Muddymoles mountain biking in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley

Orange Five custom (Dave’s 5!)

Posted by DaveC | July 17, 2009 | 9 comments so far

Orange Five in Red, 2007
Based on a custom Red with sparkle lacquer frame my 5 is made from a mixture of old and new bits.

Overall I find this a cracking bike. I have two gripes. One is I’m forever grounding my pedals but as no one else seems to complain about theirs I’m happy to accept this is my “style” rather than a massive fault of the bike. Secondly I blow through the travel on the shock, especially on bomb hole complexes. TFTuned say that I either need a PUSH upgrade to sort this or a Van R coil shock.

Frame 2007 Orange 5
Forks Pike U-Turn 454 coil
Headset Chris King (3rd frame for this)
Bars On-One Mary
Stem EA50 100mm
Shifters Shimano XT
Front mech Shimano XT
Rear mech Shimano XT shadow
Chain SRAM PC951
Cassette 2009 Deore 11-32t
Chainset 2005 Shimano Deore XT
Front brake Hope Mono 4
Rear brake Hope Mono 4
Rims Rear: 517 Mavic
Front: 4.1 DT
Hubs Hope
Tyres Conti Gravity
Rear Shock RP23
Seatpost Thomson
Saddle On-One Inbred
Pedals Time Z platform

Filed under Bikes in July 2009

DaveC

About the author

Dave's been riding seriously since about 1997 and is one of the founding Molefathers — along with Matt and Mark — that came up with the idea of a MTB website for Mole Valley riders.

He's had several different bikes but it's now mainly 29ers in Dave's stable, apart from an Orange 5.

Current Bikes: Orange 5, Salsa Spearfish and Kona Big Unit

There are 9 comments on ‘Orange Five custom (Dave’s 5!)’

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  1. Dave says:

    Actually this is now the 2nd bike spec. published this week of mine that’s wrong already!!

    100mm Easton stem is now a 80mm On One stem. Initial feeling is that it’s much more responsive and flickable.

  2. Rob says:

    Grounding the pedals and going through your travel are quite possibly the result of the same thing – your shoch or it’s settings. Is it a problem when you have the pro pedal switched on ? stating the obviuos, but have you checked your sag setting with all your kit on includin gyour camelbak ?

    PS..lose the mudguard and buy some proper bars !! 😉

  3. Andrew says:

    Dave

    That reminds me, thanks for the advice on the shock blade this morning – always good to hear from a rider actually using the kit. I’ve fitted it and will use it tomorrow.

    I’ll leave it to you to explain to Rob why you always ride with a mudguard.

    Andrew

  4. Rob says:

    Just thought…..you might wanna speed up your rebound on the shock if you’re bottoming out on successive bumps/holes.

  5. Dave says:

    Yes, sag checked and reduced to about 10mm, still blow through the travel. TFTuned not surprised. Dave Farmer not surprised about pedal grounding either, it’s a low BB compared to all my other bikes. Rebound set fast.

    Mudguard and bars are functional, sorry they intimidate you so much!

  6. Rob says:

    My pedal swere grounding out in Scotland but rarely in our Surrey countryside – it is a pain in the bum when it does happen though.

    Can Tim retune your shock to improve matters ?

    Don’t worry – I am not easily intimidated!

    Just off now to put my shorts and top in the washing machine as I dont have crud guard!

  7. Dave says:

    lol….yes it was a bit like that even with guards. Dog Sh*t kept at bay though, that’s the main thing!

    Yes, PUSH shim stack helps make compression progressive or a coil shock is supposed to help.

  8. Muddymoles says:

    Intense Spider 29er – First ride

    First impressions of the Intense Spider 29er, a 4 inch travel bike from the champions of VPP suspension and 29 inch wheels. Quite a combination.

  9. Related: The tale of two mech hangers | Bikes | Muddymoles: Mountain biking (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley

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