqc

Love the fork graphics. Those bars have got a lot of rise, don't you think?

allymcmurdo

30mm rise on those. I was going to cut the width down initially but Im actually really happy with them now.

allymcmurdo

Time for a little update...

The frame had taken a few knocks here and there so I shipped her off to Orange for a respray.

Went for charcoal grey and whilst it was away I stripped the forks and painted them satin black with 2015 heritage decals. Rather pleased with the result I must say.

The Drivetrain has now been replaced in favour of XT 1x10 with a Raceface 30T NW up front and and I acquired a KS dropper from the old man who just couldn't get on with it.

FishFish

I've had elixr 5 for five years on my Orange P7 and they have been fine so I bought some second hand for a Charge duster build and they are fine. Bought a Boardman hybrid a couple of weeks ago and they have Avid DB1 whatever they are and they are utter rubbish. Faded beyond use after 200 miles - I'll happily replace with Elixr 5 but maybe try shimano.

shindig

Matt-r8 wrote:

Looks really nice. It wasn't the power of the Avid Elixirs I had on my previous Trek Remedy, it was the faff involved in bleeding them. Always upgrade to Hope, not everyones cup of tea, but they work for me and they look great.

Yip, I have hopes on all my bikes. Not cheap, but powerful and modulate well. I'm running a set that are 10 years old on one bike.