mtb allrounder

[anonymous-user]

I have a cube race mtb and looking for a all rounder mtb max 2k, xc, downhill more and has to be a fun bike.. any recommendation sbesides canyons or cube thanks.

[missing the VR6]

I believe the Specialized Pitch Pro is meant to be pretty spectacular for the money.

Personally I'd negotiate on an Orange 5, you could probably get an S for your budget with some hagling. Also Orange sell bikes through their website either old model years or slightly used. I negotiated £650 off my 5 Pro and got a few upgrades done at the shop for cost.

[MikeGTi]

missing the VR6 said:

Personally I'd negotiate on an Orange 5, you could probably get an S for your budget with some hagling. Also Orange sell bikes through their website either old model years or slightly used. I negotiated £650 off my 5 Pro and got a few upgrades done at the shop for cost.

Orange 5 - Definite choice.

As MTVR6 said you can get discounts on their website for certain test bikes and things, I got £800 off my Blood

[P-Jay]

Yeah Pitch Pro was the danglies in terms of smiles per pound but they've dropped it now, Stumpjumper Evo Comp is the replacement in all but name, but of course costs a lot more.

Mate just picked up a Nukeproof Mega Comp, I was very, very impressed. It's about 2300, but I'm told 2000 is the 'cash price' for them.

[anonymous-user]

that Nukeproof looks like a lot of bike for the money and 32 lbs isnt bad at all for something that can take a bit of a beasting. Frame looks familiar but cant think why.

[missing the VR6]

I really wanted to look into those Nukeproofs and have a ride of one before I bought my Orange 5 but couldn't find somewhere to try one. They do look awesome.

[Jumpy Guy]

To be honest I dont 'get' the Orange 5

I think its quite Marmite, apart from it bombproof nature

Lots of more modern, more able bikes out there, I think

[P-Jay]

Jumpy Guy said:

To be honest I dont 'get' the Orange 5

I think its quite Marmite, apart from it bombproof nature

Lots of more modern, more able bikes out there, I think

He's only kidding Orange Faithful, put away the pitchforks (British Made, designed in the 50's, twice the price of all other types Pitchforks naturally).

We know they're the best bikes in the whole wide world ever, MBR says so...

[missing the VR6]

Here's my decision making process on buying an Orange 5. Probably the bike I saw most round UK trail centres and for hire at said centres assumed it must be pretty good and also tough to be used so much for hire purposes. Was at Glentrss and they had a Trek Carbon 9 Remedy or something like that for £3000 down from about £6k the guy at the shop said for £3K I'd be better on a 5, so my little brain say wow they must be good if it's as good as a £6K bike.

Looked on the Orange website and then noticed it'd won a few awards, having never bought a mountain bike mag in my life (have perused my mates Singletrack if I'm at his house) didn't mean a lot to me.

Organised a test ride on an Alpine 160 and 5 Pro at White's Level, me and my mate who came with me both enjoyed the 5 more so negotiated with a few bike shops and bought one.

Yes I had a good look at the Lappiere Spicey/Zesty 714 and yes for the same as my 5 I could have got a carbon bike but I don't want carbon, it worries me as I do like to crash. Quite frankly to me I was spending just over £3K and didn't feel that brands such as Trek/Giant etc worth that money, £2/2.5K yeah sure but I wanted something a little more special to that end also had a look at SantaCruz and Yeti but they were too much for what I'd want.

I am completely smitten with my 5, I never thought I could ride as fast as I do now or ride the stuff I do now. My previous bike, Ghost AMR 5700 which my mate tells me got 9 out of 10 or something from one of the bike mags. Clearly having had the Ghost it's not just about the brand, truth be told when I first started noticing the 5's I thought they look hideous.

Maybe just maybe the 5 wins awards because it really is that good. Much in the way there's a lot of hate for Porsche and the VW Golf, maybe they just are the best?

Edit, Sorry for the long winded post I just don't understand why I keep seeing on here MBR said so etc about the 5, as far as I can tell it's an excellent bike and well deserved of any praise it gets. I ride mountain bikes I don't pay much mind to magazines and this is the only forum I look at in relation to riding. I purely just enjoy having a ride with mates and the 5 has made that more enjoyable than the Ghost did, surely that's a good thing?

Edited by missing the VR6 on Friday 25th May 14:55

[a11y_m]

If I was buying an all-rounder full-suss again I've be looking at:

- Lapierre Zesty 140mm if I wanted less travel
- Lapierre Spicy 160mm (climbs remarkably well for travel/weight)
- Nukeproof Mega 150mm: http://www.nukeproof.com/frames/mega-frame
- Leftfield choice: Rose Granite Chief 150mm: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products/bikes/mtb-full... (getting a great reputation)
- Another leftfield choice: Rose Uncle Jimbo 160mm: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products/bikes/mtb-full...
- Orange 5, common as muck but not without good reason
- Santa Cruz Heckler 150mm: http://www.santacruzbikes.co.uk/heckler
- Santa Cruz Butcher 150mm VPP: http://www.santacruzbikes.co.uk/butcher

I currently ride a Spicy and absolutely love it - incredibly versatile. Since starting to use mine on local trails more often I’m even more impressed with it. It can genuinely handle most things: change the tyres to dual-ply and it’ll cope very well with a world-standard DH track, but with normal tyres it’s more than fine for XC stuff. Despite the weight it climbs very well with little bob and manages to fine great traction.

[P-Jay]

2004 Orange 5.



2012 Orange 5.



2004 Spesh Enduro



2012 Spesh Enduro




I don't hate them, I've rode a few and they never floated my boat, I really don't like the utter blinkered "nah nah nah nah nah I'm not listening" blind faith their hardcore fans have for them and I think Orange suffer from that old fashioned British 'that'll do' attitude to design and R&D that lets British firms rest on their laurels talking about "if it ain’t broke" and "Design Classics" whilst the rest of the world leaves us behind.

[missing the VR6]

P-Jay said:

I don't hate them, I've rode a few and they never floated my boat, I really don't like the utter blinkered "nah nah nah nah nah I'm not listening" blind faith their hardcore fans have for them and I think Orange suffer from that old fashioned British 'that'll do' attitude to design and R&D that lets British firms rest on their laurels talking about "if it ain’t broke" and "Design Classics" whilst the rest of the world leaves us behind.

For me the design really does work really does work, yes the bikes look the same but is it not possible that they got it right first off and Specialized have had to improve their design to get it right? From what I understand they changed the top tube shape and down tube width recently?

I wouldn't say I'm a big fan of single pivot bikes as a mate has a Commencal Meta 5 and it's not as good as my Orange so would choose another bike over it if Orange didn't exist, truth be told if Orange didn't exist I'd have bought a Lapierre 514 and thrown a load of money at it upgrading it.

I refer back to my previous post with reference to Porsche ok they changed from air to water cooling but the basic design hasn't changed and the engine position hasn't changed so does that mean they're taking it easy and resting on their laurels?

I am a fan of my bike but I also enjoy riding my mates Giant Trance X4 and my mates Cube Race Ltd, just not quite as much as my 5.

[Jumpy Guy]

Blimey. Apologies for the Orange 5 baiting, completely unintensional.

I have been riding trail centres for two years, Glentress, Inners, Fort Bill.

I always hire a bike. So, I have ridden, amongst others, Orange 5, various Yeti, Ibis Mojo, Mojo HD, Santa Cruz SL, Various Core, Trek 6300, Remedy, variations on the Trance.

I didn't gel with the 5 at all. It seemed to make the uphills harder than any other bike. It wasnt the best coming down. Wasn't particularly comfy.

But it seemed bombproof. Agricultural, even.

As an engineer, and British, I'd love to say it was the best. I can't.

[nammynake]

Canyon Nerve AM

[BOBTEE]

I have a Lapierre spicy 316, love it! Swap tyres around and mess with suspension pressures and it'll do whatever you ask of it.

[anonymous-user]

Settled on an AMS 120 29ER, just trying to find on in stock...

[a11y_m]

billybob69 said:

Settled on an AMS 120 29ER, just trying to find on in stock...

Good luck finding one in the UK!

I ordered an AMS 120 29er a couple of weeks ago from here: http://mhw-bike-house.de/shop/show/show_pr/Fahrrae... - 1699 euros delivered, converted to £1,421 when I bought mine. Arrived within 5 days to mainland Scotland, I can highly recommend that shop - painless transaction and bike arrived fully built.