Orange Releases Short Travel Evo Versions of its Trail Bikes
Orange have today announced Evo versions of their Five and Stage Five trail bikes. The Evo tag isn't new for the Halifax brand as we've seen it before on their Clockwork hardtail, where the Evo version was a lighter weight, longer travel and more aggressive version of the regular bike. This time, the Evo tag to equates to the bikes running shorter travel but with the revised geometry still included.
Both bikes have lost 15mm of rear travel and 10mm of front travel as compared to their non-Evo counterparts. That means the Stage Five Evo is now down to 130mm front/120mm rear from 140mm/135mm while the Five Evo is now at 140mm/130mm from 150mm/145mm. To go along with the shorter travel is a suspension curve that Orange claims is "radically revised" to suit the travel The new curve is the result of a combination of shock tune from the manufacturers and Orange subtly changing the contact points of the shocks to affect the leverage.
Other changes are less obvious to the eye including revised geometry with new tooling and jigs specifically built and developed by Orange for these new models. The geometry is apparently designed for a reduced offset fork that allows Orange to lengthen the cockpit but keep the rider's weight in the same spot.
The Evo models also get an offset asymmetrical pivot, which apparently gives scope for orange to play around with chainring sizes or, more intriguingly, chainlines. Could we see that traditional Orange formula shook up with a high pivot idler in future? Other finishing touches include new bottle boss mounts, cable routing and space for piggy back shocks based on customer feedback.
The specifics of each bike are below:
Orange Five Evo
 | The Five Evo is exceptional. It out-performs longer travel bikes in a manner you wouldn't believe. Right at the start, we said these bikes are about geometry, and the Five Evo demonstrates how the new Evo geometry works to perfection. This is the 140/130 27.5 wheeled version. Bang on the money for rocky, twisty singletrack trails where surefooted manoeuvrability is your main priority. Its reactive response and composure are inspiring. |
Available: 26 June
Price: £5,300 ($6,600)
Orange Stage Evo
| For those who loves their wheels bigger, there's the 29 inch wheeled Stage Evo, it features equally radical geometry numbers, especially for a bike of its category. It majors on adaptability and as such shares the same Evo suspension progression to give our tuned shocks that wonderful bottomless feel. Which wheel size you opt for is a personal choice. If your local terrain brings you long climbs, big descents and teeth chattering root sections the 29er Stage Evo is your perfect rig. |
Available: 26 June
Price: £5,300 ($6,600)
More info, here.
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Here’s the latest evolution of our geometry that gives a 66 deg head angle and 400 reach, for a playful more enjoyable ride. A longer stem help this stay comfortable. We’ve dialled the travel back to 100mm so you feel connected to the trail. Tyres and rims are narrower for more precision in line choice and faster acceleration. And for the ultimate nimble trail bike we’re using a new 660mm wheel standard (approx 26”).
Look up Agenda 2030 report !!!!!!!!!!
May seem far fetched but if 75% of population is removed it adds up!
But that is the only way that world hunger & world poverty can be eliminated by 2030
Simple?
I really do not condone mass Genocide!
My all time favorite bike (old SC heckler) was a single pivot, was a joy to ride, and bearings lasted YEARS (and there were 2 of em when it came time for a service). My dad still rides it regularly.
The suspension design never held me back despite what all of the arm-chair engineers here say.
They are ugly-cute, they are low maintenance, and they look bomb-proof.
There are SO many exceptional UK bike companies that offer much better value for much more exciting bikes. And if we're still using UK made as a selling point, I could go up the road from where I live and get a completely blinged out, UK hand made Stanton Switch9er FS for £4,500.
That’s just not correct, the Hope HB 130 is $1,800 more( website lists $8,400 ). Almost 30% more expensive. This bike is not cheap, but in my opinion, it’s good value. All the moving parts are hope, plus hope brakes and an Xt drivetrain.
For example, I would spend money on a Nicolai, because I can see/feel value on their frames. I can't say the same for Orange. And I don't mean suspension design only.
Because singlepivot works, and personally I like the feel. I'd rather spend money on other UE/Rus/USA/Whatever
If it's possible to attain same function with less work/time, and why not do it? I don't think bend/weld sheet of metal is giving Value to the customer/or have a competitive edge.
Foes, intense and others did it back in the day.
PS- I've always been in love with Orange bikes, were I saw the Clockworks, and all the painting scheeme back in early 90s. For the time been, I won't be a Orange Customer. Too many affordable options out there, and other hobbies/stuff to burn my money on. Cheers
What happened to the five for e.g. (back to how it was) is the definition of regression, which is why Evo is misleading. Can we go with Orange Five S!ITOBA (Suckers!: It's The Old Bike Again)?
Pearl Jam? No.
Your suggestion may be a good one too. They already use the "Strange" name for their prototypes/experimentals so I can imagine they'd appreciate your suggestion too. As for names and travel, maybe they used to go along with how Marzocchi was naming forks. 888: triple clamp, 8" travel; 66: dual clamp, 6" travel, 55: etc.... Except for the 888, everything else went up an inch eventually. Now as Marzocchi has dropped these names anyway, Orange just went back to what it was.
All this said, of course I get what you're on about but I honestly don't care much. I realize the world is full of lunatics but I'm pretty sure no one will pull the creditcard and buy one of these before properly checking the specs. Personally, I actually appreciate this evo model. I realize there are people who don't like slack geometry with little travel because it makes them assume they're on a bike with more travel and they are in for a nasty surprise. But personally, I'm cool with it. I don't ride DH bikes. I don't need loads of travel from the bike but I do appreciate the long/slack geometry. Back when I first saw a On One 456 Summer Season (what later turned into the 456 Evo) I recall thinking "cool but I want that 6" fork geometry when I have just a 4" travel fork installed". Hence that's why I'm riding what I have now
Very close between the Orange, the Cotic and the Curtis. An Alpine 6 frame in a choice of colour, with an X2 shock and a seat clamp is £2,315.
The XR650 in 'standard' custom paint with an X2 shock and an inetgrated seat clamp is £2,380.
A Cotic Rocket with an CCDB Air shock and a seat clamp is £2,199.
Realistically at that level I doubt the sub 10% spread on prices is the determining factor between the 3.
The base level aluminium YT Capra with a similar/competitive frame is £1,999 for the full build. If value is a concern you'd find that hard to turn down.
"I realize the world is full of lunatics" uhuh, they're now running it.
Curtis is too single pivoty too and Cotic needs chainstay pivot rather than seatstay.
As for the prices being similar, I wasn't aware. I had in my head that Cotic and Curtis were cheaper than Orange, but apparently not.
As for the pivots and where they go, I indeed don't care too much as long as the bike rides as it should and maintenance doesn't go out of hand. Being a hardtail rider most of the time, single pivot seemed like something I could handle
Brain Of J
Wishlist
In Hiding
Is it Do The Evolution on that album?
And Given To Fly is one of the best songs they've written. Hugely underrated. Paddling out into some chunky surf signing to yourself "Wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw..."
Personally I do like Pearl Jam though I respect it if people don't. All fine with me. I listen to death metal, ska, jazz, classical... I may only find myself intolerant to popular r&b/rap music, waiting list stuff. My all time favorite band is Death. It is death metal and I think loads more people would have loved this band once they've stepped past their initial preconceptions and maybe the intensity that might overwhelm them. Their Symbolic album is probably the most accessible so for whoever might be interested, that's probably the best place to start. There is a lot of room, little details and different rhythms and melodies intertwined for whoever cares to give it a good listen.
Of course Pearl Jam is very different and just has its own qualities. Good to have choices.
The one exception being Mastodon though. Almost all other music has become irrelevant to me (Crack The Skye onwards, the previous albums were slightly too brutal for my delicate ears). I do like listen back to In Flames every now and then too.
The bassist (i think) for Gojira is an MTB fan i believe. I recall seeing a video of him hitting the trails in the Alps.
If the gigs are rescheduled and they play anywhere near me i may see if i can get a ticket.
That said, I don't just listen to music to look for a reflection of my worries. I see more than enough positivity as well. I think the aforementioned Symbolic album from Death has got quite a few positive themes.
You'd say this one should hit home for us mountainbikes as well:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba2DyMTl6XM
(Mayan - The Rhythm of Freedom)
Going by how Orange has used the Evo tag on the Clockwork, this bike should really be a “Four Evo”, a Four with slightly longer travel. It doesn’t even have the Five’s signature monocoque rear end, it has the split rear end from the Four/Alpine Six...
Irrespective of the name it looks like an awesome bike though, definitely the spiritual successor to my Four.
I'm with you, always fancied a Four but never had the money, was sad to see them discontinue it.
Their marketing speech gets tiring when they start justifying each year's changes with respect to the previous year's ones. It might make sense in the short term, but when you look at their whole history, they're just going circles once and again. The only time they did something meaningful to overcome the inherent limitations of the platform was with the S.T.R.A.N.G.E. model, and some of their followers considered it heresy, so they got back to the same old designs.
My point is how they keep going back and forth with what desirable characteristics their interpretation of the single pivot has from year to year, and how a non-linkage driven single pivot is fundamentally limited in terms what you can achieve. Over those more than 20 years I've seen them justifying a significant raise of pedal kickback to have enough pedaling efficiency, only to jump back to a lower pedaling efficiency next year because well... it caused too much pedal kickback...
So of course Commencal can undercut Orange and a lot of other companies because they don’t need to factor in the retailers cut.
Slack and long is for fast and steep.
Long travel is for rough.
geometrygeeks.bike/bike/orange-stage-evo-2021
geometrygeeks.bike/bike/orange-five-evo-2021
I think Orange should stick with what they are good at, it would be boring if every manufacturer just made the same style of bike with same suspension platform.
Where about do the new ones usually crack ?
Have not tried newer frames, but have see some front ends go at main pivot