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Orange Four RS Mountain Bike 2016 - Full Suspension MTB
Less is more - The short travel trail bike we've all been waiting for
The Four has been coming for a while now. Not on our future model list, not as part of the grand Orange plan, but from deep within our hearts. It started with one of those ‘what if…” conversations where we all found ourselves on the same page. Has the 15 year evolution of the Five left a bike sized gap behind it? Maybe. We swept clean the drawing board and sharpened a pencil.
What would our ultimate short travel, fast, lean mean climber of an all round trail bike be?
How much travel? 120mm feels right.
To make this bike climb well we would want a nice short chain stay, so lets start with that. With a shorter chain stay and a small 44x184mm shock we can pull the pivot point rearwards to make the swing arm more compact. So wait, with a compact swing arm we can pull in the split rear design to make a lighter, stiffer swing arm; a wider 12x148 Boost hub spacing would help there too, right? On paper this is looking pretty tidy.
If we’re going short travel and we don’t have the frame stresses of a long fork, could we use a thinner gauge aluminium sheet as our base material? Yes we could. As for the geometry, we’ll run a nice long top tube and keep stems short, that’s a no-brainer. It keeps the wheelbase long for stability and the bike handling direct and fast. Optimised for a 130mm fork, the bike can run a generous sag for that plush feel that we all love.
We felt we were onto something, and started a prototype program. And if we were going to do this we may as well go for it. We looked at every part of the frame from our aircraft grade 6061 aluminium sheet to all the nooks and crannies of the CNCed dropouts, bottom bracket shells, and headtubes to see where we could lose weight and gain strength. At every step we found something that would add a little to the mix. Marginal gains is the buzzword these days isn’t it? It was worth the effort, the first frames off the bench were under our expected weight estimate. Even the heat treating guys got excited about that (and heat treating guys never get excited about little things like that. After all, they work with fire, and thats pretty exciting). When built up, our first bikes were coming in at around 27.5lbs (Yes, we said a weight!).
So onto the serious business of testing. The first feedback was pretty succinct. “Why hadn’t we done this before now?” Well, a few reasons, the main one being rear shock technology is now so good that a non-bobbing short rear end on a single pivot frame is a reality - not on a wish list. The practical upshot of all this is that we had more in our legs for long climbs, more energy for the descents and smiles as big as we’ve had on any Orange bike. What’s more, even with the light build and a lot of hard riding, we had no frame issues. The Four was born.
And that’s exactly what the Four is about: sitting below the bigger hitting trail burners of the Five and Alpine 160, but vastly more capable that the XC lightweights. It’s Orange to the core: simple, reliable and built to perform at the highest level.
So after all that, Who wants a Four? Well for starters, we all do.
Why the Four RS?
- Frame Handbuilt in Britain
- Short travel, fast and agile trail bike with
- progressive geometry
- Longer toptube and wheelbase for
- high-speed stability
- Short swingarm with 12x148mm Boost rear hub spacing for precise handling
- Tuned pivot position for optimal suspension performance with 184x44mm rear shock
- Suspension travel: 130mm front & 120mm rear
- 5 year frame warranty
- RockShox Pike RCT3 130mm Boost Fork
- RockShox Monarch RT3 DebonAir
- KS Lev Integra 125mm drop with internal cable routing
- SRAM GX1 11spd Drivetrain/SRAM Guide R Brakes
If you love the RockShox suspension platform, this is the one for you. The RS model runs the award winning 130mm Pike fork and a proven SRAM 1x11spd drivetrain.
The Orange Four RS 2016 Features are:
Frame: 6061-T6 Monocoque/Reynolds Custom Butted Aluminium Tube QR bolt through 12mm, 148mm boost hub spacing
Fork: RockShox Pike 130 RCT3 Solo Air Boost
Headset: Cane Creek 49mm For Tapered Steerer
Bars: Renthal Fatbar 20mm Rise 780mm
Stem: Renthal Apex
Speed: 11
Front Mech: MRP 1X Guide
Rear Mech: SRAM GX1
Shifters: SRAM GX1
Chainset: Race Face Turbine Direct Mount 30t
Bottom Bracket: Race Face External BB
Cassette: SRAM XG-1150 11spd
Front Brake: SRAM Guide R 200mm
Rear Brake: SRAM Guide R 180mm
Rims: Alex Volar 2.5
Front Hub: Hope Pro 4 in Black
Rear Hub: Hope Pro 4 in Black
Tyres: Maxxis Minion DHF 3C Exo TR Front, Maxxis High Roller II Exo TR Rear
Seatpost: KS Lev Integra 125mm drop
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