The silent ride and the brilliant head angle/bottom bracket/wheelbase combination marry together with a suspension dynamic whereby you can pick and place, skip sections, drive hard into corners, and really make the most out of the terrain that’s being ridden. There’s a real poise to this bike in the air, it inspires confidence to just keep progressing to bigger things.

“Orange may no longer have a World Cup team but this bike is up there with the fastest in the world.”

What certainly isn’t old hat are the numbers that can be kept bang up to date and consistently refined thanks to short production schedules and hand-made artisanship. Orange may no longer have a World Cup team but this bike is up there with the fastest in the world.

Our prayers were answered for 2017 when Orange brought out a full Factory build to furnish this livewire frame with everything it needs to excel. Fox 40 dampers at the front are a big step up from the Boxxer Team forks on the version we tested back in April. The Vivid is also a bit dated now (and has recently been superseded by the Super Deluxe Coil) so a DHX2 seems a worthy replacement

A lot of the kit on that former bike worked faultlessly, but it didn’t have that sparkle of brilliance you would expect from a flagship bike. No more. RaceFace wheels and kit, Sram Transmission, Hope hubs and headset are all quality bits of kit. They feel like the kind of parts that should be on the fastest Orange bike going.