When it comes to iconic alternative brands, there are few that can match Orange and its handbuilt-in-Halifax, Yorkshire, bikes. Orange's simple single-pivot swingarm designs have been evolving for more than 20 years and the Five has been the brand's aggro all-rounder trail bike for more than a decade.
Subtle updates
The Five had a full refresh last year and the 630mm effective top tube length on the large size we tested is 10mm longer than on the previous model. It’s half a degree slacker up front too (66 degrees), and a claimed 15% stiffer. A new shock mount also disperses loads better into the trademark ‘origami folded’, seam welded down tube.
The brace free, multi-panel wraparound swingarm leaves masses of tyre and mud room, while the gear cables and rear brake hose run inside the big faceted and seam-welded chainstays. Big open dropout sections cantilever off the far end with a 142x12mm through-axle tying them together. If just having an Orange isn’t individual enough, you can choose one of seven custom paint options – including the ‘mountain mint’ colour here.
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Orange's industrial-looking single-pivot design is pretty iconic
You can buy the Five as a frame and shock or as one of three complete bike packages. The ‘Pro’ build kit tested here is the base level offering. You can choose to upgrade the standard Performance series Fox fork and shock, headset, transmission, wheels and finishing kit if you want though, so we added a RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper post. Unless you’re seriously strong or don’t mind pushing we’d suggest swapping the stock 11-36t cassette for the Hope 40t-REx expander ring and 10-speed Shimano XT cassette kit or upgrading to 11-speed XT (check the Orange site for pricing).
A strong character
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