Orange Five opinions (2011-2012)

[raidan73]

Afternoon all. I'm looking for a new bike (or frame) for my lad. I'd probably like to stick with 26" wheels, mainly for the sake of my wallet. He's 16 and about 5'6" tall and has outgrown his little Chameleon. I'm now considering what to replace it with; I was originally looking at hard tails but might consider full suspension. I've seen a 16.5" Orange Five (bent top tube, tapered head tube) fairly locally but genuinely am clueless when it comes to full suspension bikes. I'd be interested in hearing people's thoughts, opinions and advice on what to look for. Can provide a link to the bike if anyone is interested

 

[d8mok]

I had one when new. I enjoyed it when i owned it, but once i tried other bikes from the same category i realised how far behind Orange are. They don't pedal well at all compared to bikes with a better platform so will depend on what he wats from it.


Plus they damn ugly.

 

[raidan73]

I had one when new. I enjoyed it when i owned it, but once i tried other bikes from the same category i realised how far behind Orange are. They don't pedal well at all compared to bikes with a better platform so will depend on what he wats from it.


Plus they damn ugly.

Were they behind compared to other bikes of the same era? To be fair my lad's gone from a (decent) 24" wheeled Vitus hard tail to his Chameleon, so doesn't really have a frame of reference. I still want him to have something half decent though, even if it's not modern.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Older full sus is generally cheap, but can be awkward and expensive to maintain, and performance massively overwhelmed by more modern stuff.
That's why it's cheap.

The orange 5 is a classic bike, tough and effective when you've got a bit of gravity on your side.
if he likes the look then why not?

Bikes are a journey.

 

[brocklanders023]

Disagree with d8, at the time they were well up there with everything else and these days geometry and shock are as important as anything else and geometry wise Orange are bang on.

As for that era 5 there's not a lot to look out for as they were pretty bomb proof and didn't have a problem with cracks. Check the obvious areas though as well as the rear drop out area and cable holes. 2011-3 bikes had a tapered head tube so open up fork choice. You could mullet one with a 27.5 front to really give you options? Don't worry about getting the exact right length forks either as they were rated up to 160mm at the time. Bearings last well although might need changing. Orange still offer a re-painting service for £250 where they replace the bearings and decals as part of the package so don't be afraid of buying a cheap, tatty one.

Still plenty of info on their website:

http://archive.orangebikes.com/

 

[raidan73]

Older full sus is generally cheap, but can be awkward and expensive to maintain, and performance massively overwhelmed by more modern stuff.
That's why it's cheap.

The orange 5 is a classic bike, tough and effective when you've got a bit of gravity on your side.
if he likes the look then why not?

Bikes are a journey.

According to the seller (famous last words) the (Fox f&r) shocks are both serviced and in good working order. He'll only be using the bike for general riding with his mates, around where we live, nothing competitive.

 

[d8mok]

Were they behind compared to other bikes of the same era? To be fair my lad's gone from a (decent) 24" wheeled Vitus hard tail to his Chameleon, so doesn't really have a frame of reference. I still want him to have something half decent though, even if it's not modern.

Yes they were behind as it’s basically the same design from the 90s.

Single pivot has its fans but it’s not great.


However for a first full sus it’ll be easy to maintain and likely better than the SC.

 

[brocklanders023]

Yes they were behind as it’s basically the same design from the 90s.

Not to derail the thread but most multi link suspension is based on the Horst link which dates back to the 80's! Modern shocks make virtually any platform work. Any way, back to the 5.....

Ultimately they were properly built back then and have little to go wrong so should be a safe bet.

 

[d8mok]

Not to derail the thread but most multi link suspension is based on the Horst link which dates back to the 80's! Modern shocks make virtually any platform work. Any way, back to the 5.....

Ultimately they were properly built back then and have little to go wrong so should be a safe bet.

I didn't just mean the suspension platform. The whole thing was 10 years out of date by this point.

 

[Twozaskars]

I've got one, I really like mine but barely use it and when I do it's not to its full potential. They do look ancient and ugly to some, but personally I like them especially the 2011/12/13 ones, the 2014 27.5" had an uglier subframe imo and pointless bike in general.
This age have the larger seat tube too, if he wants a dropper...
No nonsense design means bearings cost about £5 to replace, just needs hex keys and a mallet.