Thursday 10th March:
Looks like the new Orange protos are fresh out of the painting machine … Here’s Ben Cathro’s, Joe Barnes’ and Fraser McGlone’s bikes. Big Man Cathro needs an extra brace on the toptube/seat tube for his massive frame!
Orange have released another cheeky update on their new long travel rig on Facebook this morning:
We’ve had a chat with the guys at Orange this morning and the word is that this could well go into production – but there’s no immediate plans as yet. What they are clear on is that the old bike – with the link – will never go into production.
They’d done a heap of testing on the old linkage bike and have worked out that they can bin the linkage, run this design and still get the same progression curve. They keep the ease of maintenance, reliability and simplicity that they love … and keep the same ride characteristics. The aim for the new bike is to make it robust, simple and easy to set up – making it ideal for UK racing where it’s all about not making mistakes rather than complex suspension or geometry setup.
Last but not least … what’s she called? Yep – the 322.
Pop back tomorrow to see her painted up!
Could this be the number 1 hot topic on the interwebber today?
If you aint seen it yet – the Orange crew just uploaded this shady pic to their Twitter with the rather cryptic hint that they’re for the MTBcut team.
Looks like the new frames are subtle step forward on the 224 design and will keep the single-pivot set up that Orange know and love. No sign of the top-tube driven linkage that we saw on the previous prototypes.
Whatever we see in the next couple of months it’s unlikely Orange will rush into production. With design and manufacturing taking place in-house, they can afford to make plenty of protos, tweak designs and try out any zany ideas that they can dream up.
UPDATE! Our man at Orange just fired over a quick word on the new frames – We asked Orange what they can tell us about the new frame:
“Not much really, no plans for production, just the latest cycle of team frames…
This’ll be raced by the MTBcut guys, Mr Vaughan Evans and a select few other folk. No word yet on whether it’ll replace the 224-Evolution, certainly not for MY 2012 (everyone else’s June/July MY 2012 that is). The frame ramps things up nicely with the dropped front shock mount without any linkage silliness. Lighter than a 224-Evo, with more end stroke ramp than the heavier linkage driven 225. Works out on paper and returns to the simple setup that everyone seems to want from Orange. The 225 was certainly getting there, most of the riders loved us, we just weren’t sure it was what we wanted a race bike to be. It’s not about being comfortable, it’s about being fast.
When we’ve got a bike together and some coherent details rather than my evening scribblings, I’ll fire out a press release to the guys who might be interested. Should be more details leaked out over next few weeks. For now we’re just teasing, haha.”
Stay tuned – as soon as we get anything we’ll let you know!
For now – why not check out our exclusive feature on the birth of an Orange prototype DH bike, written with their head of marketing Michael Bonney?
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Interesting stuff. If indeed there is no linkage, my guess is that the new shock mount position would give the frame a more rising/progressive rate than the previous one which was linear/slightly falling.
You are correct, the position of the shock gives a more rissing progresive curve than the older model or like the specialized big hit.