Orange to offer limited edition Alpine 6 and Five at Bike Place Show

Set to be available exclusively for Bike Place Show visitors, Orange Bikes is to debut limited edition takes on the Alpine 6 and Five.

Alongside its exhibitors the show has been working hard to offer value for dealers visiting and this offering adds to promos from other distributors, including free inner tubes from Reece Cycles, among many more exclusives.

Alpine 6

Orange’s Alpine 6 replaces the much loved Alpine 160 and is designed around 170mm front/160mm rear travel. The Alpine 160’s head angle slackens half a degree to keep the same handling qualities, yet make the most of the fork’s extra 10mm.

The compact rear end debuted on the Four model makes its way to the Alpine 6, shortening the chainstay significantly by 9mm. The repositioned pivot also means that the whole rear triangle is more compact and more active. With the shock now effectively lowered in the chassis, the ramp-up effect is improved, and feedback from test riders has been nothing but positive. With even less flex in the rear, it’s said to be more active over small bumps and inspires confidence over the really rough stuff.

With neat finishing touches like internal cable routing, every element of the frame’s construction has been analysed and optimised, to the point that, size for size, the Alpine 6 frame is significantly lighter than its predecessor.

Five

A stalwart of the Orange catalogue, the Five was last updated 18 months ago and has once again been tweaked to bolster its already strong qualities.

Orange said: “We liked the way the Four rode and how it’s suspension action had a really active feel to it. We set about seeing how we could bring this same element to the Five’s set-up. To add the new compact rear suspension layout to the Five would be ideal, but where would we fit the shock? In theory, lower in the frame, in practice, not so easy. But if it was easy, it wouldn’t be worth doing, and the guys in the frame department came up with the goods. Like the solving of a complex engineering puzzle we worked out a way to lower the shock by adding a new pressing in the fabrication of the downtube, leading the way to the compact rear on the Five and improving the shock’s ramp-up at the same time.”

The UK manufacturer has bolstered overall strength too, improving resistance to lateral flex and twisting forces. Boost sizing at the rear hub and an extra 6mm in the pivot spacing helps here too, enabling added tyre clearance.

Geometry is optimised for a 150mm travel fork, while the rear sits at the 140mm trail bike sweet spot.

Furthermore, the CNC department has discovered weight savings to be had in the billet machined components.

To register for your free of charge trade pass to The Bike Place Show, click here.