The Orange Bikes story has evolved, and it’s intriguing.

How is it intriguing?

Well, first the facts. Orange have issued a statement that they are to continue.

Yay! say us all.

Orange have successfully restructured their business with the Orange Bikes website back up and running and are claiming:

Through the streamlining of our business, we have been able to preserve jobs and reinforce the stability of the Orange brand.

Orange Bikes, 26 January 2024

But what does this streamlining involve?

It involves acquiring P. Bairstow, the sheet metal fabricators that make Orange frames in Elland, two miles away from Orange’s original base in Halifax. Ownership continues under Ash Ball as before but the relationship between the two companies appears flipped.

I interpret this as resulting in two things – and I am a casual writer spouting off the top of his head, not a journalist here.

One, any debt accrued to the old entity has probably not made the transfer across. And two, obviously keeping Orange Bikes going preserves jobs. But it doesn’t guarantee all jobs. Such is the way of these things.

Another thought occurs – was it Orange that wobbled the Bairstow boat, or Bairstow that wobbled the Orange one? We are unlikely to find out.

These businesses have to operate in the real world after all and while I am curious, it’s ultimately not that important. The important part is that Orange Bikes are still going and really should now have an opportunity to develop from here.

The benefits of bringing manufacturing, marketing and administration operations together on one site should be felt soon enough. Look at what has happened at Boeing if you don’t think that matters – their Seattle engineering and factory operations are… some distance from HQ in Chicago!

My point about a wide and disparate product range also remains; a new focus should result in a newly focussed range, not same as before.

But the main thing is that Tony can at least consider a new Stage Evo!

Or a Five ST as I like to call it…

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.