Orange Stage 6 review

Capable enough to get you through anything.

• Brand: Orange
• Product: Stage 6
• Price: £2,900 frame only (complete builds from £6,000.00)
• From: Orange Bikes
• Tested by: Ross for three months

Climbing on the Stage 6

The Stage 6 is Orange’s 150mm travel 29er trail bike. In its current bespoke build, seen here, the complete bike comes in at 16.6kg. I hadn’t weighed it until I came to write the review, and from riding it, I’d have said it was quite a bit lighter. It certainly doesn’t feel sluggish or a chore on climbs, and there’s a nice tautness to the suspension, along with minimal bob, which keeps it feeling lively.

Coming over from bikes with much steeper seat angles, the relatively slacker 76° seat angle felt a bit inefficient at first. After couple of rides, and an adjustment of saddle position, I completely forgot about it. It’s felt natural and comfortable since. Whether you’re spinning along wide-open climbs or grinding up steep paths, the Stage 6 is happy to get you up there. It’s a long bike, both at the front and the back, but in practice it’s fine at getting around tight uphill/downhill turns.

Descending: where the Stage 6 shines

The Stage 6 has a familiar Orangey ride feel once gravity starts going the other way, and it’s a ride feel that I’m a fan of. There’s a sprightliness to it and a feeling of free speed from the suspension. Stamp on the pedals and crank into a trail and – especially – you can then just pump the ground, generating more speed. Whether it’s flat out rough and rocky, or super-steep trails, the Stage 6 never gets out of its depth. Enough travel, combined with the sorted geometry, will get you down, round and through anything. The suspension works amazingly on fast repeated hits, fluttering rather than stuttering or hanging up. While it might have ‘only’ 150mm travel, the Stage 6 has felt as fast in the rough as most longer-travel bikes. And often way more fun. It’s the sort of bike where you find yourself giggling at the bottom of stuff. It’s a confidence-inspiring bike.

Balance and geometry

The well-matched front and rear centre lengths (on the larger sizes especially) give it a really balanced feel which comes into its own when things get rough, dropping into steeps or rapid corners. There’s no real need to move from the centre of the bike, which keeps your weight centred, adding grip and control to both wheels and letting you concentrate on riding rather than swinging off the back or trying to force the front wheel into turns. Keep your weight centred, lean in, and you’ll be just fine.

Verdict

As trail bikes go, the Orange Stage 6 ticks a lot of boxes. It’s more than capable enough to ride the roughest and most demanding of trails, but it’s by no means a plough machine. It’s a fully immersive, engaging ride that gets better the more you put in. Yes, it’s long, stable and can monster through things, but it also feels nimble and lively and you can pop, hop and/or gap your way down the trail. As I said, you’ll have a massive smile on your face most of the time. I’ve already owned up to liking the way Orange’s single-pivot bikes have ridden in the past, and the current Stage 6 does nothing to dampen that admiration.

Orange describes it as the bike it has designed to do everything. Yes, the proverbial ‘quiver killer’. And I think they’ve pretty much nailed it. It combines an amazing ride feel with capable geometry into a pretty-much-do-everything package. Efficient and comfortable. Lively and engaging. Capable enough to get you through anything. One bike to rule them all. Recommended.

Geometry of our size Long

• Head angle // 64°
• Effective seat angle // 76°
• Seat tube length // 431.8mm
• Head tube length // 120mm
• Chainstay // 469mm
• Wheelbase // 1,273mm
• Effective top tube // 645mm
• BB height // 35mm BB drop
• Reach // 486mm