Madmax1993
Orange 🍊 Fan
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In the first Covid lockdown last year, I was in the process of buying some upgraded wheels for my 29er boost hardtail, and the seller asked if I needed anything else as he had other stuff for sale. 'No,' says my head, 'you're happy with your stable of bikes and with these wheels they're all set up just so.'
'What have you got, just out of curiosity?' says I, unable to help myself.
Turns out, the good man had a slightly special Orange Stage Five, 29er full suss trail bike frame. It's an early prototype of the Stage, which replaced the Five 29er in 2018.
If there was one bike that would have me replace my 2009 26" wheeled Orange Five, it's the new improved platform of the same thing. The price was too good to pass up, and I figured I needn't rush the build as travelling to trail centres was prohibited, so my hardtail was the go-to bike for the summer. This should have spared my wallet as I now needed a fork, headset, dropper post, tyres and a few other bits that wouldn't fit the new 29er from the old orange. I intended to spread the cost over a few paydays, but after missing out on a few eBay auctions, and getting nervous that I would never find a decent fork for less than the frame and shock cost me, I bought a bargain when it came up, and as the bike took shape, I couldn't resist getting the last part (dropper post) bought up as well. It was rideable in time for lockdown easing and being allowed to drive to trail centres again. Since then, I have added the finishing touches: namely the Hutchison brownwall tyres (arguably the most retro thing on the bike) and had some custom decals made for it, an homage to the JPS lotus racing colour scheme.
Without further ado, I present my Orange Stage Five 2018 pre production prototype. (the giveaway is that Orange hadn't decided whether to go with the solid swingarm or the hollow triangle swingarm, and produced both. The production models got the solid swingarm that the Five always had before)
Specs to follow if anyone's interested, this is primarily a placeholder for a BoTM submission I'm about to put in. I know it's not remotely retro, but I think it's a very pretty bike (I may be a little biased, I'll admit)
'What have you got, just out of curiosity?' says I, unable to help myself.
Turns out, the good man had a slightly special Orange Stage Five, 29er full suss trail bike frame. It's an early prototype of the Stage, which replaced the Five 29er in 2018.
If there was one bike that would have me replace my 2009 26" wheeled Orange Five, it's the new improved platform of the same thing. The price was too good to pass up, and I figured I needn't rush the build as travelling to trail centres was prohibited, so my hardtail was the go-to bike for the summer. This should have spared my wallet as I now needed a fork, headset, dropper post, tyres and a few other bits that wouldn't fit the new 29er from the old orange. I intended to spread the cost over a few paydays, but after missing out on a few eBay auctions, and getting nervous that I would never find a decent fork for less than the frame and shock cost me, I bought a bargain when it came up, and as the bike took shape, I couldn't resist getting the last part (dropper post) bought up as well. It was rideable in time for lockdown easing and being allowed to drive to trail centres again. Since then, I have added the finishing touches: namely the Hutchison brownwall tyres (arguably the most retro thing on the bike) and had some custom decals made for it, an homage to the JPS lotus racing colour scheme.
Without further ado, I present my Orange Stage Five 2018 pre production prototype. (the giveaway is that Orange hadn't decided whether to go with the solid swingarm or the hollow triangle swingarm, and produced both. The production models got the solid swingarm that the Five always had before)
Specs to follow if anyone's interested, this is primarily a placeholder for a BoTM submission I'm about to put in. I know it's not remotely retro, but I think it's a very pretty bike (I may be a little biased, I'll admit)
