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Bike Perfect

Lifestyle

Guy Kesteven

Orange’s new Stage 7 is their smartest, fastest enduro bike ever

Orange World Cup United Kingdom

Orange Stage 7 bike bring ridden on a trail

The new Orange Stage 7 is based on the brand's award and test winning Switch 7 MX bike but runs twin 29er wheels in a frame that’s had a full Finite Element Analysis (FEA) deep dive based on World Cup race team feedback.

More Orange

To quote Orange, “The aim of the Stage 7 was to create a race bike with an outright focus on speed. Its sibling, the Switch 7 has been received exceptionally well and is truly a perfect weapon for racing at world class enduro events where tracks are tight and twisty. But like anything that's good at everything, there are times when you need a bit more”.

The more in this case means several things. Firstly, the Stage 7 runs a 29-inch rear wheel as well as a 29-inch front wheel for maximum rolling speed and impact smoothing performance. Orange have also spent more time running the frame and shock driving ‘STRANGE ( aka Special Technology RANGE) power link’ through FEA and 3D modelling software. This has helped them to produce exactly the balance of strength and traction boosting flex the World Cup race team were after, while still isolating the trunnion mounted rear shock from any structural loads. That not only means it can operate without any binding or bending for ultimate sensitivity, but it also massively increases shock reliability and lifespan. The 3.04 to 2.32 ratio change with a “real working progression” of 23.7 percent means the Switch can run coil shocks as well as the high volume Fox X2 it comes with as standard.

While the 63-degree head angle and 76 degree seat angle, 466mm (medium) / 484mm (large) / 502mm (X-large) reach geometry is the same as the Switch 7, the chainstay is 20mm longer at 468mm to handle the bigger rear wheel. The Stage 7 also gets new rubber chainstay wrap and replaceable downtube protector panel and a five year bearing warranty for the original owner.

Orange have been winning gravity races – including Greg Minaar's first World Cup win and Steve Peat's World Championships win – with their iconic hand made monocoque frames since the 1990s (Image credit: Orange Bikes)

Less Orange

There is some less going on with the Stage 7 too though. Even with the longer rear end, travel is reduced slightly from 170mm to 165mm. There’s no small size either as the mullet wheel (29 front, 27.5-inch rear) format of the Switch 7 is a better proportional fit once you get down to those dimensions. The FEA / 3D refinement also means a lower weight that makes the meticulously UK handbuilt, monocoque alloy frame competitive with many carbon frames on the scales. Most importantly, the Stage 7 should also take less time to get from the start of an enduro track to the bottom.

The ‘STRANGE power link’ let's Orange isolate the shock from structural loads and modify the rate compared to their signature single pivot bikes (Image credit: Orange BIkes)

Orange Stage 7 release and pricing

If the idea of an ultra refined enduro race machine from a company with one of the longest histories in gravity racing sounds like something you’d be into, then the first public appearance of the bike will be at the Eurobike show. You can watch the launch video below and if that gets your Orange juices going you can pre-order the $9,000 / £7,400 / €8,300 Stage 7 LE launch model right now in a glorious 'Purple Reign' finish, with other color and spec options to come later.