eBay bargain Orange Crush 2010.

morepower

I used to ride 2 or 3 times a week.... Life got in the way when I had to move away for work then buying a house and marriage ect.... I had a few occasional rides but nothing too serious and my wife although having a practically brand new bike (it is still like new 20 year later!) never wants to go out on it... Motorcycles also got in the way when I got highsided at the Nurburgring and snapped the ligament which holds your shoulder up and your collarbone to the shoulder.. Ouch... The past two years work has stopped me from getting out on my motorcycle... Not just because I am busy but because I have had to use it for a long term project so it is un-usable. For now.

So back to 2013.. I had been out on my rigid at the beginning of the year and loved it apart from the pain from my old injury. I had two choices either spend way too much to make my rigid comfortable and try and fit some suspension fork which would be out of date still... Or put that money towards an new or new (to me) bike. I started looking on evilBay for a bike.. I didnt want a full sus as the budget I had would leave me with an old or very well used bike which could need money spending on it... So it was a hard tail... I went round the local bike shops and any shop I was passing when I was out or away on holiday. I was left with a few options with Giant, Whyte or Orange. While I was looking I did look at Whyte and almost broke my rule of HT with a like new Whyte PRST1 which has been upgraded quite seriously.. But I saw an Orange Crush 2010 which was poorly advertised and some small crappy photo was used... I put a cheeky bid on it of £465 and won it... I didnt want to have it shipped and as the guy was only an hour or so away I went to collect it.... It sat there dusty in the guys kitchen.. He was gutted at selling it but had to as he needed the cash....
I got it home and just gave it a polish off and had a look over it... The brakes were not aligned and the tyres were pumped up way too hard. It had obviously never been used anywhere technical or rough as there were 3 chips on the bike and one of them he admitted was putting it in the shed.


I rode it for the first time at Cannock, my first time there too.. It felt comfortable and not heavy but it did feel very front heavy compared to my rigid when it came to jumps.. OK I need to change my riding to suit a suspension fork, but I loved every minute of riding it and no pain which was the big thing.



I wanted to protect the chain stay a little better than the short lizard skin so I wrapped it in pre-preg carbon. Minimal weight and strong plus I can cut it off and replace it if I do damage it...

I also made a rear mech protector too as I have had one get damaged hitting the scenery ruining a ride in the past...


Since then I have been out on it at Cannock a few times and ridden round Sherwood Forest (not just Sherwood Pines) as well as Ticknall in mud and serious gloop...
I have had to change the rear tyre for a newer version of the Conti Mountain King and fit a new handle bar to just lift me up a little more.


I will do a few more changes to shed a little more weight and hopefully balance the bike up a little more. Next on the list is a new stem then seat post and eventually possibly a wheel set as the rims seem a little narrow at 17mm wide so I was hoping to open that up to 23mm and run carbon rims.

I know there are Orange haters out there... But the bike is the most comfortable for a day out yet still let me go and play on some of the technical sections even with the injury I still have.
I am loving being back on the bike and getting muddy again..

alexthebear

Lurvely bit of kit for the money and awesome colour shceme, I'm in the group of "can't believe I got it for the money" with my unused camber gotta love a bargain

brucie45

Very nice bike for that money, got a bargain there

The Rookie

Bargain, looks very tasty, but please take the pump off the seat tube!

morepower

The Rookie wrote:

Bargain, looks very tasty, but please take the pump off the seat tube!

Cheers,..
I put it there for two reasons.. One the under seat pack wouldnt carry it and the camel back I was using didnt have anywhere to put it or the tools.. My larger camelback was in the caravan for when we go out walking ect and with the van being in storage I couldnt get over to collect it... we had to collect the caravan at the weekend so that is why you dont see the pack under the seat and I am still sorting a bag with all the bike bits in to put in there. I hate it being on the bike as mud and sand gets into them and wrecks them quickly. I got the cheapest one possible for now as I was not expecting to see the caravan again until at least March and expected it to not last much longer (or even that long)... I am pretty much sorted again.

The Rookie

OK cool, sounds much better!

Cqc

Fox forks new will cost more than that... Nice one

DanDax1990

Bargaintastic.

morepower

Cqc wrote:

Fox forks new will cost more than that... Nice one

I know... The whole bike is better than I am at the moment and as we all know when you have good spec quality parts you can practically just clean the bike and ride it without worry it will have problems and you can concentrate on just riding and getting fitter/better.

The Rookie wrote:

OK cool, sounds much better!

As I said I used to ride quite a lot and know what dirt can do to anything it comes in contact with.... The more I can take off the bike and carry the less there is to get damaged or worn out with dirt.... lol...

mike hunts alpine

Fucking sweet deal give you £470 for it make yourself a tidy profit and be rid of the obvious burden.

julianhj

How did you make the chainstay and rear mech protectors? Is this something requiring specialist knowledge and tools?

morepower

julianhj wrote:

How did you make the chainstay and rear mech protectors? Is this something requiring specialist knowledge and tools?

I had a motorcycle frame protector which was a scrap part so I cut it up to make the basic shape for the rear mech protector as a mock up.. I then made a simple mould using polyester resins and fibre glass. That is all quite simple work using products from suppliers like East Coast Fibre Glass Supplies. Making the basic shape can be done with plastic or even sheet wax just as long as it can be supported to keep its shape. There are loads of You Tube videos of how to make a mould.
The making of the part is not too hard either if you do it with the same resins in wet lay.. Pre-preg is a little different as you need to have an accurate oven and vacuum equipment...

The chain stay protector was made with Pre-preg carbon and simply wrapped over the chainstay. I put a layer of insulating tape over the chainstay first then wrapped it with 2 layers of the carbon before wrapping that with a heat shrink tape so when it was cooked the tape works like the Vacuum bag does on a normal part. I used a special oven to cure it for 14 hours.

mike hunts alpine wrote:

******* sweet deal give you £470 for it make yourself a tidy profit and be rid of the obvious burden.

I would rid myself of the thing..... But I refuse to give up on it no matter how crappy it or me is... I am will put up with ALL the haters 'cause I am a sucker for punishment.... lol...

morepower

Now I have a few more miles on the bike and I am comfortable with riding again.. I have had to fine tune it a little.. Seems the previous owner pushed the seat all the way back in the seat post. The short 60mm stem felt great but I have found it does have a little too much weight over the rear on climbs (steep ones that is) so I just got a 90mm Crank Bros Stem and pushed the seat forward to see if the change will make any difference.
As much as I have liked the original Conti Mountain King tyres the new ones seem to be more suited as a rear so I have just bought and fitted a Conti X King 2.4 for the front to go with the also new Conti Race King II in the rear.

Looking forward to getting out possibly tomorrow or on Monday. I am so glad I am back riding again... lol

Cqc

Nice, get yourself a new helmet too

morepower

Sorted out a new helmet... Bell Super.

rockmonkeysc

Bell Super is nice. Never google the lower model, the Bell Stroker. I wanted to use cilit bang on my eyes

morepower

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Bell Super is nice. Never google the lower model, the Bell Stroker. I wanted to use cilit bang on my eyes

I know I saw it and had to have a pint of Mind Bleach.... The black and red one looked erm..... well..... more suited for those couples who get matching bikes and gear..... Then ride roads/foot path round Derwent water or the paths round Lady Bower and pack a picnic with them....

The Black and white one just has enough to make it look nice but not over the top... I like the fuller form lids as I loved my old Shoei.

morepower

New stem and tyres fitted.... Feels a lot nicer with a little more weight over the front of the bike on climbs and as I found the seat had been pushed all the way back so even though the stem is longer the distance between seat and bars is almost the same again,.. I have never been really happy with the stopping power of the brakes... Elixir 5's which dont feel soft or spongy but do feel under powered even with new pads. So got some Shimano Ice tech discs which are 203mm ones. Not used the bike with the discs yet though.. Will see what they are like this weekend.

garnib

That's a bargain you got there looks sweet hope your happy with it

Was up ticknall robins wood the other week mud hole eek comes to mind hope to see you about

morepower

garnib wrote:

That's a bargain you got there looks sweet hope your happy with it

Was up ticknall robins wood the other week mud hole eek comes to mind hope to see you about

Cheers.. I am still shocked how cheap it was... Getting happier with it each time I go out.... made a few changes to stop my shoulder giving me pain. So far I am really happy with it..

The last time I went to Ticknall it was muddy but still passable. Not done many rides up there and would love to go back and learn my way round as it is closer than cannock and not just a trail centre ride...

garnib

morepower wrote:

garnib wrote:

That's a bargain you got there looks sweet hope your happy with it

Was up ticknall robins wood the other week mud hole eek comes to mind hope to see you about

Cheers.. I am still shocked how cheap it was... Getting happier with it each time I go out.... made a few changes to stop my shoulder giving me pain. So far I am really happy with it..

The last time I went to Ticknall it was muddy but still passable. Not done many rides up there and would love to go back and learn my way round as it is closer than cannock and not just a trail centre ride...

There are quite a few routes round there it's a regular ride that way out for us, we come out from burton , swadlincote hicks lodge ashby Staunton Harold , out that way some go mileage steady pace good fun )