Orange’s hard-hitting Crush hardtail has been through various incarnations over the years. After an early outing as an uncompromising headbanger with big fork and monocoque frame construction, it’s settled down to its current position in the Orange range – an all-mountain all-rounder, light enough to ride all day but tough enough to take a bit of abuse in its stride. The AM is the baby of the range. Is it worth the asking price?
The Crush’s refreshing lack of shapeshifting tubes means it oozes a retro, no-nonsense appeal. Actually, that’s not entirely fair – the down tube shifts slightly in cross section, from square-ish up by the massive head tube to oval-ish at the bottom bracket. But the rest of it is pure, unadulterated round or rectangular tubing, none of which appears to have been anywhere near a hydroforming machine.
That down tube forms a backbone that’s plenty stiff enough to hang everything else off, reinforced by a chunky gusset up front to help keep the head tube where it ought to be in case of a hard frontal impact. The steeply sloping top tube almost – but not quite – forms an uninterrupted line into the fastback stays, which are welded ahead of the seat tube in order to improve mud clearance. Square section chainstays help keep the rear wheel tracking true. Cables run neatly below the top tube, and there’s provision to route the cable for a ‘stealth’ dropper post internally. ISCG mounts and a single set of bottle cage bosses complete the detail.
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The Revelation serves up 140mm of plush, accurate travel – a lot for a hardtail, but it suits the Crush
Plugged into the front is a RockShox Revelation RL Solo Air fork with 140mm (5.5in) of travel. It’s a solid mid-range performer that’ll keep most riders happy, combining enough travel to keep even the hardest riding of trail tamers rubber side down with plenty of steering precision.
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