Orange X1RS (1996/97)

Am I Mad?, Have I Lost The Plot?, Was I Dropped On My Head At Birth?, Well Who Knows........But what I know is that I now have a new Orange in the Man Cave.

Welcome to my 1996/97 Orange X1RS.

Yes it is the Marmite of Retro Full Sussers, you either love them or hate them. Well thanks to Cam (Jax13) I am now in possession of number three which is now lined up in the Man Cave with my others, I love them.........can you tell???

Ok so for now a little bit of history. 'RS' or 'Race Specials' were made available from Orange to satisfy the rider who wanted a 'Straight out of the box' bike that could be comfortably raced. Standard parts making up the 'RS' spec were things like Rock Shox Quadra 21R Forks, Gripshift 600, Cog Hogs and Crud Catchers as standard fit and a mixture of STX RC and LX Groupsets ensuring slick shifting, stopping and drive. With the many options offered by Orange BITD its not surprising that the 'RS' specced bike's are not as common as the standard STX, LX, XT & XTR builds. In-fact since joining the site I've only come across a few Orange 'RS' builds.

My new addition also differs from my my other two X1's as it is Anodised Red and not the Polished Chrome more commonly seen in X1's. Further more Orange commissioned Stratos to equip the X1 with a matching anodised red rear shock. Dated 1996 the rear Unified Rear Triangle (URT) has the Canti Mount. Despite the small run time of the X1 they did change over to offering an X1 in 1997/98 with Disk mounts on the URT (This can be seen on my 1997 X1)

It's early days with the build, but my plan is to keep things subtle, and not go crazy with it. I was so impressed with how my 1997 X1 performed at Mountain Mayhem this year that I will go down the route of fitting PACE RC38's. Groupset will be XT739 or LX depending on what I can find in the Man Cave or source from here. Finishing kit will be standard Orange parts, Super Cross Risers, Orange SK9 Stem, Orange Seat Post, Orange Strange Lock-on Grips will add a slight modern feel to the bike. Wheels & Tyres are still unconfirmed but I am liking my Hope Blue Hubs / Mavic Rims that I am using to get the Frame Rollin. It will be a slightly Patriotic build Red/White/Blue and my Royal Air Force day job will be acknowledged in the PACE RC38 Air Force forks.

Links to my other two X1's below;

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=243726

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=254207

Why is it that I hate the look of other X1s, but love the look of this one? Surely the colour can't be that important? :?

Koupe":2k1bb40m said:

Why is it that I hate the look of other X1s, but love the look of this one? Surely the colour can't be that important? :?

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Naah you've been in denial all these years and Jussa has just shown you the light .......and highlighted the errors of your ways

1 down just another 54,999 non beleivers to go :shock:






I'll conceed the red does suit the X1 so much better than chrome... wish this was mine !

It is a really nice bike in the flesh, I simply wasn't using it and decided to have a cull in order to build one bike for everything but because of the amount of road use I have a full susser just didn't fit the bill.

Good luck with the build, not entirely sure about the blue ano idea yet, but I'll hold judgement until I see it completed!

This should be a cracking ride if you can xt it, are you going to go with matching cranks or gave you found something a bit different?

Hi
What's the marmite factor with these x1 s then ? Is it how they look or how they ride ?
I think they look
Paul.

shinobi":2rw695xr said:

Hi
What's the marmite factor with these x1 s then ? Is it how they look or how they ride ?
I think they look
Paul.

Click to expand...

Think the biggest factor was Orange went away from convention with the Unified Rear Triangle (URT) over a full linkage system, this gave very different characteristics on how the bike performed when the rider was out if the saddle. Take your weight off the saddle the bike immediately stiffens up, due to the fact the BB forms parts of the URT and not the seat tube like other full sussers. The design does make it a great climber, fixed distance between BB and rear wheel drop-out ensure no chain growth as power is applied to pedals, which results in less pogoing. Agreed it's not the prettiest of full sussers and that doesn't help it's case, but for me it's interesting, different, unusual, and after doing Mountain Mayhem this year on my 1997 X1 it more than proved itself, I was smiling from ear to ear throughout the whole ride

Of course these are my experiences of the X1, easiest way is to try it out for yourself, bargains can still be had and do crop up on the forum or eBay every now and then. You will either love it or hate it, just like Marmite really

Oh i see
I have never ridden a proper URT to compare but i do remember the big debate bitd , i had spesh FSR and ground controls and a Heckler around that time .
I still think it looks cool and must be a pretty good " long ride " bike .
Cheers Paul