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Hello looking at a third hand orange 6 for a family member, they will use as a winter bike on northern fells and trails centre (only one set of bearings)Â can I ask any owners a couple of questions .
Any thoughts or reviews on owning one?
Anyone run it as a mullet?
Anyone run a 160mm fork on it?
At 6ft tall, I would have said a XL size as oranges are a little more compact, geometry chart starts at 6ft for rider height but any views.
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ThanksÂ
Which model year are you looking at?
The original Stage 6 was a bit short and a large was a good fit for me at 5ft 8in.
The 2nd gen Stage 6 and the Stage 6 Evo got bang-up-to-date long geometry (including mega-long chainstays) and I now ride a medium.
Original Stage 6 is a brilliant bike still, one of the best I have owned. Takes a 160mm fork as stock, works great with 170mm. Wouldn't mullet it, BB is quite low. Also benefits hugely from an angle-adjust headset.
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- Thanks, 2022/3 model so longer reach at 505 but a better stack height at 640.Â
OK that's the 140mm travel stage 6 evo then?
I've only run a 160mm fork on mine and it's been fine. The BB is so low, it has to be better than with the specified 150mm fork.
I would have guessed a large for a 6ft rider, unless they already prefer very long bikes. With the long rear, it's a bit of a sled even in the medium.
I have a 23 Stage 6 Evo. Geometry for these is pretty similar to the last Stage 6s in 21, according to the Orange website. I run mine as standard - full 29er and 150mm fork - but FWIW it's a great bike. It's silly stable at speed, it's the best cornering bike I've ever had and it's a pretty good climber; there are far fewer climbs where I have to get right over the stem to keep the front wheel from lifting. The faster you go, the more fun it is. The only gripe I have is that the seat tube is a bit long for steep stuff. I'm not a bike park berm smasher/shralper type, so may not be best placed to comment if that's what you are looking for.
I'd agree with @chakaping on the sizing. I'm 5' 8" on a medium. When I first get on it after riding my hardtail, I feel a bit like a kid riding their dad's bike, but after a few minutes, it all makes sense again.
Your not looking at my purple frame on Pinkbike are you mate? Can't get on from work to respond so will later from home if so. I had intended to run it with 160mm forks (as I still will if it doesn't sell) having run my Stage 5 at 150mm with no problem. Not sure about mullet as the bb is quite low although fitting longer forks might work? They have a pretty steep seat tube that puts you right on top of the bb anyway.
They were quite cracky, at least for a while- they're from that era of orange when a bunch of them had the issues at the dropout. This was the plain Stage 6 ie not the Evo.
Mine broke before I bought it, and had a new swingarm fitted under warranty for the original owner. I was told that it was a revised version and that the weakness was fixed, but tbf I don't actually know if that was true, or if the revision made it to new bikes or was a warranty only deal. I mean, if I was selling a frame that'd broken under warranty I guess I'd be tempted to say "but it's definitely not going to happen again!". I never saw anything official from Orange about a revision and there was definitely no recall for it
Really nice bike though.Â