ORANGE SWITCH 6 PRO REVIEW

SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE

Words by Robert Johnston  |  Photos by Adam Lievesley

Orange Mountain Bikes has an extensive range of UK-made aluminum mountain bikes, made with a unique process and sporting some distinctive looks as a result. Though they have added some Linkage-Driven Single Pivot bikes to their lineup in recent years, they continue to primarily utilize a pure and simple Single Pivot design on their full suspension bikes. With seemingly endless options for Four Bar and Dual-Link mountain bikes on the market these days, how does a Single Pivot with kinematics developed over the last 36 years stack up?

ABOUT THE ORANGE SWITCH 6 PRO

In Orange Bikes’ vast range of mountain bikes, the Switch 6 is their 6” (or 160mm) rear travel, mixed wheel (29”F/27.5”R) all mountain bike. It features a standard Single Pivot suspension system that sees the rear shock driven directly off the rear triangle.

FRAME AND FEATURES | As with all of the Orange mountain bikes, the Switch 6 is manufactured by hand from 6061-T6 aluminum in their UK facility. The frames are created out of butted and heavily shaped aluminum sheet, which is welded together to form a monocoque chassis with unique lines and burly, industrial looks. Don’t let these looks fool you though, as the result of the craftsmanship is a frame that’s very much competitive in weight, with the build tested coming in at 33.6lbs. This is aided by the asymmetric frame design, which leads to a higher strength and stiffness-to-weight ratio.

Orange has been sweating the details for a while, and added some features and functionality to the new Switch 6 in order to bring it bang up to 2024 standards. The shock uses a trunnion mount, and the rear end features a bearing eyelet to reduce friction and provide smoother suspension performance. In the cavity in the downtube, Orange’s S.A.F.E system is featured, allowing for tools, spares and snacks to be stored safely.

Orange has worked on the frame layout to allow for a water bottle to fit on the underside of the top tube and within the front triangle, much to the relief of those water-drinking individuals. Shorter seat tube lengths with good insertion depths allow for longer travel dropper posts to be fitted…though Orange didn’t spec particularly long posts on their full builds. Internal cable routing and a SRAM UDH hanger round out the features of this decidedly modern mountain bike.

Orange backs their mountain bike frames with a Five Year Warranty, and offers a Limited Lifetime Crash Replacement scheme should you force an issue to present itself.

SUSPENSION | Though the Single Pivot is the most simple form of a mountain bike rear suspension system, there are still details that can set two different single pivot systems apart. Orange has dropped the pivot slightly and tweaked the positioning of their shock mounts. This yields 6.2% progression – still a lower number than most, but up from the almost completely linear nature of previous generations. Anti-Squat sits around 110% in the climbing gears at SAG, giving some support without hampering comfort and traction.

GEOMETRY | Orange has produced some particularly long bikes in recent years. The Switch 6 is not extreme for the most part, but very much modern in its numbers. The stand out is the 450mm Chainstay length, which is one of the longest on a mixed wheel enduro mountain bike right now. Reach figures are relatively long for the sticker size, and while the Seat Tube angle of 76 degrees may seem a little “outdated”, the fact that it’s consistent regardless of saddle height means it feels steeper for the long-leggers like myself than the quoted number.

BUILD SPECS | Orange is currently offering a range of three build specs from the £4,900 / $6,200 “Pro” (tested) to the £6,800 / $7,800 Factory build, or as a frame and Fox Float X2 for £2,900 / $3,500.

Our Pro build features a modest selection of components that proved to be very suitable, if not what we’d necessarily choose to spec ourselves. A Fox Performance-level 36 160mm fork leads the charge, with a Float X Performance shock handling business in the rear. The drivetrain is a mixed bag, with Shimano SLX shifting and cassette with a SRAM alloy crank. An interesting choice was the SRAM Guide RE brakes, but they performed amicably.

The cockpit is an alloy Burgtec affair, with their Enduro and RideWide bars. An SDG Tellis dropper in either 150mm or 170mm lengths is topped by a WTB Silverado saddle. An e*thirteen LG1 rim is laced to Strange (Orange in-house components brand) hubs, and wrapped in a pair of EXO casing Maxxis tires as standard. To better suit the intentions of the Switch 6, I swapped these for a set of Maxxis Minion’s in EXO+ casing for the test.

With the up-rated tires and a Cushcore XC in the rear, the Orange Switch 6 tipped the scales at 33.6lbs (15.2kg).

THE DIRT

SETUP | Finding the right balance of support and compliance in the Performance Line Fox 36 fork was difficult. After some experimentation, I found a relatively sweet spot with slightly decreased compression damping and a little more air pressure than recommended. In contrast, the Float X rear shock proved to be fairly easy to set up, with 28% sag yielding a good blend of characteristics and the stock volume spacer configuration keeping me off the bottom out bumper for all but the biggest slap-downs.

The stock bar height was a little lower than desired, so I switched them out for a higher rise OneUp Carbon bar which gave me a comfortable setup.

As mentioned above, I requested the stock EXO tires be swapped out for something burlier. They provided an EXO+ tire pairing, which improved matters and led to no issues, but I’d love to have seen a Double Down fitted to the rear at least, for peace of mind. That said, this is not intended to be a full-on enduro race bike, so EXO+ tires will make good sense for many. EXO tires are simply unfit for a bike like this though, in my opinion.

CLIMBING | The Seat tube angle is slacker than many conventional enduro bikes, but crucially is the same for the effective and actual. This ensures that long-leggers like me don’t end up further off the back than the number suggests. I ended up pushing the saddle slightly forward on the rails, and was left in a happy place to log many uphill miles.

The relatively long rear end – especially for a mullet-wheeled machine – pushed plenty of weight on the front wheel. This allowed me to raise the handlebar height and obtain more confidence on steep descents, without issues managing a wandering front end.

The kinematic of the Switch 6 provided a relatively efficient pedaling platform that avoided being excessively firm and uncomfortable. Orange’s move to reduce the pivot height and therefore lessen the Anti Squat paid off here, striking a nice balance. For the longest stretches of smoother climb, flicking on the climb switch on both ends makes a notable difference.

The low bottom bracket height could potentially be an issue for riders in the chunkiest areas, but thanks to the supportive suspension and relatively light weight overall, it was very manageable on the technical portions of climb.

DESCENDING | The 150mm dropper spec on my size large test bike was very disappointing, especially given the long insertion depth and short 430mm seat tube. I’d be looking to swap this out for a 200mm unit at least, to obtain proper clearance to attack the descents. It meant that I was constantly torn between dealing with an intrusive saddle or going to the hassle of dropping the post in the frame for the descents – a struggle I’ve not had to deal with in quite a while. Dropper length issues aside, the Switch 6 felt very comfortable on the way down the hill once I’d fitted a slightly higher rise bar.

The immediate stand-out feeling was the low bb, which feels great on the descents. It felt as if I was integrated deep in the bike, which was excellent through the corners and on steeper terrain. Mullet setups often have the sensation of being safely behind the bars due to their higher stack heights, and this was no exception.

Adding to the positives – at least in faster and gnarlier terrain – was the longer than average rear end length, especially compared to your typical mixed-wheel mountain bike. Where most manufacturers opt to shrink the chainstay length when they make a “mullet” setup, Orange’s longer rear end makes for a very balanced feeling that still retains the clearance benefit and improved stiffness of the smaller rear end. I suggested in the past that chainstay lengths should grow slightly rather than shrinking when a smaller rear wheel is fitted, and the enjoyment of riding the Switch 6’s geometry supported this. You don’t get the unbalanced “mullet-ed” feeling, instead good weight distribution between the wheels. The smaller rear wheel still makes initiating a manual a little easier than a larger wheel with the equivalent rear end length. Happy days.

The rear end offered great support to work the terrain for speed. Combined with the geometry balance and chassis stiffness, slightly mellower bikepark terrain was an absolute blast. The Switch 6 loved to attempt to rip tires off of rims, and pump and pop through flow trails. Where it suffered was in bottom out resistance for the biggest hits, and through chunky braking zones where it was easy to unsettle it at times. Sensitivity was reasonable, but a stiff overall chassis could lead to a tendency to deflect on some of the most ambitious off-camber lines. Still, you feel well connected to the wheels and can maneuver your way down some brave lines if you’re committed.

FINISH AND VALUE | The Switch 6 Pro doesn’t scream out great value when you look at the spec you get for nearly £5k. However, the frame displays some excellent workmanship and the bike as a whole does feel to be of a good quality. The only potential question mark was the wheelset. As I’ll discuss below, I didn’t have the best luck with these wheels.

Aside from the components, it’s safe to say Orange knows how to put together a frame well with their unique manufacturing method. The single suspension pivot stayed tight and smooth throughout testing, and although the chainstay protection was painfully minimal, the bike as a whole ran quietly for all but the biggest chain slap-inducing hits.

I’m not much of a storage compartment proponent, since I regularly switch between bikes and so rely on a hip pack to keep me supported for my rides. The compartment on the Switch 6 is not the largest, but the hatch feels to be fairly solid, and the padding on the inside should allow items to sit in there without rattling excessively. Is it worth it for the added complexity and bulk in the lines of the frame? For me, no, but it adds functionality that some may appreciate. Running a reasonable size Fidlock bottle on the underside of the top tube is a decent solution, but a regular cage setup is likely to experience issues with bottle ejection. I’d like to see Orange include the Fidlock bottle setup as part of your £5k, personally.

COMPONENT REPORT

Standard EXO Tire Spec | The Switch 6 builds come with a pair of EXO casing tires as standard. These are going to limit the capabilities of the bike considerably, and I’d consider it essential for riders looking to ride with any aggression to upgrade casings to something sturdier.

SRAM Guide RE brakes | These brakes were a welcome surprise. I love the feeling of the lever and how the power ramps up, and there’s plenty of power there to slow you down quickly when required. They haven’t proved to be the most reliable brakes out there in the past, but these proved to be fault free for the testing period.

e*thirteen LG1/Strange Pro wheelset | The spokes in the rear wheel loosened entirely after only the 2nd ride. The front spokes also came loose part way through testing, which is unusual. I put a small flat spot in the rear rim at some point, for which I am unsure of the cause. Overall these didn’t feel to be a very durable wheelset at all, but they felt plenty stiff when adequate spoke tensions were maintained.

HOW DOES IT COMPARE? | Orange Switch 6 Pro vs Bird Aeris AM

Two British brands, albeit the Orange perhaps commanding a more “boutique” appeal with its UK-made frame. On the way up the hill, there was little to tell between the two bikes. The Aeris was a little more planted on the way down, but both bikes had similarly agile tendencies and were a hoot. In value terms, the handmade nature of the Orange does have a certain appeal, but you pay roughly £1,000/$1,000 for the privilege. Both are very fun machines in this “light enduro” category.

The Wolf’s Last Word

Overall I’ve been impressed by the performance of the Orange Switch 6. It has pleasant pedaling characteristics and nicely balanced geometry that let me attack the trail. The suspension on this Pro build wasn’t quite as refined in feel as some; the looks won’t be for everyone, and the value feels to be fall short compared to many for this build spec. Overall, the quality of manufacture and ride will make it a great buy for those who don’t care about the drawbacks. It’s very enjoyable.

Price: £4,900
Website: Orangebikes.com