Worth the Money ?

ryzouk

hello,

I have recently decided to buy a Orange downhill bike. I have come across this one and it is everything I'm looking for. Just want to know if its worth the money as it seems to have a bit of rust and also looks like its had a few crashes. They are selling it for 600

Thanks

The Rookie

A bit of rust on chain and cassette is nothing to worry about.

It's a fairly old bike but has some decent parts on it, other that that I'm not the best person to answer not being a DH type of rider.

FishFish

Not a fake to be sure! You can tell by the welding!

rockmonkeysc

You can do better for the money. Those old 32mm BoXXers flex really badly. The Fox Van R is OK if it's been PUSH tuned but if not it's fairly nasty.
The frame looks like a 223 to me, not one of Oranges best, the pedal kick back is really bad on big compressions. I wouldn't go for any Orange downhill frame earlier than the 224 evo, they just aren't as good as the alternatives. They also have weak top shock mounts.
For the same money I have seen Iron Horse Sundays for sale and they are a whole world ahead of the Orange. Giant Glory's are also common at this price and better.

cooldad

Orange badged prototypes as Strange, but also released some 222s (223s?)(and others? I'm no Orange expert) badged as Strange. Which were not prototypes.

supersonic

Really high pivot location too, huge amounts of pedal kickback. You won't lose money on it I don't think, but I wouldn't ride one for the reasons Rockmonkey says. Revelation 32mm forks stutter and flutter under braking at 130mm, these at 200mm will start to bind up.

rockmonkeysc

cooldad wrote:

Orange badged prototypes as Strange, but also released some 222s (223s?)(and others? I'm no Orange expert) badged as Strange. Which were not prototypes.

There are also loads of standard Orange bikes with Strange stickers added.

ryzouk

Ok thanks a lot for the advice. The bike is located very close to a bike shop so will take it down for a check before I buy it if I go ahead.

I'm 5ft 11 and have seen a orange 224 in better condition for a little less cash. The frame is 15" though. Is this going to be to small for someone at 5ft 11?

rockmonkeysc

The seat tube length (15") is irrelevant for a downhill bike. You will never be in the saddle anyway. You need the right top tube length. A large size frame would probably be right, the old Orange downhill frames were pretty small.
Personally I would look for something better, they aren't good frames.