News just in from the Orange boys, and girls, at t’other end of the valley…
The Diva is for, well, riding. No acronyms, no confusion, and definitely no spiel from any Doctor talking about a pseudo-mythical woman. It’s not here to patronize, it’s just a new bike for women to go riding on!
Yes, the Diva is designed to be more comfortable, better suited to the female physique and all that comes with it. But more importantly we’ve designed it to promote confidence where a man’s bike would fall short. A stretched position on a bike doesn’t just make it uncomfortable, it makes it unwieldy and difficult to negotiate the simplest of trail features. We’ve made a bike that inspires confidence on all terrain, and that is what this bike is all about, on the trails or the cycle path, good old-fashioned fun.
The Diva geometry is designed to keep the rider in the centre of the bike. This creates better balance, improved traction, and creates a highly stable ride. It’s not just about a short top-tube, it’s about building a bike which puts the rider in control. The top tube isn’t just shortened in the usual cut and shut way women’s bikes can be. The steeper seat-angle puts the rider in the middle of the bike aiding pedaling efficiency and keeping the front end down on difficult climbs. It also distributes weight onto the fork, making sure travel becomes useable, not just a number where maximum compression is never achieved.
Good frame design also ties into comfort, distributing weight more centrally on the bike spreads pressure between a riders contact points; trimmed bars, a WTB Speed-She saddle and 170mm cranks. All this means more miles with less strain. Don’t go with the hype, you don’t need special gloves or comfort saddles when the frame fits.
Pricing and Availability
The 2010 Diva is available in 15″ and 17″ from any authorized Orange Mountain Bikes dealer. Bikes should be rolling into stores now and retail at £799.99
www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/2010/diva/
We have been promised photos of the Orange workshop crew dressed in frilly frocks to mark the occasion of the Diva’s launch.*
*May not be true, or desirable.
Comments (12)
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surely a 13″ frame size would be appropriate too for the Mamadirts among us? also 165mm cranks?
Of course the female specific geometry may mean that my interpretation of the sizes offered is out of whack.
I’ve just been on to Orange for you. That measurement is Centre-to-Top, so the seat junction is more like 13.5 and 15.5in on each frame respectively. The top tube’s also pretty kinked for better standover.
I was originally put off this bike (for my wife) because of the fork.
However, thanks to the link from this article, I discovered that you can upgrade to a Rock Shox Recon SL Solo Air for £95 – Ace!
If they offered custom paint, it would be even better, but I guess you can’t have everything.
They can probably colour-match the rims to the frame for you… 🙂
Cool, thanks Chipps 🙂 That seems a bit more appropriate for the target market for these frames.
Hmmmm – I can’t decide whether £50 rim paint is the most ridiculous thing ever, or the bargain of the custom paint world.
They have to take a regular rim, strip it, powder coat it, reapply decals and then rebuild the wheel. I’m sure you’d want paying £50 if you did that. 🙂
Hmmm…I wonder if one of these could persuade my wife to let me have my P7 back?!