The first quarter of this year brought uncertain times for the Yorkshire brand, with administrators called in to sell the business that was in financial trouble. The pause of trading was relatively short-lived, and by the end of January Orange had continued trading under original owner, Ashley Ball. Orange acquired their own UK manufacturing partner, and have now unified the entire production process in one location.
I for one was really pleased to see the brand back at Eurobike, seemingly fighting fit. Here’s a quick look at the new single-pivot aluminum mountain bikes coming out of Halifax in 2024.
2025 Orange Stage 6
The Stage 6 remains in the lineup as a 150/160mm travel affair with 29″ wheels. The geometry is nigh-on identical to the Stage 6 of 2021, with a 64° head tube angle, a 76° seat angle, and a reach of 486mm in a size large. It still has very generous length in the back with 469mm chainstays. Despite an unchanged geometry, this is a completely new frame with the continuous brace where the top tube meets the seat tube giving it a more modern aesthetic.
The one meaningful geometry change is seen in the seat tube length. They’ve shaved an inch (25mm) off the seat tube across the M-XL frames – yep, they report all geometry figures in millimeters, save for the seat tube length that is reported in inches. Gah. My grumblings aside, that means riders will benefit from the use of a longer travel dropper.
The swingarm has moved to UDH, and the front triangle gets frame storage, or the SAFE, as Orange call it. I’ll make the filing cabinet joke so you don’t have to. Finally, the bottle cage mounts have been moved form the underside of the downtube to the underside of the top tube.
The kinematic has also been updated. The Stage 6 now runs a 205mm x 57.5mm Trunnion shock, as compared to the standard mount 210mm x 55mm shock.
The Stage 6 will be sold with a five year warranty. It will be available in the next 10 weeks, and the SE spec you see here will retail at £5,700.
Orange Satsuma
This is Orange’s very first full suspension mountain bike for kids. The Satsuma is a mullet, with a 26″ rear wheel and a 27.5″ front wheel. It has 130mm travel in the rear and a 140mm fork, and a 24″/26″ mullet version is on its way, too. It has a 64° HA, a seat tube length of 355mm and the reach of 410mm with a 425mm chainstay. Though marketed as a kids bike, I reckon it could be a viable option for many adults shorter than 155 cm. Like the Stage 6, this one gets a UDH and the frame storage.
Orange will have the Satsuma at three price points of £4,500 (Pro), £5,500 (Factory), and £5,900 for the SE model seen here.
Orange Patriot 29 eMTB
No longer a DH bike, the Patriot name has been re-appropriated to Orange’s line of long-travel full-powered eMTBs. We saw the Patriot MX announced last year, and now it is available as a 29er. It is home to the Bosch Performance Line CX motor with 85 Nm torque and a 600 W peak power output, supplied by a 750 Wh battery. It has 170mm travel, front and rear, with a linkage-driven single-pivot platform. That gives a progressive leverage curve as compared to the linear leverage exhibited by the basic single-pivot models.
The Patriot has some of the longest chainstays on the market; 473mm across the M-XL size range. Reach is 464mm, 481mm and 500mm, respectively. This one is slightly slacker than the rest with a 63° head angle.
The Pro spec goes for £8,500, the Factory is £9,700, and the SE model seen here is £10,000.
Orange Phase EVO 29 eMTB
Orange’s lighter mid-powered eMTB is also now available as a complete 29er, after its initial launch last year as an MX affair. The Phase EVO 29 gets 160mm travel, front and rear, a 64° head angle, a 76° seat tube angle, a 484mm reach in a size large and a 469mm chainstay length.
The drive unit is the Bosch Performance Line SX (55 Nm Torque, 600 W Peak Power). Inside the downtube is a 400 Wh battery. It has a respectable claimed weight of 19.5 kg in a size large.
Starting price for this one is £6,900 (Pro), with the Factory model retailing at £8,300. The model seen here isn’t available, it was just built up as a show bike.