Orange Crush

t4thomas
t4thomas Posts: 38
edited March 2009 in MTB buying advice
My local bikeshop have a 2009 Orance Crush which they are happy to let go for £875. That seems like a pretty good saving on the £1079.95 RRP.

Does anyone have any experience of this bike? It seems pretty aggressive, how do you think it would fair at XC?

Thanks,

Thomas

Comments

  • probably a bit heavy for XC, the P7 or the Evo8 would be better options for that imo
    Start Weight 18st 13lbs March 2009
    17st 10lbs August 2009
    17st 4lbs October 2009
    15st 12lbs December 2010

    Final planned weight 12st 7lbs
  • Shame, it seems like a really good deal.
  • Whytepeak
    Whytepeak Posts: 2,616
    Not so good at climbing, but perfectly viable at trail centres, why not embrace a harder stle of riding and pin it through all the rough sections. If you ride trail centres, its a good buy.
    if you ride xc, look at cube hartails. - good value.
    Now that we are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. ROMANS 15:1
  • Whytepeak wrote:
    Not so good at climbing, but perfectly viable at trail centres, why not embrace a harder stle of riding and pin it through all the rough sections. If you ride trail centres, its a good buy.
    if you ride xc, look at cube hartails. - good value.

    Interesting.

    I had another quick chat with the bike shop today, and they are prepared to knock a further £25 off it. That's only £850 for a 2009 Orange Crush!

    Orange have confirmed this bike weighs in at 13kg... That's only a bit heavier than the RockHopper I have been looking at (12.7kg).
  • jayson
    jayson Posts: 4,606
    Personally i think you'd be mad not to buy the orange at that price, its a much better bike than the 'Hopper.
  • owen908
    owen908 Posts: 170
    I nearly bought an Orange Crush and if i was still in the market for a hardtail the Crush would be my first consideration. For XC use the Crush would certanly be on the heavy side for climbing. Also the geometry isn't ideal expecially with the relativley slack head angle. However if your'e just interested in thrashing around your local loop then i believe the Crush would be the ideal bike.
  • zero303
    zero303 Posts: 1,162
    That's offensively cheap!!
  • zero303 wrote:
    That's offensively cheap!!

    I know... I really have no choice, I'm going to have to buy it!
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    I'its basically a hardnut hardtail. Is that what you need? Comes with heavier rims as standard, and a strong frame.

    If it is XC you want you'll find lighter bikes elsewhere with possibly more suited geometry.
  • It'll do XC fine. It is a heavier bike and slacker angles mean that possibly there might be bikes out there better suited to true "XC", and like you said its not a huge amount heavier than something like the Rockhopper.

    Its an absolute hoot coming back down the hill, you just need to be that bit fitter to get up in the first place.

    I have an '08 and have absolutely no complaints whatsoever - For the price you are on about it would be madness to pass them up on such an offer.

    Crush FTW!!!

  • Thanks for all of your input! I have just placed the holding deposit on a 2009 Orange Crush.

    I'm going to finalise the deal on Saturday morning, so I can ride her straight from the shop to the woods!
  • Good man - You won't regret it I promise
  • shin0r
    shin0r Posts: 555
    At that price what's to think about? Get it, they're awesome bikes.
  • t4thomas
    t4thomas Posts: 38
    Hi All,

    Just to bring this thread to some kind of conclusion, after further deliberation I did eventually settle on a 2009 Orange Crush. I collected the bike from a local bike shop on Saturday and immediately took her for a blast in the local woods to get her suitably filthy!

    Despite her burly frame, coil sprung suspension and bigger tyres she is surprisingly lightweight (weighing in at just 13kg). The geometry really eggs you on downhill and I quickly found myself out of my technical depth; At this moment in time, the bike is certainly capable of a lot more than me.

    I shall try to throw together a more formal review at some point, but to summarise:

    The Orange Crush is a bit stouter than a typical cross country bike and it's going to cope with some very rough terrain.

    If you're only interested in xc and trail riding, then the Orange Crush certainly isn't the bike for you. Infact, if you're the kind of rider who really isn't sure which type of riding you are into the Orange Crush is probably your perfect companion!

    It's lightweight and efficient enough to get you to the top of any hill, but provides just enough comfort and control to get you back down the bottom, spine intact.

    I hope this helps anyone who is trying to make a decision about this bike.