Many American riders have never heard of . The British brand builds its aluminum steeds in a factory in Halifax and only recently started selling online in the U.S. But don鈥檛 let its lack of name recognition fool you. It鈥檚聽venerated overseas, especially among enduro riders, and it鈥檚 helped launched the careers of the likes of Steve Peat. Known for聽alloy-only builds聽and single-pivot frame design, Orange is easy to slight聽for being simple, even behind the times. I鈥檝e been testing its big-hit enduro race bike, the 聽($7,830) for the past few months and have come away impressed by聽how effortlessly the bike has swallowed steep trails and big drops.
The Stage 6 is a potent gravity-eating machine, with a 65.5-degree head angle, long 450-millimeter聽chainstays, a 35-millimeter stem, and 800-millimeter bars. It gets its 150 millimeters of rear travel聽via the smooth聽Fox Elite Float DPX2 piggyback shock and features Fox鈥檚聽finest Boost 160-millimeter Factory Kashima 36 fork. It has a droolworthy聽spec list聽too, including a 12-speed SRAM XO1 drivetrain, so you get that huge gear range, and the burliest tires around, with a 2.5-inch Maxxis DHF up front and a 2.4-inch DHRII聽rear. At聽31 pounds, the bike is really not too much of a Clydesdale, although admittedly I was still skeptical of the alloy frame. But Orange has nailed the geometry and feel, and I quickly forgot I wasn鈥檛 riding carbon.
I didn鈥檛 expect to like this bike as much as I do, especially since it鈥檚 beefier than is required for most Santa Fe riding. And yet over the past聽few months, I鈥檝e had a great time riding on the local trails聽and at a few lift-accessed spots in New Mexico and Colorado. I鈥檝e been surprised by how few people have ever heard of Orange, and the bright blue paint job is certainly a conversation starter. I鈥檝e plowed it through sketchy scree fields and over the biggest and chunkiest terrain I鈥檓 capable of riding聽(the bike definitely gave me the confidence to push my limits), and a nearly bottomless rear end has handled it all. It鈥檚 outrageously stable on steeps and at high speed. It does demand to be ridden hard and will be exhausting for riders not willing to be, or not used聽to being, aggressive. Sure, the , the 6鈥檚 more trail-oriented little brother, is probably a little better balanced and more fun to climb on鈥攊t is almost four pounds lighter, after all鈥攂ut the bigger fork and tires on the Stage 6 had me feeling more secure on descents.
The bottom line? An impressive race-ready all-mountain machine,聽the Stage聽6 is a worthy choice for riders who emphasize the down and like riding something different from everything聽else at the bike park.
Through August 15, get 20 percent off full-suspension Orange bikes with the code Orange20.