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Orange jumps on the reverse mullet bandwagon with the Orange Switch 6 a bike that promises speed in the bumps and the corners.
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0:00
It's pretty cool.
0:01
It's pretty cool.
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It's
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Hey everyone, Andy from Singletrack
0:07
Magazine here and I'm with Kelvin from
0:09
Orange at Eurobike to check out some new
0:11
bikes. So, what have you got for us?
0:12
Right, so this is uh this is our new
0:14
Switch 6. It's a a mixed wheel size bike
0:16
or a mullet bike. Uh we're 160 mil
0:19
travel on the front and 145 mil travel
0:21
on the rear.
0:23
Uh the frame's gone through like a
0:24
complete bunch of renovations over where
0:25
the previous models have been.
0:27
We've looked at revising um
0:31
spring curves so they're a little more
0:32
progressive at the bottom end of it.
0:33
We've looked at revising all the cable
0:35
routing as well, so that's a lot cleaner
0:36
and neater than it has been.
0:38
Geometry has had a huge update. So,
0:40
we're now sitting at uh 76° for the seat
0:42
angle.
0:43
Okay.
0:43
64° at the head angle.
0:46
Um now it's spec'd up with a reduced
0:47
offset fork as well.
0:49
Uh
0:50
bikes should I think we're looking at
0:52
availability at the end of September.
0:54
Right.
0:55
Um
0:56
So, it's like all Orange launches like
0:58
everyone says oh it looks the same, but
1:00
actually when you go to the details,
1:01
it's everything's new.
1:02
Yeah, it's it's it's it's difficult
1:05
because our silhouette is is always the
1:06
same, right? You always know it's an
1:07
Orange.
1:08
But the amount of work that goes into it
1:10
and the and the small changes that we've
1:12
made
1:13
even from prototype to prototype just
1:15
just make huge differences in the way
1:17
that the bike rides. So, we spent a lot
1:18
of time on this one. It's something that
1:21
it's a bit close to us because there's a
1:22
lot of guys in the office who ride 29ers
1:25
or there's guys who you know pitched
1:26
their tent over 27 and there's that now
1:28
there's that middle ground. It's like a
1:29
good good It's a good middle ground.
1:30
Yeah. So, yeah. So, just to reiterate
1:32
what this is, the Switch 6, 29-in wheel
1:34
at the front, 27.5 on the rear. Um does
1:38
it use a special custom rear end on this
1:40
or are you using a rear end off a
1:41
different bike?
1:42
No, it's a it's a complete custom rear
1:43
end on it. Um so, everything on this
1:46
bike has been specifically tailored for
1:47
it.
1:49
It's something that we've tried
1:50
originally to look you know some of our
1:51
first prototype mules we're literally
1:53
using separate options from maybe we
1:56
used like a Stage 6 front and a and an
1:57
Alpine rear or something to try and
1:59
couple it together to get the principles
2:01
down at first. And and even at that
2:03
point we we knew we had this weight to
2:05
it, you know, we knew there was an
2:06
option there for us to go ahead with it,
2:07
so.
2:08
Cool. And uh so we've we've got steeper
2:10
rear, slacker front.
2:11
Yep.
2:12
And uh this is a really nice paint job.
2:13
It's like a I don't know if you can see
2:14
it on the camera, but it's like
2:15
pearlescent white, isn't it? It's
2:16
beautiful.
2:17
Yeah, so we class it as cosmic white.
2:18
It's a color that we used to do back in
2:20
the day.
2:20
Yep.
2:21
And it's something that we we brought
2:22
forward. We did a custom bike for Tim
2:24
Ponting this year.
2:25
Oh, is this the team the old team color?
2:26
It's the old team color. Yeah, yeah,
2:27
yeah, yeah. So we we brought it back out
2:29
again and it we feel like it's relevant
2:30
again, you know, so it's a cool color,
2:32
it's very fresh. I think it looks nice
2:33
with the new decals on it and yeah, I
2:35
think it should get down okay.
2:36
Okay, cool. And uh just the name Switch
2:39
Six, is that because it changes our
2:40
action so easily or
2:41
Yeah, exactly, you know, that at least
2:43
that big difference between the 29er
2:44
bike and this one is that
2:46
it just feels more agile. You still feel
2:49
like you have the roll over that you get
2:50
with the 29er wheel at the front and the
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grip, but the back end just feels a bit
2:53
more engaged and a bit more fun and
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lively and you know, you can really push
2:56
it into the corners and and work the
2:58
ground, you know, you can pump the
2:59
ground again, so.
3:00
Okay, we're going to let take a look at
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a few more bikes as well now. So we're
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going to pick the camera up and check
3:04
out some more Oranges. Just
3:06
Okay, so we're over at Orange and
3:08
we're just going to take a look through
3:09
the new Stage Six. It's one of the bikes
3:11
for us at the show this year. It's just
3:12
gone through well, one of the biggest
3:14
overhauls really. Like the revisions on
3:15
this bike have been pretty extensive. Um
3:18
over the previous year's bike we've
3:21
we've kept actually we've kept the
3:22
suspension travel the same, so we're
3:23
still running 160 at the front and 150
3:25
at the rear. 29-in wheels. Um
3:28
we've now moved to a reduced offset
3:30
fork. Um and we've also gone to a metric
3:33
shock. So we're on a 210 by 55 rear
3:35
shock as well.
3:37
Seat angle's also had like a big shift,
3:39
so we've gone from 74 up to 76, so it's
3:41
2° further forwards. Uh and the head
3:43
angle's also slackened out to 64°, so
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it's a it's a degree and a half slacker
3:46
than where we were previously.
3:48
There's been a a 10-mil drop in the BB.
3:51
We've completely revised the cable
3:52
routing, so now it's a lot further up
3:54
the down tube. Entry point goes over the
3:56
top of the pivot and then it goes back
3:58
in on the chainstay and it cleans the
3:59
bike down a lot.
4:02
In part with our seat angle getting a
4:03
little bit steeper, the reach
4:04
measurements have also got bigger. So,
4:06
there should be no need for somebody to
4:07
upsize now. So, where we were on a
4:10
large, we were at 460. We're now at 485
4:13
on a reach for a size large.
4:15
So, plenty of room. Still a very agile
4:18
bike. It's really really good fun, but I
4:20
think it's moved it on another level
4:22
now. It's that much more than it was
4:23
previously.
4:25
Cool.
4:27
So, if we also take a look
4:29
not to be upstaged, the Stage 5 actually
4:32
as well has gone through a whole host of
4:33
revisions. It's now It's almost where
4:35
the Stage 6 was last year, you know,
4:37
it's sort of It's It's hinting towards
4:39
that. So, the head angle on this bike is
4:41
now 65. Seat angle's come forward again
4:44
there to 76. Reach numbers you're
4:46
looking at are very similar, so we're
4:47
around about 480 on a large.
4:50
We've dropped the BB. We've kept the
4:51
travel the same. Uh reduced the offset
4:54
on the fork and we've moved to a 210 by
4:56
50 metric shock.
4:58
But again now, I think that Stage 5 fits
5:01
into a position where you could use it
5:02
for like weekend hauling or we can go up
5:04
lifting or you can use it for small
5:06
enduro event and be quite happy that it
5:07
was more than up to the task.
5:11
Got a bunch of um
5:13
other bikes in the range that we're
5:14
we're showing here as well at Eurobike
5:16
and
5:17
the kids bikes have been something
5:18
that's super super popular. We've got
5:20
everything from a 16-in wheel pop, which
5:22
we actually we don't have here, which is
5:24
single speed with nice V-brakes. It's an
5:26
aluminum frame and fork. To the Zest 20
5:29
and the Zest 24. Uh you know, the Zest
5:31
24's on like a 1 by 11 group set,
5:33
hydraulic brakes. It's got an air fork.
5:35
It's
5:36
It's ready for the for the younger
5:38
riders really to take up the mantle and
5:39
start getting stuck into it. Okay, so
5:41
one bike or one more bike I want to have
5:43
a look at as well at the stand is the uh
5:45
the new Clockwork Evo, the 27.5 wheel
5:47
version.
5:48
Both bikes again have gone through
5:49
subtle revisions. Uh 27 and 1/2 wheel
5:52
bike is now got 140 mm travel, which is
5:55
10 mm more than what I had previously.
5:56
And 29er is now got 130 mm travel, again
5:59
10 mm more than what I had previously.
6:01
Head angles are a degree slacker on both
6:03
bikes. So, the 27 and 1/2 bike is now at
6:05
65.
6:06
Uh we've also lowered the BB 8 mm and
6:09
revised the cable routing. So, it's got
6:11
a new bolt-in insert, which is a little
6:13
bit cleaner than where we were
6:14
previously.
6:15
Two specs again. We'll do a standard uh
6:18
comp spec and an S spec.
6:20
Uh and bikes should be in sometime
6:21
around November.
6:23
Thanks very much. Uh end of day one,
6:26
Eurobike 2019.
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