PRESS RELEASE: Orange Bikes
Introducing the brand new Orange Mountain Bikes Switch 6, a 160mm-travel, MX-wheeled mountain bike for just about anything.
Back in 2019 when Orange originally launched the Switch 6, the British brand was one of the first to offer a production MX wheeled bike to the public. Orange strived to create a bike that was capable of doing everything, whilst being fun, reliable and light – a true all-rounder.
This new bike heralds a new phase for Orange Bikes’ signature single-pivot line-up. The NEW Switch 6.
If you’ve followed Orange Factory Racing you’ll know the brand’s team used the original Switch 6 for their first year of the EWS. Or if you’ve heard of Jack Carthy (10x trials world champion) you’ll know its equally at home hopping, skipping and jumping over some of Yorkshire’s most precarious rock structures. It’s also the chosen daily driver for many a rider, used on their local trails or summer trips abroad.
So by changing it, there was a lot to live up to…
Like all Orange full suspension bikes (and maybe some hardtails coming soon) the New Switch 6 is a UK-made frame, manufactured by the hands of craftsmen with decades of experience. Made from flat sheets of aerospace grade aluminium to individually custom-fabricated tubes, seam-welded for each specific application, working in harmony with CNCed components from aluminium billet meticulously modelled and analysed.
All are produced, manufactured and tested in the U.K at Orange’s own facility.
This all produces an aluminium frame with a weight less than that of many ‘carbon’ frames in its category. It also makes a product that’s strong, durable and fully recyclable at the end-of-life cycle.
Sweating the Details
The Switch 6 is an MX-wheeled mountain bike with 160mm travel front and rear. It uses a 205×65 trunnion shock alongside revised upper and lower shock mounts, which now allows for a bearing eyelet to be used. This has been done to achieve a lower breakaway force, providing incredible sensitivity to the initial part of the shock’s stroke, while maintaining Orange’s signature feel.
The layout of the New Switch 6 frame has also seen major revisions, the inclusion of Orange’s S.A.F.E (Stores Accessories Food & Equipment) should mean you don’t have to strap so much to the outside of your bike, you can keep it hidden and readily available. More room has been created to fit a larger water bottle inside the front triangle to keep you hydrated on those long days in the saddle.
Orange has also added a new tapered head tube to improve stiffness and increase strength and also revised sizing with shorter seat tube lengths to allow for longer dropper posts.
Technology developed on Orange’s most recent bikes also appears on the Switch 6, it has an asymmetrical swingarm, allowing an increase to the bike’s vertical stiffness whilst tuning its lateral compliance, producing a bike with a direct feel under power but still maintaining buckets of grip.
With the new Switch 6, Orange has also updated the bike’s kinematics. The original Switch 6 was almost completely linear while the newest version has a real working progression of 6.2% considerably higher than the original bike (0.7%). The amount of anti-squat has also been reduced to lessen the impact the drivetrain has on the suspension whilst maintaining a direct feel. In 32/50 gearing anti-squat starts at 119.9% dropping throughout the bikes range of travel to 92.9%, around dynamic sag anti-squat is at 113.5%.
The icing on the cake is a new chainstay protector to dampen chain slap.
The Orange Bikes Switch 6 LE is available as of today and comes in two colour options, Gloss charcoal grey and Angel Delight.
The LE Spec comes kitted out with a full host of excellent components, from renowned brands; Fox performance suspension, Hope hubs, Stans rims, Maxxis tyres, SRAM GX groupset, Burgtec bar and stem and an SDG saddle and post.
Bikes come with a 5-year warranty and a lifetime crash replacement policy to the original owner.
You can learn more about the new Orange Bikes Switch 6 here.
