Orange has given the Stage 6 the Evo treatment, revealing it today in an intimidating flurry of words about speed and acceleration and so on. Will this speak to your racing synapses? Or do you not care about that, it looks lovely, and you’ll have one to sit on the back of your adventure wagon while you faff around with waterproof socks and prepare for a lap of Glentress (blue)?
The Stage 6 Evo will initially be available as an SE spec (Special Edition), at £6,400 Ox Blood Red gloss paint finish. Other models will become available at a later date.
Over to the Orange marketing department…
“Hair raisingly fast, with well-balanced handling” was the brief. We reckon the Stage 6 Evo is the bike to raise the hairs on the back of your neck before setting you straight back to cool, calm and collected. If you love the feeling of dropping into a fast trail with the bike accelerating beneath you, the track’s texture coming up though the contact points and the suspension flowing over the rocks and roots, then this is the bike for you. No traction control button, just full-on sport mode – you’re welcome.
Full on EVO from Orange means you have honed geometry with decades of development and thousands of miles of test riding. The Stage 6 Evo is an aggressive trail bike with 29” wheels, designed to take a 150mm fork, with 140mm of rear wheel travel. This bike is fast, fun, and more than happy to ride terrain more aggressive than its travel numbers would suggest.
With the emphasis placed firmly on geometry and the incredible performance benefits that brings, the Stage 6 Evo could be the only bike you’ll ever need. The frame features our new asymmetric swingarm construction which improves stiffness and strength, a more progressive suspension curve, offset bearing housing to give more space around the chain-ring which allows us to use a more neutral pivot position. The bolt-thru rear axle now threads into a UDH gear hanger – we believe this is a promising new ’standard’ and we approve; UDH is universally available, simple and robust – a great step forward.
Neat features that we’ve also added to the new Stage 6 Evo frame include accessory mounts under the top-tube, to support the oodles of new and innovative accessories coming onto the scene. When you find your favourite, you’ll be good to go.
And what’s F.A.F? You can work it out.
Frame Construction
With over two decades of fabricating and refining our own custom formed aluminium monocoque frames under our belts, Orange has developed the ideal balance of pedalling efficiency and shock performance whilst maintaining the compliance to ensure optimal grip whilst cornering. This new design has allowed us to achieve these traits by using thinner, lighter cross sectioned tubes all manufactured in-house. The swingarm has improved resistance to twisting under pedalling load while maintaining the lateral flex that gives grip when the bike is leaned hard into turns.
The result of lowering the non-drive-side chainstay, with better integration of the bearing housings, along with revised tube thicknesses, has resulted in a 20% increase in longitudinal stiffness and a 15% increase in overall strength compared to previous construction methods. This improved stiffness ratio also aids pedalling efficiency through a reduction in twisting and enhances shock performance, all without increasing weight.
The frame’s asymmetric bearing housing means we can locate the main pivot in a neutral position to minimise the effect of drivetrain/suspension interaction (pedal feedback), allowing the bike to pedal smoothly through the choppiest of terrain.
Orange Stage 6 Evo frame features at a glance:
- Brand New for 2022 Custom Formed Monocoque 6061-T6 aluminium frame
- Designed and built in Britain
- 5 year frame warranty with Limited Lifetime Crash Replacement
- New Aggressive Evo geometry optimised for 150mm front/140mm rear travel
- New Neutral pivot position
- New Progressive suspension kinematics
- New New asymmetric swing arm design with greater strength and lateral rigidity.
- Off-set pivot for chainring clearance
- Geometry for reduced offset fork
- New Improved dropout with UDH gear hanger
- Boost 148 rear hub spacing
- New Top tube accessory mounts
- Bottle cage mounts under downtube
- Internal cable/hose routing
Stage 6 Evo SE Specification
- F: 150mm | R: 140 mm | W: 29
- Fork: Ohlins RXF 36 M.2 Air 150mm 29
- Rear Shock: Ohlins TTX1 Air 210×55
- Bottom Bracket: Race Face
- Crankset: Race Face Aeffect 32t
- Rear Mech: Shimano SLX 12spd
- Chain: KMC 12spd
- Shifters: Shimano SLX 12spd
- Cassette: Shimano SLX 10-51T 12spd
- Wheelset: Stans Flow Mk4 + Hope Pro 4 (Black) 29
- Tyres: Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5 3C Exo / DHR II 2.4 Exo 29
- Brakes: Hope Tech 3 E4 Black 203/180
- Seatpost: SDG Tellis 150mm
- Seat Clamp: Strange Bolted
- Headset: Cane Creek 49mm for Tapered Steerer
- Swingarm: Bolt Type Allen Key Head (Boost 148mm Hub)
- Stem: Hope M35 x 35mm Black
- Saddle: SDG Strange Bel Air III
- Handlebars: Renthal FatBar M35 800mm
- Grips: Strange Grappler Lock-On
If you fancy yourself F.A.F. and want one of these Orange Stage 6 SE Edition bikes, they’re available now from Orange and Orange dealers.
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