Which bike is the best to buy?????
darren_shaw56
Posts: 42
Hello,
I am after buying a new bike and struggling which bike to buy. The lads from our group the Mudpackers (www.mtbmudpackers.co.uk) have different ones.....Trek's to Marin's. A couple have freeride bikes as aswell as downhill bikes.....the rest like me just have XC
I have a GT Avalanche 1.0 which i think is great but i am looking to get an Full Suss, but i am really struggling which is the best. I would like to get one and not have to upgrade, lets say the braking system............. I have read loads of bike test's that have been done....but still no idea.....
As anyone any advice..............
Budget would be £0 - £2000
Cheersjavascript:emoticon(':)')
Smile
Darren
I am after buying a new bike and struggling which bike to buy. The lads from our group the Mudpackers (www.mtbmudpackers.co.uk) have different ones.....Trek's to Marin's. A couple have freeride bikes as aswell as downhill bikes.....the rest like me just have XC
I have a GT Avalanche 1.0 which i think is great but i am looking to get an Full Suss, but i am really struggling which is the best. I would like to get one and not have to upgrade, lets say the braking system............. I have read loads of bike test's that have been done....but still no idea.....
As anyone any advice..............
Budget would be £0 - £2000
Cheersjavascript:emoticon(':)')
Smile
Darren
0
Comments
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Hey Darren,
I had exactly the same dilema as you have. I was riding a GT 2.0 avalanche and wnated to upgrade to a full sus. I started only interested in the stumpjumper range (expert in particular) and then soon added Trek EX.9 and Orange 5 following advice on this forum.
I took a look in the local bike shops and arranged demo's of the stumpjumper and orange 5, to me the orange 5 was a far better bike (personal preference) and my decision was made up. Now you could get a very good bike in the Orange 5 S for £1699 plus £65 for Fox fork upgrade or you could go for the Orange 5 pro for £2200 and have an amazing bike with no likely need to upgrade anything for the forseeable future.
I ordered a Orange 5 Pro yesterday with sram x.9 component option rather than shimano XT (zero cost option) plus I upgraded to a talas front forks as my local bike shop gave me 10% of the bike cost in store credit to use on accessories or upgrades.
The best advice I would give is to listen to advice and do your research but test the bikes and see what feels good to you. Personally I would wholeheartedly recommend an orange 5, but then I would as I ordered one yesterday!
Good luck, if I can be of any other help let me know!
Take a look here for my thread and the help I received from zero303 and grantway in particular.
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/vi ... t=12561429Orange 5 Pro 2008
GT Avalanche 2.0 20070 -
The world's your oyster if you have up to £2,000 to spend.
I'd go for one of the current 5in travel XC/trail bikes - have a look at the Trek Fuel EX, Specialized StumpjumperFSR, Commencal Meta 5.5, Marin Mount Vision, Giant Trance / Trance X and Lapierre Zesty (off the top of my head).
At the top end of your price range you could even probably manage a custom build on a more "boutique" frame if you were to buy the bits wisely. 0 -
They've really got the Orange Five bang on again this year - it seems the Fox Propedal shocks introduced on the '07 and '08 models, coupled with the bent top tube and geometry tweaks have just perfected what's always been a pretty good bike. There's quite a pack of us on Bike Radar who have not long received an '08 Five or just ordered one.
I could try and convince you all day long of what a great bike the Five is or I could do what I said to pcsplace and grantway and tell you to just get a Demo ride and let the bike chose you!
You might think you know what sort of ride you're looking for or how you think you want the bike to feel but in a slightly weird and nerdy way - picking your bike is more like picking your wand in the harry potter flicks (Wife is obsessed for the record), the best purchase is when you roll back into the car park after a demo day and the bike has already told YOU, you're buying IT.
As you've heard from a previous poster, the Five didn't work for him (although from what he's described I think his demo ride had setup issues, as did my Stumpy).
For allround trail centre giggles - top of my list were:
Orange Five - longish travel, fairly aggressive, very surprisingly light (in pro spec), solid trail allrounder - to quote a mate "I've never felt so planted and comfortable riding such lunatic stuff on a bike before".
Cannondale Rush 4 Carbon - mid travel, part-time racer, part-time trail centre bike, bloody sexy and very light. Money no object, I'd probably buy one in addition to the Five, just cause.
Specialized Stumpjumper FSR - mid travel, safe, neutral, dependable, custom looks for '08, probably safer to pick a Fox equipped model.
Marin Attack Trail - Long travel brute, the true AM choice, great Alp bike but surprisingly agile as an allround trail bike, see also the lower specced Wolf Ridge.
Marin Mount Vision - Brilliant mid travel trail allrounder, one magazine loved it (test winner) another liked it but found dialing in the setup sweet spot was tricky if you don't know what you're doing.
So yeah, that was my potential choices - the 'dale was a bit too racy for what i was looking for in an "only allowed one bike" situation. Attack Trail was the opposite, bit too much bike (I wanted something I could race for fun as well). I couldn't get a demo ride on the others and the Stumpy, I felt like I was trying to will it along, rather than it urge me on like the Five did.
For this money, don't buy on recommendation, buy on test rides!!! No test ride, no purchase, it's that simple for me. I'd rather buy the not quite best bike in a review knowing that it feels right and comfy for me and what I want to ride.
(oh, finally... if you can test ride, it's tempting to go somewhere bonkers but make sure you go somewhere familiar too. I chose CwmCarn as I'd ridden it to death on my last 2 bikes so it was a great to see how the bike made riding the same stuff better and more fun!)0 -
pcsplace wrote:Hey Darren,
I had exactly the same dilema as you have. I was riding a GT 2.0 avalanche and wnated to upgrade to a full sus. I started only interested in the stumpjumper range (expert in particular) and then soon added Trek EX.9 and Orange 5 following advice on this forum.
I took a look in the local bike shops and arranged demo's of the stumpjumper and orange 5, to me the orange 5 was a far better bike (personal preference) and my decision was made up. Now you could get a very good bike in the Orange 5 S for £1699 plus £65 for Fox fork upgrade or you could go for the Orange 5 pro for £2200 and have an amazing bike with no likely need to upgrade anything for the forseeable future.
I ordered a Orange 5 Pro yesterday with sram x.9 component option rather than shimano XT (zero cost option) plus I upgraded to a talas front forks as my local bike shop gave me 10% of the bike cost in store credit to use on accessories or upgrades.
The best advice I would give is to listen to advice and do your research but test the bikes and see what feels good to you. Personally I would wholeheartedly recommend an orange 5, but then I would as I ordered one yesterday!
Good luck, if I can be of any other help let me know!
Take a look here for my thread and the help I received from zero303 and grantway in particular.
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/vi ... t=12561429
Thanks very much for this, i have heard some good reviews on the Orange and this might be a worth a look, they Build them in Halifax and i dont live that far away. Thanks again.0 -
zero303 wrote:
They've really got the Orange Five bang on again this year - it seems the Fox Propedal shocks introduced on the '07 and '08 models, coupled with the bent top tube and geometry tweaks have just perfected what's always been a pretty good bike. There's quite a pack of us on Bike Radar who have not long received an '08 Five or just ordered one.
I could try and convince you all day long of what a great bike the Five is or I could do what I said to pcsplace and grantway and tell you to just get a Demo ride and let the bike chose you!
You might think you know what sort of ride you're looking for or how you think you want the bike to feel but in a slightly weird and nerdy way - picking your bike is more like picking your wand in the harry potter flicks (Wife is obsessed for the record), the best purchase is when you roll back into the car park after a demo day and the bike has already told YOU, you're buying IT.
As you've heard from a previous poster, the Five didn't work for him (although from what he's described I think his demo ride had setup issues, as did my Stumpy).
For allround trail centre giggles - top of my list were:
Orange Five - longish travel, fairly aggressive, very surprisingly light (in pro spec), solid trail allrounder - to quote a mate "I've never felt so planted and comfortable riding such lunatic stuff on a bike before".
Cannondale Rush 4 Carbon - mid travel, part-time racer, part-time trail centre bike, bloody sexy and very light. Money no object, I'd probably buy one in addition to the Five, just cause.
Specialized Stumpjumper FSR - mid travel, safe, neutral, dependable, custom looks for '08, probably safer to pick a Fox equipped model.
Marin Attack Trail - Long travel brute, the true AM choice, great Alp bike but surprisingly agile as an allround trail bike, see also the lower specced Wolf Ridge.
Marin Mount Vision - Brilliant mid travel trail allrounder, one magazine loved it (test winner) another liked it but found dialing in the setup sweet spot was tricky if you don't know what you're doing.
So yeah, that was my potential choices - the 'dale was a bit too racy for what i was looking for in an "only allowed one bike" situation. Attack Trail was the opposite, bit too much bike (I wanted something I could race for fun as well). I couldn't get a demo ride on the others and the Stumpy, I felt like I was trying to will it along, rather than it urge me on like the Five did.
For this money, don't buy on recommendation, buy on test rides!!! No test ride, no purchase, it's that simple for me. I'd rather buy the not quite best bike in a review knowing that it feels right and comfy for me and what I want to ride.
(oh, finally... if you can test ride, it's tempting to go somewhere bonkers but make sure you go somewhere familiar too. I chose CwmCarn as I'd ridden it to death on my last 2 bikes so it was a great to see how the bike made riding the same stuff better and more fun!)
Thanks for your advice, much appreciated. I think it would be best for me to test the bike....i dont need it for racing....a bit to old for that, but we do a lot of XC all year round and want something that can take our lovely weather.....Thanks again, looks like a trip to All Terrain for a demo.0 -
Yeh totally go test, everyone body size and style of riding is different, and suits different machines.
I've had an orange and hated it but was a crush( sketchy was the only way to describe) and as said above tested the 5, its alll about how you feel on the bike and no review can help you, there just a good way to get a neat short list!0 -
Orange 5 in what ever disguise you buy will be all the bike you would ever
need or want.
I have the Orange 5 AM i bought this one as i found i prefered the
agressive XC Hit hard on the downs with the 36 r Talas adjustable.
100 for the ups and 130 looking for the next buzz and 160 for those
downs.
When talking to Orange yesterday this is suited for drop offs at 2-3 feet high.
My 5 AM is for more of the aggresive downs
Where as the 5 Pro is more perfect trail and with a wicked streak
But make sure you get an adjustable fork for those ups.
If this is to light a bike go for the Orange Patriot XCEL for the Freeriding
and Downhills
The Stumpy never got on with the brain.
One thing is about Orange if you ethier buy the wrong colour bike
or you scratch the frame in one way or another for £ 150.00p
Orange will strip down your bike and change the swingarm bearings
and respray your bike in any of there colours and change the transfers.
Where do you get that anywhere else? Sorry i dont live in taiwan 0 -
But make sure you get an adjustable fork for those ups.
MBR have just voted the Five best Trail bike but one of their comments was that you really needn't be tempted by the adjustable travel forks.0 -
As i own a Specialized pitch I can highly recommend them but as you've got a bit more money to spend I can offer the following opinions:
I went on a demo day @ Llandegla and rode a couple of bikes that'd come in at teh higher end of your budget.
Firstly I rode a Meta 55 XT and hated it, just couldn't get on with the damm thing, didn't like how it climbed, rode or felt and I felt squashed up on a Medium - I'm 5'11" with a 32.5" inside leg BTW
I then rode a Santa Cruz Heckler in SRAM X9 spec with Rock Shock Pike 454's on the front, what a fantastic machine, it just wanted to climb like a mountian goat, felt fantastic to ride, really well balanced, none too heavy, descended like a bad ass ride I absolutley loved it and would highly recommed it to anyone with a couple of grand to spend :!: :!:
Despite the fact I rode an Orange one they look MEGA pimp in white 8)0 -
I bought an Orange 5 Pro last October and have ridden it every week since. If you remember the really crap weather we had around Christmas well we were out in it all. My rides are at Cwmcarn and sometimes Afon, also all the forests and hills around Cwmcarn.
Nothing has broken, nothing has fallen off, nothing has bent and no parts have needed replacing, save pads.
My mate has the 5s and his bike is the same, BOMB PROOF.
A bike shop in Cardiff are having a day at Cwmcarn in April I think and if you book you can test ride a few bikes. They do Orange, Trek and a few other brands. If you live within travelling distance it might be worth booking a few bikes. The track is good will put most bikes to the test.
I don't know if you are meant to big-up LBS on here but have a look at sunset mtb they were really helpful to me.
My 5 is in for its first service after 6 months of abuse.0
