[Closed] 2011 orange 224 evo or 2013 specialized status 2???

Orange 224 gets my vote!

Things that would put me of the status... Specialized shocks have there own wish bone so harder to replace or upgrade (for a bargain price anyway)

Also replacing bearings on the 224 id imagine would a hell of alot easier (and cheaper) then the status

Just my opinion havnt ridden either 🙂

The Status has normal shock mounts.

You should really try and get a test ride and make up your own mind as they're completely different designs. I've had a good go of a 224 and absolutely hated it (despite owning and liking a Five), not ridden a Status but do generally like horst-link bikes

the Orange may require more "skill" to ride or get the most out of, as its a simple single pivot design which means more feedback through the suspension, as well as the suspension stiffening under hard braking

the Specialized will be more 'neutral' in that the chain growth is limited giving a neutral feel when pedalling, hitting bumps or braking hard; however it will feel softer under power

most modern suspension bikes whether the Orange or the Specialized, are pretty darn capable and it comes down to personal choice, I've owned many different FS bikes and personally prefer short-link virtual pivots like DW Link / Banshee KS Link / Giant Maestro or DW's Split-Pivot

in terms of maintenance, neither of your choices are particularly hard to look after, I would also look at the support and warranty terms for both bikes when making your decision.

the Specialized Status is the latest incarnation of the old "Big Hit" which was a ground breaking and highly proven affordable DH/FR suspension bike

Wow cheers guys. Test is the way forward!!

I've not ridden a Status so this probably isn't totally helpful...

What do you want it to do? The 224 Evo is not, in all honesty, all that great a bike imo. But it's a lot of fun. I had a Last Herb DH before which, frankly, was a hell of a lot faster under me, but I didn't like riding it as much. It took longer to adjust to and figure out and it was all about speed. It sat in the garage being brilliant and fast.

So I got the Evo... Which forget about single pivot, also has downright bad suspension attributes, it's actually falling rate in the end stroke which is just stupid. Frame dictated suspension not the other way round. And they're not that tough, pretty cracky (though, also pretty weldable). The fit and finish is pretty poor on mine too, they missed a bit when painting it and the welds are shonky. If I'd paid RRP for it I'd have sent it back with a jobby keeping it company in the box. And the tyre clearance isn't great either, combined with the swingarm flex my 2.3 Specialized is often rubbing. It's consistently about 20 seconds a run slower under me at fort william which is pretty bad considering I'd got a year faster in the meantime and it actually fits me better.

But... It's great fun. I mean, proper laugh out loud, come and have a go fun. Esher Shore's probably right that it's harder to ride well, but it's dead easy to ride badly, I don't have to spend any time getting used to it after my little bikes- it's just a big bike not some super-machine. Geometry is great, everything it does just makes sense to me.

So if I was racing or serious about going fast, I wouldn't get another 224. But I'm a weekend warrior and it is perfect for that. I can slag it off, but I do love it. CCDB helps but the DHX was fine too. Considering what an old design it is now it's kind of amazing that it's still so good

Steve Peat when he raced Oranges for about a decade 🙂 he would us the suspension trait of the rear end jacking under bracking (called stinkbugging by the Yanks) to overdrive the fork into compression to steepen the head angle so he could run tighter corners.

I am not Steve Peat and didn't get on well with that single pivot trait.
Much prefer the Horst linkage and FSR ride.

Would love the bearing cost's of a single pivot 🙂
Spesh bikes used to be easy to swap shocks on, now they like doing unique fittings that are are hard to play about with if you want to run another shock, but they do (or used to) work with the shock maker to tune them into the design.

As noted above, the Status has a simpler "normal" shock mount.

A big difference between them is that the Orange has chainstays of around 445mm whereas the Status has chainstays of 425mm.

That's a big difference and I would go for the Status if you like steep lippy jumps

Contrary to what Northwind said, I'd go for the 224 if you're racing, it's built to be a racer's bike, and not short of pedigree. Orange's have a weird habit of feeling a bit meh unless ridden really hard I find, so if you're not a confident rider an fsr bike will probably do better by you.
I've had my five for two years, and it too has a falling shock rate, which is really awkward if the shock isn't custom tuned, or you haven't filled it to the brim with volume reducers. I'm also only just beginning to really to reach the bike's potential and it feels awesome! I haven't owned a non-single pivot bike, but unless something I demo really blows me away, I'll probably buy Orange again.

parsnip, I assume you're assuming that the 224 is good rather than having ridden one? Intruiged but what make it more of a racers bike than a Status other than the price.

Also worth remembering that this is the bike that even Orange employees mention goes faster with the chain off.

Contrary to what Northwind said, I'd go for the 224 if you're racing, it's built to be a racer's bike, and not short of pedigree.

I think the early reviews of the Status struggled to avoid saying buy this over the demo it's er better.

I'm defo a weekend warrior looking to have fun on a dh bike as enduro is my main arena.

Whereabouts are you? You'd be welcome to a go on my Evo if you're Edinburgh-ish. (I'm half thinking of selling it as the poor thing's never moved in months...)

I'm in leeds mate but might by at inners soon for an uplift but will prob have bought one by then. Many thanks for the kind offer though.

parsnip, I assume you're assuming that the 224 is good rather than having ridden one? Intruiged but what make it more of a racers bike than a Status other than the price.

Only ridden a 224 (for half a day), but note that it only came in two sizes (I think).

And the larger one is big, so I found it quite difficult to ride at 5ft 9in.

No experience of smaller one, but it might be a S/M sorta size - which I've found frustrating in other brands.

peacefulparsnip - Member

Basically just longer and slacker.

The Status is .5 degrees steeper, but 8mm longer, comparing mediums. Though, the 224 has adjustment, Orange don't say what shock position or headtube that's based on but my gut feeling is that's with everything set slack

OTOH the Status has a 1.5 headtube so you can slack it off easily too.

@Northwind with a sales pitch like you put in above you should have no trouble floggin that!

The Orange.

mikewsmith - Member

@Northwind with a sales pitch like you put in above you should have no trouble floggin that!

Good isn't it! In its favour it has 100% truth, I think anyone buying a 224 these days knows what it is and what it isn't. I had an amazing race bike, it's a bit pointless if you're not racing amazingly, I'd rather have something fun.

Which is exactly the sales job I've been using to sell the Herb, too 😉