Orange Bikes 322 – Review

Orange’s 322 is the next step of the evolution from World Cup winning 222/223/224/224Evo. From the now distant days of Steve Peat, wasp coloured bikes and podium top steps, the 322 cruises proudly forward to represent the boys from Halifax. In a recent review I read, there was a lot of waffling on about the look of the bike. Most of the article indeed! Aesthetically I liked the look of the bike. It looks sleek, simple and fast – a very handsome specimen. The look isn’t for everyone, maybe it’s not for you, but you cannot deny the fact it looks like an Orange. Perhaps that was part of the downfall of the Blood and the ST4 (Ha, you can’t even remember them can you!?). The new, bolder graphics looked great and stayed stuck on the whole time, despite a few goes with the high pressure hose. Despite being made up North, where we know it’s grim, the bike is available in a plethora of exciting colours. When we looked round the factory I even spotted a super-shiny chrome colour. Bored with it? Orange can also re-spray your frame for you.

The frame I took was a short, and lined up next to my 16 inch Orange Five the seat clamp was at about the same height. Lined up next to a large 224Evo there is little to call in the stand-over height. The top and down tubes have some intricate folds, and these corrugations add stiffness to the front end. The only downside to that is the difficulty to apply helitape to keep the old girl nice. With plenty of hairdryer action she was protected in the end but it wasn’t the easiest job I’ve ever done! Geometry wise the bike sits happily in a modern shape. A relatively slack head angle paired with a middlish length makes the bike lovely and stable without being a dog in the really tight stuff. The bottom bracket again sits in that goldilocks zone – low enough to feel stable and swing from side to side swiftly, but not so low as to drag its knuckles along the floor. I ran a set of 175mm cranks for part of my trip and didn’t feel like I caught my feet any more than normal.

The back end shares the front’s industrial look – a long and iconic monocoque swingarm screams “Orange”, and at the back end twin pinch bolts and broad clamps keep the back wheel stiffly held. Plenty of short and/or sideways landings tested this, and she stayed straight and true. I only had one puncture (Cheers Continental – top tyres!) while I had the bike. Removing the rear wheel in the heat of battle was little bother, though I did worry a little about the grippy spacers on the end bolts – concerned that they might drop off never to be seen again. Hose and cable routing around the back is nicely out of the way along the top of the swingarm. There was the option to run inside the back end, but the gear I was running (SRAM rear mech, Avid Elixir brake) didn’t really suit the lines so I chose to leave them up top.

The decision to go with ISCG over ISCG 05 is fine, as pretty much every chain device manufacturer offers both set-ups. It also worked out well for me as the shop monkey in a nameless BC retailer was prepared to offer me a nice hefty discount on a chain device as it was “out of date”. Cheers buddy! The 135mm back end paired with the 68/73mm BB is another decision that sparked plenty of discussion on the interweb. I didn’t notice any problems at all, nor was I at any point limited to the wheels or cranks I ran (I was lucky enough to be testing the amazing Spank Spike 28 – more on them soon). With such a beefy dropout, a 150mm back end would be looking pretty blummin’ wide back there. While a wide back end doesn’t stick the mech further from the frame, it does put the mech further out from the mid-line of the bike, perhaps making it more exposed? Who knows! Anyway, I didn’t smash the mech off, and didn’t need to use the spare mech hanger I received.

So, how does it ride? While you get to admire the bike in your living room, frankly  it’s more about how well she slays on the trails. It took a couple of rides to get the DHX RC4 (with pimpy Kashima coating) to feel nice. I suspect I was being ham-fisted but it just felt all wooden. A bit more twiddling here and there and I got it how I wanted. The slightly increased progressiveness of the rear wheel path over the 224Evo keeps the bike feeling very planted. The back end sticks to the floor like the proverbial poo to a blanket. This in turns delivers great grip on the rough stuff, and the confidence that when you get scared or need to apply a little bit of brake that the back end will stay in control. Through steep and very rough terrain the back end picks its way with a confidence and pedigree I wish I could match with my riding, and it has also had plenty of practice at coming up short on jumps!

Through corners the bike remains composed long after I’ve lost it, and holds a solid position in the suspension travel, sitting down a little but nowhere near as much as my TR450. Indeed the bike can feel a little like you aren’t getting your money’s worth out of the suspension – I was often surprised at the bottom of runs to see that I had used the full travel – the ride offers no hint that it ever ran out of suspension, and therefore grip. Bigger hits were gobbled up with style and composure, a credit to the shock and frame working in harmony. In short, I’d describe the 322 as a planted rocketship.

All well and good out in Whistler, but what of the UK? With the North Wales habit of choosing very tight lines and our own unique range of slime it’s another great testing ground (though not as good as BC… mainly because of the chairlifts!). The bike did very well, funnily enough it rode just like it did on the other side of the world! I only had one or two wet days in Whistler (in nearly 5 weeks!) so I was mostly keen to see if the new shock placement and resulting hole filled with mud. I run a Bender Fender on my forks which probably helped, but after a few of the muddier laps I’ve been on, the shock and bushes were not as plastered as I thought they might be. For really manky days you could always cover with a bit of inner-tube, perhaps someone will make a gimmicky carbon cover for it instead? In short it wasn’t a problem.

Everything has downsides, I think the main gripe folk will have the 322 is not the ride, or the look, it’s getting her together. Building from scratch is no problem, and upgrading your old 223/4/EVO is no bother, but swapping components over from my TR450 was a bit annoying – different wheels, BB, cranks and chain device. Not a massive issue, but it might put a few folk off. On the other hand, it makes it SUPER easy to upgrade your older Orange/Vario Harissa*. The other downer is the noise. Before I put the inner tube on the swingarm she was certainly a noisy bike. A new chain device, shorter chain and inner tube quietened her down. I guess the third downside is that I had to give it back!

Whistler 2012 from Tom Laws on Vimeo.

The frame retails for a penny shy of £2400 with a Fox DHX RC4 shock, and full builds sit at the £5000 mark. This sounded expensive and then I looked at the price of similar full builds… Bikes have become very expensive, and manufacturing in the UK comes with a price, but also prestige.

I was very proud to fly the flag for blighty while in the land of flappy heads, and am extremely grateful to Pete and the boys at Orange for the test bike. So the Acid Test: Would I buy one? Yes. And if you want a fast, reliable and easy to maintain downhill bike, the 322 will see you right.

ORANGE BIKES