The newest bike in the Orange E.P.O. (Electric Powered Orange) stable is the SURGE, loosely based on its predecessor the Alpine 6 E and the new Alpine 6 launched earlier this year. The Alpine 6 E shared much of its geometry with the previous Alpine 6, save for the reach measurement, but the new Surge takes departure of that geometry with a revised construction and shape in the front triangle.
Orange Surge full suspension E-MTB
The tubing profile of the Surge’s front triangle has been revised to improve the bike’s stiffness while still remaining compliant enough that the bike isn’t harsh. The new down tube is substantially slimmer and has a much more organic profile that the one that went before it.
The rear has taken cues from the Orange 327 DH bike in its profile to help deal with the increased amounts of torque being produced by the motor and the additional overall weight of the bike.
For Orange, it was important that riders would be able to get out for “double battery rides”, and so they have designed the frame to allow for easy removal of the battery with the use of just a key. No more bolts to undo so it should take a matter of seconds to swap out your depleted one for a freshie, and keep surging on. Second batteries will be available from Orange and will come with a protective cover as standard.
Something Orange painstakingly pored over was the suspension characteristic of the new Alpine 6. Orange say that they wanted to translate everything they learned from that bike into the Surge. Revisions have been made to the shock mounts to accommodate the new metric rear shock (230×65) and the increase in travel from 160 to 165mm. Progression in the system has seen a substantial increase, reducing the bike’s anti-squat value and decreasing the amount of pedal kickback.
Orange Surge Geometry
The geometry of this 27.5″ is optimised for 170mm of travel up front, and 165mm of rear wheel travel. In contrast with the Alpine 6 E, the Orange Surge is longer in the wheelbase, but not in reach, with a large proportion of that extra length added at the chainstay. The head angle slackens off 0.5 degrees to 64 while the seat angle remains at 72. While the BB height remains at 342 mm, the stack gets a little higher, and the head tube a little longer.
Pricing and Availability
As with all Orange bikes, the UK-designed and built E-MTB comes with a 5-year warranty on the Monocoque/6061-T6 Aluminium frame. It is available direct from Orange dealers from today, in 4 sizes from S to XL, and in 9 custom colorways. Pricing starts at £5,600 (~$7,090) for the Surge S model, going all the way up to a full whack of £7,800 (~$9,875) for the top-spec factory model. A mid-range option comes in the form of the Surge RS. This will set you back £6,600 (~$8,610) in exchange for an XO1 Eagle 12 Speed drivetrain, a Lyrik RC2 fork, and a high-end RockShox Super Deluxe metric shock.
