Price: £4,300.00 (as tested)
From: Orange Bikes, orangebikes.co.uk
Of our three 29ers on test, the Orange Stage 5 is the youngest and shiniest of the lot. Released to the public in early 2017, the Stage 5 slots into the Orange 29er line-up between the short-travel Segment, and the Stage 6 enduro race bike. With 135mm of rear travel and a 140mm travel fork, the Stage 5 is billed by Orange as a capable technical trail muncher.
If you’re thinking you’ve seen something like this from Orange before, then you’re not wrong. In essence, the Stage 5 is the natural successor to the original Five 29 – a trail bike that has achieved somewhat of an underground cult status. But while Orange was already building a capable 140mm travel 29er back in 2013, the wider market wasn’t quite ready for such a beast and the Five 29 sadly faded away. The Five 29 was well-loved by those riders who were willing to get on board, but back then many riders were still sceptical of big wheels.
Four years on, and the global rise in popularity of 29in wheels has helped to pave the way for the new Stage 5, which possesses several key improvements over the original Five 29. For a start, the Stage 5 has gone to Boost hub spacing and is now 1x specific. Each size has also gotten longer in the top tube for increased stability and the cockpit sits lower, thanks to a shorter headtube length. Along with an all-new alloy construction that draws heavily on the recently lightened Five frame, it’s a well-refined machine.
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