I know they have been discounted recently - does this mean Orange going to focus only the Alpine and Five production or are there new bikes in the pipeline?
Posted the same earlier but stupid work computer blocked it. I can sort of see the Alpine stepping on the toes of the Patriot but to drop the 322 when the new design has not been out that long seems strange.
Saying that I guess the same applies to them as to the classic P7 the other year. If people are not buying them why make them?
They've certainly sold some 322s, and considering the price premium for them over the normal price of an Orange frame you'd think that'd be an incentive... £2400 for a 322 frame with an RC4 compared with £1600 for an Alpine. Since the frames are all small-run handmade items punched out of sheet, it's not like there's much in the way of economies of scale either...
Mind you they had a terrible time getting the 224 replacement to market- lots of failed prototypes etc. And it's got to be hard to sell a £2400 dh frame with no race pedigree at all.
I think it'd be a shame though. Big Oranges are the best Oranges.
The 322 & Patriot bikes got removed off the website on the 30/09/2013. (mid afternoon in fact 🙂 )
The message is "Enduro" at the moment.
Not sure of big Oranges are the best, I have a 27.5 hardtail proto that is a Better bike than the Soul it replaced, albeit the proto geometry alone is more up to date,never mind the wheel set!!
Patriot's a mint bike, but I guess there's not much it will do that the new Alpine won't, and the Alpine's so easy to reach the summits on or ride 'all mountain', 'enduro' or whatever you want to call it.
I think it'd be a shame though. Big Oranges are the best Oranges.
dude, even Vaughan says they go faster with no chain
legend - Memberdude, even Vaughan says they go faster with no chain
Oh, they're not[i] fast[/i]. I had a fast bike, it was no fun. But unless you're racing, who cares about fast, all downhill bikes go too fast anyway 😉
To be honest, as someone in the market to replace an old p7, I'm just gutted there isn't a sensible steel hardtail. I think they sort of lost their way, sadly.
The days of a clockwork with a low rent alivio to get you started in the family...... Clockwork was the best bike I ever owned, (in contempraneous terms anyway) and led on to 2 p7's and an unmissed G2.
Jujuuk68- only reason I can see why they don't make a steel bike any more is because they don't sell well enough. Early 90's clockwork is just about the best bike ever although my 1991 Prestige runs them close. 😉
rickt- Are they gone then ric, never to return or are they available to order?
Well... They certainly weren't selling, but that's got to be largely because they were ridiculously expensive. Seems like post-CEN, Orange basically used the P7's rep to sell a bargain basement, heavy cromo frame for a high price as long as possible then binned it once that stopped working.
Likewise the R8- heavier than a Soul, less capable than a Soul, yet more expensive than a Soul, they were actually pretty nice but you'd have to try very hard to sell yourself one of those at rrp.
Going 650b?
If they did the sensibly specified base model like the 224 they might have sold a few more. I guess nukeproof is to blame for undercutting that market?
DHers are very much focused on the suspension side of things, and Orange's designs are (rightly or wrongly) perceived as very simplistic. People want "better" suspension, whether it's actually better or not, and go for the more sophisticated designs. Aesthetics play a part too.
What Orange have been trying to do is sell a product that's (to a lot of folks) not great looking, is perceived in the marketplace as quite basic and unsophisticated, and sell it at a premium price in a market stocked with cheaper frames with race pedigree (like the Wilson). No surprise they struggled, to be honest.