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Long time Orange Five rider here. Am hoping to replace my 2015 Five frame (my 2nd) with the lastest five frame which is no longer on the website if I can get one. But I would have like the new swing arm though 🙁
But going forward...
So for 27.5 now we have either the 130mm(R) 140mm(F) Five Evo or the 165(R) 170(F) Alpine6.
So it seems we have a fast trail bike or enduro rig, the Five was Alps capable, not sure if the Evo will be in reality.
I was looking to move my existing 150mm Coil Pikes to the latest 145mm Five - have ordered one but lets see if still available.
150mm on a 130Evo seems unbalanced and will be very slack.
A few points...
- I expect the Five will soon reappear when they are ready to launch the new model, don't rush to buy anything else if you really want one
- Feedback on the Switch (mullet) is excellent, could be worth considering?
- My Stage 6 is 150mm rear / 170mm front and it's spot-on for me.
As above really as the 5 and Stage 5 (both vanished) are big sellers so can't imagine they won't be replaced. The 4 and Stage 4 did the same a couple of months before the Evo's turned up.
If you are ready to buy Sunset have loads and there's 10% off.
Worth pointing out that it's 10% on top of the discount already applied.
Yup, had already ordered one from Sunset today with the extra 10% before writing this. Spoke to them and there are some unpainted Fives left. Just need to order to secure. But I think its going through. New swingarms are much nicer though !
The post was really to point our the hole in the lineup when the Fives all gone.
I think they might be finally biting the bullet and making the Five into a 29er. All the best Oranges for years have been 29 but they've not always sold so well, partly due to crappy marketing. "It's a Five! No it's an Alpine!"
I put a deposit on a large “last of the long travel 5” frames last week
Spent ages umming and aahing between it and a Stage 5, but decided the 5 would be a better contrast to the 110mm 29er
Should be here next week and I can’t wait
I could imagine the 5 EVO being enough bike to bridge to the Alpine, but the Stage 5 EVO to Stage 6 does feel like a gap
I put a deposit on a large “last of the long travel 5”
Have you had any verification of them being discontinued?
As above, they have form for removing bikes from the site while they prep the replacement pages.
they might be finally biting the bullet and making the Five into a 29er.
I have thought that's what I'd do in their place, it's not like it's always been 650b anyway.
It's not like they cant do another run of the 2020 5 if enough people want one.
Seems their problem is the split swing arm is significantly better from an engineering point of view; but the solid rear arm and the name "5" has decades of history and one of the most recognisable silhouettes in biking. And they arent quite sure how to deal with it...
Is the Five Evo a 5 or a 4? I was under the impression the Five Evo was replacing the Four and the Stage Evo replacing the Stage 4. They shoulda called the Five Evo the Fourve.
ayjaydoubleyou
Free MemberIt’s not like they cant do another run of the 2020 5 if enough people want one.
Orange are in a bit of a weird place with this... Yes they make most of the frame in house. But they're limited in how many they can make (and according to their last boss, it's not financially viable to buy all the hardware to create a new production line, as it's all mega expensive industrial metal forming stuff that you'd never use to build a bike in a million years unless like them you were an industrial metal forming company that wanted to build a bike. But every time they've tried to move away from the folded aluminium, people hate it.
There'll be lead time issues with the bits they don't do themselves, the toptubes and that, but mostly their business model probably looks something like this- make enough Fives to keep the brand in the biking public's eyes, so that you can sell hardtails for mad high prices. Then make an assortment of other foldy sheet bikes just to make sure you're not dependent on one product which might fail. Once you've done that, make whatever foldy sheet bikes you think will give you the highest profit margin, til the build queue is full.
Orange are in a bit of a weird place with this… Yes they make most of the frame in house. But they’re limited in how many they can make (and according to their last boss, it’s not financially viable to buy all the hardware to create a new production line, as it’s all mega expensive industrial metal forming stuff that you’d never use to build a bike in a million years unless like them you were an industrial metal forming company that wanted to build a bike. But every time they’ve tried to move away from the folded aluminium, people hate it.
There’ll be lead time issues with the bits they don’t do themselves, the toptubes and that, but mostly their business model probably looks something like this- make enough Fives to keep the brand in the biking public’s eyes, so that you can sell hardtails for mad high prices.
up until the last sentance, I agree with you entirely. 10 or even 5 years ago the 5 was the bread and butter. Now, looking at the owner's group and what I see on the trails in real life, the Alpine and the Stage seem to have taken over, with a few 4s for the short travel afficionados.
Agree that they are in a position where they can make X number of folded alu bikes per year, without buying a ton of expensive kit and hiring more aluminium welders. It's not like placing an order to taiwan a few years in advance. If they wanted to make another run of fives, they can just dust off the 2020 drawings and start cranking them out (by cutting the numbers on some of the other models). the bits they dont do themselves look like the head, seat and BB tubes, which look like they are common across the range, the top tubes are folded sheet now.
Is the Five Evo a 5 or a 4? I was under the impression the Five Evo was replacing the Four and the Stage Evo replacing the Stage 4. They shoulda called the Five Evo the Fourve.
You are right, the Evo bikes replaced the 4/Stage 4.
“Is the Five Evo a 5 or a 4? I was under the impression the Five Evo was replacing the Four and the Stage Evo replacing the Stage 4. They shoulda called the Five Evo the Fourve.”
I see what you’re getting at but it’s meant to be a 5” travel frame - and how it’s be reduced to 130mm travel it’s still slightly over 5”!
ayjaydoubleyou
Free Memberup until the last sentance, I agree with you entirely. 10 or even 5 years ago the 5 was the bread and butter. Now, looking at the owner’s group and what I see on the trails in real life, the Alpine and the Stage seem to have taken over, with a few 4s for the short travel afficionados.
And yet, nobody really noticed when most of the Stages got discontinued.