Click here to purchase Ventana X-5 Acid Orange Frame Only on eBay!
VENTANA X-5 X5 (FRAME AND SEAT COLLAR ONLY) NO SHOCK, NO FORK, NO WHEELS, NO POST, NO SEAT, NO BRAKES, NO SHIFTERS, ETC. The pics are before when it was built up – that stuff is gone.
More pics @ www.smithrides.com > For Sale
Size: Ventana calls this a 19 – in my personal opinion – it is long enough to feel that size – but not tall enough (oh, the seat tube goes up plenty high, but the X front keeps the top tube down there out of the way (it is slightly less than 18 inches from center of BB to top of top tube at the weld, 19 to top of collar)) They have all the specs on the website – and this 2005 has the same geometry (just different brake cable routing)..
http://www.ventanausa.com/frame_x5.html
I have had this three Summers and didn’t even put wheels on it this Summer – so it’s got to go! I bought it when I was planning a move to Colorado… That didn’t happen and I am not a super long-travel guy on Midwest trails. This frame is the Acid Orange Ventana X-5 (5 inches rear wheel travel) it runs great with a 130 mm Bomber. The back end has the full bearing kit and the aluminum work on these is just insane. Look at ventanausa.com and drool. Read the posts online – everyone loves this bike. I love this bike. I don’t want to sell it – I want to keep it “just in case I ever move somewhere that I could ride it”! Then go to google shopping and you will see that these frames are two grand retail. BTW – when you want to build it back up Ventana recommends Fox RP23 Pro Pedal Air Shock (not included) 5.875 e2e with either 2 or 2.25 stroke (note the 2.25 gets you the 5.5 inch travel that Ventana lists on the web)I have emailed Sherwood at Ventana about different size rear swingarms and he is very cool – easy to deal with (and handbuilds some amazing bikes). I have the Five inch swingarm but you can get from 4 to 6… There is something cool about a company where the dude that designed the bike answers when you call!If you are one of the dudes riding an Ellsworth or Blur around at Palos and thinking – what’s next? Ventana USA! …………….. Review Ventana Mountain Bikes was formed in late 1988 and every part of each Ventana frame is produced in California. FRAME The front end of the X5 looks like a Cannondale with its X-Brace top tube giving it a 28in standover height, which is low for a long-travel trail bike. Wraparound gussets reinforce the internally-butted head tube, making this frame dual-crown friendly. The head tube is bored and faced after powder coating, as is the bottom bracket — so Hollowtech II and X- Drive bottom brackets will slot straight in. Massively oversized chainstays provide the backbone of this linkage single-pivot design and complement the proportions of the front end. But there is no point in building two solid structures and hanging them by a thread — that’s why Ventana uses a hollow 15mm main pivot and quad cartridge bearing to eliminate flex. Standard travel on the X5 is five inches, but it’s also available in four or six-inch versions, where retrofit kits are available. Ventana even offers a heavy-duty swingarm option if you prefer hucking to hacking. Also, because Ventana produces everything in-house, it can do custom geometry for and additional up-charge, providing it doesn’t compromise the ride. SUSPENSION Riverside supplied our test rig with the excellent Fox Talas R — no bells and whistle here, just a positive-steering, lightweight fork that takes some beating. Angles on the X5 are designed around a 19in length fork to give a 70-degree head angle and the Fox unit maintains the intended geometry — if you want it slacker get a 130mm fork. At the rear, Ventana is the Burger King of shock options: ‘you want it your way, you got it’. Which means you can have Fox, Progressive, Manitou SPV 3-Way or Romic. Our test bike came with the ultra plush coil-sprung Romic Twin Tube, where the blue adjuster controls the level of platforming. All the other adjustments are exactly the same as a regular coil shock. PERFORMANCE Because the X5 has its main pivot directly in line with the granny ring, it is dependent on the shock to cancel out pedal-included bob. That’s why we ran more platforming on the X5 than the Turner. The effect on chain torque is most noticeable in the big ring, but the Romic shock does a good job of containing the pedal forces. Seated, you can see the slightest movement in the shock but the threshold is easily overcome with out of the saddle efforts or on a climb. Still, even with the hardest effort, we are only talking about half an inch of movement at the shock. Not bad for a 5in travel bike that delivers the full five inches. Add that to the unsurpassed frame stiffness and you get one hell of a burly bike. By burly we don’t mean heavy; with an air shock the X5 tips the scales at 27lb. But back to the stiffness — the rear wheel of the X5 tracks the front like a hardtail; cross rut this baby and its back end doesn’t squirm while it decides which direction it’s going to go, it instantly snaps back on line. Stiff is Ventana’s mantra and the X5 delivers. The angles on the X5 are spot on, but we were glad of the extra layback on the kinked Thomson post, which added length to the 22in top tube. CONCLUSION It is amazing that you can get an American-made frame, which is so beautifully fabricated, for two grand. But what’s more impressive about the X5 is how incredibly stiff it is. We can confidently say that the X5 is the stiffest sub-30lb full-susser we’ve ever ridden. And with retrofit travel kits you can jump straight on the six-inch travel trail bike wagon without needing a new frame.
