2008 News Archive

Please note these news items are here for posterity, we cannot guarantee that the links work.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - Posted by John

Joe Barnes Blog

Still on an MTBCut kick, super talented and dead fast on an Orange 224, Joe Barnes has skipped off to New Zealand for ther dark and dingy winter months. He'll be missing all the mud training

To find out what he's getting up to check out the Joe Barnes Blog.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - Posted by John

Orange People: Stu Thomson Interview

An occasional series of interviews with riders racers and people with a connection to Orange Bikes. Interview by Alasdair MacLennan.

Read the full interview here.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - Posted by John

Two minutes of your time

While putting up the interview with Stu Thomson, it just occured to me that you may not have seen this MTBCut short brimming with Orangey goodness - a glimpse back at 2008.

Monday, September 22, 2008 - Posted by Alasdair Maclennan

NPS Final Round

Innerleithen, 20th-21st September 2008

After all the rain we have had recently, the final round of the 2008 NPS Series was shifted from the original Carlton Bank in the North East of England to Innerleithen with two weeks to go due to a waterlogged field and track. Having been host to the SDA final just a week before and also a round of the NPS already this year, it is a good thing that there are plenty of tracks to enable a bit of chopping and changing to keep things feeling fresh.

Not the most raced on of tracks, the Gold Run was used for the majority after the oldest top section led you into the legendary quarry and then the initial 39 steps. The Gold Run carried you down the hill between tight trees and over greasy roots which are pretty much par for the course here. Bright sunlight and shadows made things exceedingly difficult in the trees for the first part of the day as you struggled to make out what was what whilst the last riders down in the afternoon seeding runs were struggling with a lack of light full stop! Line choice was left open with many routes taking you to the same place, leaving the rider to decipher which was going to be quickest to the bottom.

Once racing had started after some minor delays with the timing, we were soon onto the Youth category. Lewis Buchanan was our man on the podium here with second place after a stellar run which left him just one third of a second away from the elusive top step. Lewis has had some fantastic results for MTBCut.tv & Orange this year and it is sometimes very easy to forget that he is still in Youth such are the times that he regularly produces.

Alastair MacLennan is usually pushed a little bit harder at NPS events than at SDA’s and so his winning margin of 27 seconds wasn’t to be repeated but with a time 7 seconds ahead of his nearest rival in the Veteran category, he was still dominant onboard the 224.

Elites are left to last when the track conditions are usually the worst and yet still produce simply awesome times. Mojo riders were dominant as always. Unfortunately things didn’t go well for Chris Hutchens and Factory Orange rider Tom Braithwaite who both had runs to forget. Dan Stanbridge pulled out the stops for third with a time just over a second away from the win. Bittersweet will probably be the best way of describing Ben Cathro’s run. So close to recreating his maiden NPS win here from earlier in the season, he was well on course to do so with a potentially sub three minute run. Unfortunately, a slip on the tricky off camber corner just yards away from the road and within sight of the finish line, he was left facing back up the hill with the bike on its side and it looked to be all over. Grabbing the bike and sprinting as hard as he could for the finish line, he was able to salvage second place with a time which was unbelievably just two tenths off the win. Despite being left with thoughts of what might have been, second in a national level event is not to be sniffed at although most would understand the disappointment that Ben must have felt when he crossed the line to look at his time. Still, a smile on his face not long after suggested that he wasn’t too upset with what he had salvaged.

So another season down and not much left to report on. There is the annual nocturnal street race in Scarborough on the 4th and 5th of October where the Orange van will be in presence and we will of course be updating you on the action. There will be some interviews with our riders to keep your eyes peeled for too over the coming weeks as well as a link to the report of Descent-World’s long term test 224 Evo.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - Posted by John

World Masters report from the new World Champion - Lee Bertram

Lee writes up the experience of a lifetime:

Pra Loup was the host for the UCI Masters World Championships for the second consecutive year. The small French ski resort, two and a half hours north of Nice, was all that I had expected and hoped for, with beautiful weather and impressive scenery. It was a sure sign for a great event and bone dry and dusty riding conditions.

After walking the course on Wednesday morning we had split practice runs in numerical order due to the five hundred plus entry. It was clear that the track was very fast and extremely steep in the middle sections, which made for some really fun riding. The track was quite open at the top with some big compressions before some fast open turns, then into the woods witch were very steep and off camber, which all seemed to flow well, loads of foot-out action meant loads of fun!

After practice on Thursday the track started to get rougher and harder to ride at speed. The main lines in the turns were blowing out and turned into powder, which could easily catch you out as everyone was trying to turn the screw and get up to race speed! My Orange 224 evo felt awesome! I had my bike setup perfect.

Due to the large entry there was only one practice run on the Friday before qualifying that afternoon, it was clear that some riders would have preferred more practice runs, but for me, I’d had nine runs and was feeling good about the track and having fun!

Qualifying Friday afternoon went well, I put in a solid run but didn’t push to hard, I got a time of 2.44, good enough to take 3rd place behind the Misser brothers, Bou and Tommy, about 3 seconds off the fastest but 4 seconds in front of 4th place Shaums March [last years winner].

Race day Saturday, with only one more practice run. I walked the track in the morning, and made some small line changes and found some areas where I could get some sneaky extra pedal strokes in at the top section.

My last practice run was fast, I got a full run in, and knew for sure that I had taken time off my qualification run and felt I still had a little reserved in the tank for my race run. We had a long wait after practice, I was the third from last rider down the hill and I knew the track would be at its roughest.

Race run went great, the top section was the fastest I’d run all week, my turns linked up perfect. I had one big moment on an off camber out of the middle woods and felt I’d lost a little time but other than that I rode faster in every section.

Crossing the line I had the fastest time, almost 2 seconds up on Shaums March. I’d given my all but had to wait for the Misser brothers to see if I had done enough. I watched them both ride the bottom section of the track and then over the line, I looked up at the time board and my name was still fastest! What an awesome feeling!!

There's a Jon E Becket report over at descent-world.co.uk with some more great photos.

Results Masters

Pos.	Rider	Time
1	LEE BERTRAM	2.42.64
2	SHAUMS MARCH	2.44.57
3	BOU MISSER	2.44.73
4	ALEXANDRE BALAUD	2.45.15
5	CYRIL CAGNEAU	2.46.68
6	GLYNN O’BRIEN	2.46.79

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - Posted by Alasdair Maclennan

SDA Final Round

Innerleithen, 13th/14th September 2008

So there it is, the end to yet another Scottish season. I’ve been racing up here now for 10 years and this season must be up there as one of the best. Things started off well with a revamped Dunkeld leading into the spectacular Aberfeldy, already legendary, before things moved to Fort William, the ever present Ae Forest and finally, Innerleithen. With tracks of every nature to test all abilities, the final Innerleithen round was held on one of the longest courses that the hillside has to offer. First used for the 2000 National Championships, not only were there wet and slippery roots abound, there were jumps, pedalling and loose, greasy cambers to test both your skill and fitness from top to bottom.

In the race, there were a fair number of riders absent from proceedings due to the final round of the World Cup in Schladming, Austria, and so there was all to play for to grab those final points to help riders move up the overall standings.

For Orange, a number of our riders were out there in Austria but there were still some great results to shout about.

Starting off in Youth, Lewis Buchanan took the silver on what is his home track, polishing off a superb season filled with some great results for team MTBCut.tv/Orange. James Scott is usually a regular face on the steps of the Junior podium but was asked by British Cycling to be a part of their development team in Austria for his first World Cup event; not something to turn down.

In Masters, Mark Wilcox took second, riding for Thebreakpad.com onboard his retro painted 224. Off Beat Bikes’ Alastair MacLennan took the only place he knows with yet another dominating win, nearly 27 seconds clear to his nearest rival in the Veterans category.

Bex Reilly took second in the Womens for Castle Douglas Cycle Centre onboard her 224 Evo whilst Naomi Williamson took the trip south with her 224 to take third.

With most of the fastest riders being those absent, it was down to local lad, Gary Forrest, to take second in Elites to keep the flag flying for Orange and his sponsors, Sombrio.

In the overall stakes, there were a number of prizes up for grabs but the biggest was a 224 Evo for the Junior winner. In the end, and after a hotly fought battle, Joe Flanagan was the title winner and recipient of the prize. Orange rider Alastair MacLennan took the overall Vets win with a commanding points lead whilst Mark Wilcox was the winner in Masters, both onboard their 224’s.

Elites overall saw Gary Forrest take second place in the series, just ahead of the absent and in Austria, Dan Stanbridge of Mojo

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - Posted by John

Psssst... New Tee Shirts... get 'em while they're hot

With everybody safely packed off to the Eurobike show in Germany, we found a bit of time to add the new Tee shirts to the site. Oven fresh and ready to go, you can find them at dealers now or right here.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - Posted by John

Joe Barnes - Number 1 NPS win

Stu Thomson from MTBCut.tv says:

"Just thought I'd drop you a quick mail with the video from the weekends NPS at Moelfre in Wales. MTBcut team rider Joe Barnes took his first ever NPS victory closely followed by Mojo rider Ben Cathro and Chain Reaction man Matt Simmonds."

You can check out all the action in the video out here

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - Posted by Posted by Fraser Britton

Mojo Orange rider 15th at Crankworx Garbanzo DH

Jamie Biluk (Mojo Orange) managed to place 15th in the legendary Crankworx Monster Garbanzo Downhill yesterday afternoon against a stacked field that could have been the start list for any world cup. Despite 2 crashes, lots of mud and numbing cold up top, Biluk crossed the line with a time of 15:19.5, less than a minute off the pace of eventual race Leader Gee Atherton. It seems that it was a race of attrition as even second place finisher Sam HIll managed to have an odd run, and lost a shoe mid course.

The next event for Biluk is the Canadian Open downhill, the final event here at the Crankworx Festival in Whistler, BC.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - Posted by Alasdair Maclennan

Tom Braithwaite - Orange Team Rider Interview

MTBCut.tv profile Team Orange rider Tom Braithwaite. And a fine job they do too. Check it out.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - Posted by Alasdair Maclennan

National Champs, 2008, Bala

The National Champs is ‘The big one’ in the UK racing calendar; the race where everybody wants to do well and bring home the title for their category. Unfortunately there weren’t many podiums for Orange riders but there were some very solid results none the less.

Bala is a track which has attained an almost legendary status in a very short space of time. Combining flat out open sections on loose gravel with drops, tight but still quick wooded sections and then fast sweeping turns in the field to the finish, it has a bit of everything. Things started off wet and windy but it soon dried out which meant that many chose to dispense with the spikes that they had been running.

Still in his first year of youth, Lewis Buchanan took 6th place for MTBCut.tv. On a track so fast and with so much competition from older riders and those who know the course well, a 4.5 second margin to the win is nothing.

Making the long trip from Fort William was Alastair MacLennan who took the win in Vets. Scottish Champion and now National Champion, Alastair has been having a successful season so far although his winning margin here was somewhat reduced over his previous weekends win at Glencoe with less than a second over the next man.

Bex Reilly was another Scot to come down and took third place in the Junior Women as a result for the Castle Douglas Cycle Centre.

In the Elite category, swelled by several riders otherwise absent from the domestic scene this year, Joe Barnes took a very solid 8th place for MTBCut.tv, less than 5 seconds from second place. Chris Hutchens pulled in just a few seconds down from Joe’s time and slotted in to 13th.

So with the weekend done and dusted, the Orange riders started packing things up to head off to various parts of the world. Tom Braithwaite, just back from a bad injury at the Maribor round of the World Cup series now jets off to the two back to back rounds in Canada where he should put in some strong results. There will be a report here after the races. Maybe after the individual rounds, maybe when he lands back on British soil but there will be one! Also, keep an eye out on Descent-World for an interview which we completed earlier in the year with him. There will of course be a link here too.

If anyone is heading out to France in the next couple of weeks then keep an eye out for the MTBCut.tv/Orange liveried Transit. Joe, along with some other UK riders, is currently in Les Gets for some mid season training and will be back to race the next NPS round at Moelfre. So that means if you see a luminous pink 224 being ridden very fast in the vicinity of Morzine then the chances are that it will be Joe so be sure to go over and say hello!

Monday, July 21, 2008 - Posted by John

P7 is the MBR 'Homegrown Hardtails' winner

MBR magazinew check out the latest P7 and they like it. You can read the full review in the August issue of MBR or check out the P7 section here.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - Posted by Alasdair Maclennan | Photos: Ian Linton

Four titles at the 2008 Scottish Championships

Four Scottish titles won, two silver medals and two bronze. Not a bad weekend in Scotland for Orange Bikes.

Glencoe does not need much introduction as since 2006 the SDA have tried doggedly to get the track into a race worthy state. 2006 saw the event moved to Innerleithen at the last minute and then in 2007 due to atrocious weather, the race was cancelled on the Sunday morning. So to say that there were some apprehensive riders in the run up to the weekend would be a mild understatement. But after walking the track it was obvious that things were much improved over previous years. Gone was the thick, gloopy bog which covered every surface and in it’s place was natural gravel underneath, rock slabs and boulders. No rider could have been under the impression that things were going to be anything other than a challenge and thus it proved to be. You had to be on your toes to get down this brutal and distinctive track in one piece, let alone with speed or style.

So it wasn't a bad weekend for Orange riders. First of all was third place for MTBCut.tv rider Lewis Buchanan in Youth on his luminous pink 224. Next up was James Scott in Juniors riding for CycleJersey.com who took home the title. Keep an eye out for this one, fast and on a roll in 2008 he took third fastest time of the day as well.

With the women’s category, Castle Douglas Cycle Centre’s Bex Reilly took the trophy for second place onboard her 224 whilst Naomi Williamson rode hers to take third for the Highland Bicycle Co.

Title number two came from the Master rider, Mark Wilcox who also won the Fort William NPS just a week prior onboard his Orange. Second came from Allan Hay, riding for CycleJersey.com and team mate to James Scott. Who else was going to win Vet’s if it wasn’t Alastair MacLennan? Having spent several seasons riding Orange’s before a gap last year, he mentioned that he had forgotten just how good the 224’s were. And that there was title number three.

With the Championships there are no Expert/Elite categories and instead just one large Senior race. Joe Barnes took the Senior title with fastest time of the day by some four seconds for MTBCut.tv. Joe Barnes was looking quick all weekend as was Gary Forrest but unfortunately a crash in both runs quickly took Gary out of contention for the title.

A great weekend, everything considered, and one which will definitely not be forgotten for a long time. All winners deserved their prizes on the treacherous course which really separated the men from the boys. Orange riders once again proved the ability of the 224 to work on everything from the flat out Fort William, to the technical and tight Innerleithen and of course here at Glencoe. The National Championships are in a week’s time so keep your eyes both here and Descent-World for up to date news and results.

Class	Pos	Rider	Team
Senior	1st	Joe Barnes	MTBCut.tv
Junior	1st	James Scott	CycleJersey.com
Veteran	1st	Alastair MacLennan	Off Beat Bikes
Master	1st	Mark Wilcox
Women	2nd	Bex Reilly	Castle Douglas Cycle Centre
Master	2nd	Allan Hay	CycleJersey.com
Youth	3rd	Lewis Buchanan	MTBCut.tv
Women	3rd	Naomi Williamson	Highland Bicycle Co.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - Words and Photos by Fraser Britton

Canadian National Champs Update

Canadian National Championships took place this past weekend on the storied course at Mt Ste Anne, Quebec. One of the longest and roughest on the World Cup circuit, the course was slightly cut down for Nationals, losing the first very rough, very high speed open section.

3 days of sunny, hot practice gave way to rains of biblical proportions on race day. Over 40mm of rain fell starting early Sunday morning. 300 amateur level riders were sent down the course first, and the conditions deteriorated throughout the day with massive holes forming, dirt being washed away and some sections of the course basically disappearing before rider's eyes.

The Transcend Magazine Orange team riders had some fantastic riders, with both juniors riding full mud spikes for the first time. Emmanuel D'Aoust managed to pull off a podium finish, crossing the line with a 4:34, fast enough for 3rd place in Junior Expert and 9 UCI points. James Jeannet was 2 seconds behind, with a 4:36, good enough for 6th place. They would have been 19th and 24th, respectively in the senior Elite category.

The team now moves on to The Mont Ste Anne and Bromont World Cup rounds starting in 10 days.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - Posted by Alasdair Maclennan | Photos: Ian Linton

Fort William NPS Round 3, 2008

NPS round three was also the third race at the prestigious Fort William course in as many months. The course starts high on the slopes of Aonach Mor in the shadow of ‘The Ben’ and winds its way down over the fast and rocky surface sitting on top of the natural peat bog. With inclement weather the previous week, fingers and toes were crossed in the hope of better weather for the race and whilst it wasn’t perfect, it was certainly better than the torrential rain and high winds we had been having! So the track wasn’t quite as dry as it had been for the World Cup just a month ago but that wasn’t necessarily such a bad thing as the track was perhaps a little more forgiving.

It’s such a long course that it allows you to make mistakes and come back to still get a good time but it really tests your nerve to the limits as you try to extract every last ounce of energy you have left.

For Orange, the season continued as it started with some great results from the new guard who have all stepped up their game this year and are getting the podiums to prove it.

Making it two wins from two at Fort William this year in Masters was Mark Wilcox. Riding his retro painted 07 224, he pulled the win with just under a second to his nearest rival.

And of course, where would a Scottish Vets result be without Alastair MacLennan at the top of it? He blitzed the Veteran field with an astounding twenty three second margin to the next man to take the win for Off Beat Bikes!

James Scott is riding well just now in Junior, less than three seconds off the win and just a fraction off second place. Third was a great result for him and his other sponsors, CycleJersey & Burgtec on the 224 Evo.

In Youth, Lewis Buchanan made the five man podium, albeit in 4th place for MTBCut.tv. Things are so close in the categories that the smallest mistake can often mean the difference between standing on the top step and languishing half way down the results sheet. A gap of less than three seconds after five and a half minutes of riding is still an impressive time and not something to be disappointed in.

In the Elite category, several of the big names chose to miss this round for various reasons. Are they getting bored of racing? Either way there was a lot of talk as to who would be top dog come final runs on Sunday in their absence. After putting in a stunning time in Seeding on Saturday, few expected Greg Minnaar to be beaten but the two local Orange boys did push him hard, in doing so relegating Marc Beaumont to 4th. Coming off the back of his best ever World Cup performance here in June and representing his country at the World Champs in Italy two weeks later, Ben Cathro pulled second place, just a couple of seconds down on Greg. In third was Fort William resident, Joe Barnes who by the narrowest of margins managed to stay ahead of Marc, both being on the same second! Unfortunately, Gary Forest damaged his drivetrain during the run and couldn’t pedal which dropped him down the leader board and out of the podium positions.

So all in a great weekend of racing with a good atmosphere, plenty of riding and most importantly of all, a great set of results for many Orange backed riders. Next week is a busy week for Orange with riders travelling out to the MegaAvalanche race in the French Alps, the Scottish Champs at Glencoe and last but not least the Welsh Champs at Mynnyd Du. So there should be some great results again there. We’ll keep you updated with results as they come in.

The guys at MTBCut have this fine summary of the top three elite riders:

Thursday, June 19, 2008 - Posted by John

Want a quick glimpse of how things are going at the Worlds?

MTBCut are doing the do...

Thursday, June 19, 2008 - posted by Alastair Maclennan, photos: Ian Linton

SDA Aberfeldy, 15 June 2008

Another race and another weekend dominated by riders onboard the evergreen 224. As you may already have seen from the report on Descent-World, Round 3 of the SDA series was on a track never previously ridden.

Alastair Maclennan reports. Full Article...

Wednesday, 11 June 2008 - posted by Alastair Maclennan, photos: johnnyc

Mojo riders pull a fast one at Fort Bill

With the sun shining just about all weekend, Fort William was unrecognisable. However, it made no difference to the riders and as usual there was some dramatic racing down to the wire.

Alastair Maclennan reports on the shenanigans. Read More...

Saturday, June 7, 2008 - posted by John

Fort William World Cup 2008

The hottest weather we've ever seen at the legendary Fort William World Cup venue.

The Mojo Orange team have set the paddock gossip going with their slick shiny skin suits. We reckon they make sense 'cos the top of the course is pretty windy.

Here's some video from the MTBCut boys.

Wednesday, 28 May 2008 - posted by Maclennan and Linton

A podium full of Orange Bikes NPS at Innerleithen - part 2

Ok, so we've all just about recovered after the second round of the 2008 NPS, held at the famous location of Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders. A challenging track winding it's way down the steep side of the hill from Minch Moor, blue skies and little to no rain in the preceding weeks contributed to a great weekend of racing for all. We didn't even need to resort to jet washing the bikes to keep them clean between runs! With racing very tight, it was an especially good weekend for Orange with a number of the podium spots being occupied by riders aboard the 224.

First of all there was local ripper Lewis Buchanan on his luminous pink, MTBCut.tv liveried 224, taking second place in Youth after leading the seeding on Saturday. Next up was the Scottish Veteran from Fort William, Alastair MacLennan, on his new orange Orange Evo taking the lead by nearly eight seconds (he was up by fifteen in seeding!).

Moving onto Elites it was a clean sweep of the top three by Orange with the Lewis' MTBCut.tv team mate Joe Barnes in third, just behind Innerleithen local and Sombrio sponsored Gary Forrest. However, taking the win was the giant from Oban, Ben Cathro, on his Mojo tweaked and Fox suspended 224. When he launched the bomb hole into the arena well up on the then leader we knew it was something special. With the clock counting away the seconds and the line getting closer, he powered across the closed road and onto the final stretch, giving it everything. And the time? A 2.56 dead, putting some gap on the majority of his rivals. All that he needed to do now was waiting for Neil Donoghue to come into sight. As the seconds counted down it became clear that he wasn't going to make it and as the clock swept past 2.56 the smile began to creep onto Bens face. His maiden Elite NPS win was in the bag on home soil. So with the top three all on Orange and fifth placed Mojo rider Chris Hutchens too, that left it as a virtual wash of Orange in the top Elite slots.

The Elites along with a number of other World Cup riders now pack up to fly out to Andorra for the second round this weekend and then are back in Scotland a week later for the Fort William round on the 8th June. Keep an eye out here for updates on how the Orange lot get on with plenty of coverage on hand both here and Descent-World over the Fort William weekend.

For a full round up of this weekends happenings check out www.descent-world.co.uk for a report written by myself Alisdair MacLennan

Photos: Ian Linton

Tuesday, 27 May 2008 - posted by John

A podium full of Orange Bikes NPS at Innerleithen

Tuesday, 27 May 2008 - posted by John

A podium full of Orange Bikes NPS at Innerleithen - part 1

Michael writes:

"Just got back from the NPS at Innerleithen, another good result 4 out of the first 5 on 224's. Thats a full Orange podium!

"At one point the hot seat was Orange rider after Orange rider, eventually won by Ben Cathro, Gary Forrest (Sombrio on a 224) 2nd, Jo Barnes MTB Cut Orange) 3rd, and Chris Hutchens 5th. Stu Thomson was trying to get some video of Cathro jumping, I saw a still shot and he was miles up."

Here's a video from our pals at MTBcut.tv. One or two Orange bikes feature [Parental Guidance: Explicit Content]

Wednesday, 14 May 2008 - posted by Fraser

UCI World Cup round 1 - Maribor Slovenia.

The Mojo Orange team trekked out to the first round of the 2008 UCI World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia. New boys Ben Cathro and Chris Hutchens travelling with the team for the first time.

Ben had a great first time result coming inside the top 20 at 17.

Here's the result table with notable home results:

And some photos from Fraser Britton from Transcend magazine

Tuesday, 6 May 2008 - posted by John

Hey it's us... MTBCut's Orange Factory Movie.

There's more MTBcut action over at their website.

Tuesday, 29 April 2008 - posted by John

NPS round 1, Ae Forest results

Not a bad weekend. Four Orange 224's in the top ten. With Rowan Sorrel making a good show of things in 16th.

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Gee ATHERTON	Animal/Commencal	2:23.640
2	Dan ATHERTON	Animal/Commencal	2:26.644
3	Marc BEAUMONT	Bike Radar	2:27.444
4	Tom BRAITHWAITE	Orange	2:31.731
5	Neil DONOGHUE	Bike Radar	2:33.136
6	Brendan FAIRCLOUGH	Monster	2:34.394
7	Dan STANBRIDGE	Mojo/Orange	2:35.351
8	Joe BARNES	MTBcut.Tv/Orange	2:36.439
9	Ben CATHRO	Mojo Orange	2:36.624
10	Robert SMITH	Santa Cruz/Reverse	2:36.900

Tuesday, 22 April 2008 - posted by Tom Braithwaite

Tom gets 2nd at Hopton

Tom Braithwaite had a good weekend. Here's how it went:

Thursday, April 3, 2008 - posted by John

Another '10' Review for the Five Pro from MBR

One of the definitive tests of any of the mags is MBR's Trail Bike of the Year testing. Testing the best of the best in controlled conditions they really put the bikes through their paces. A while back the Orange Five scored a 9/10 in this test. Well, the news just in, is that this year the current Five Pro gets a perfect 10 in the ultimate test.

The magazine is in the shops now, so you can see how it came out at the top. You can read the Five review part on the Orange Reviews page.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 - posted by John

P7 breaks in What Mountain Bike test review shocker!

You may or may not have seen a review of a P7 Pro in the April 2008 issue of What Mountain Bike. (if you haven't you can find it here.)

Maybe others might sweep this kind of thing under the carpet but here, if we mess up, we 'fess up. So here's what happened:

Wednesay, February 13, 2008 - posted by Mojo

Mojo Suspension Team News

Mojo have just announced their 2008 downhill team. Stanny is staying and will be joined by two new Scots.

MOJO ANNOUNCE 2008 TEAM RIDERS

Mojo Suspension, South Wales February 2008.

Mojo Suspension is pleased to announce its 2008 UCI Race team line up.

We’re going to be continuing our support of some of mountain bikings most committed athletes again choosing a diverse line up of talents from elite downhillers to elite XC riders. Mojo’s long standing association with Orange Mountain Bikes continues and is ever stronger, it’s a partnership that enjoyed some great results over the previous season with both companies sharing a passion for making racers of all types faster!

Mojo MD Chris Porter says, "We are looking forward to trying even more new and innovative stuff this year. Testing ideas is what really fascinates us here at Mojo, whether testing ideas for equipment or riders or optimising suspension settings to the ‘Nth degree’, it’s the search for answers to the question ‘how can we go faster?’ that we love... We want to try new technologies, we want to try new equipment and generally keep pushing the boundaries to keep DH racing fresh, exciting and most of all, FAST! We’re very excited to be working directly with Fox’s race department this year and as always Orange are supporting us with the lightest DH frames out there and some startling new prototypes."

Mojo has a crack ‘in-house’ DH team of willing staff members as well as a three man elite team bolstered by the addition of ‘Cathro and Hutch’ (showing at a cinema near you...). We also have two Elite XC racers out there flying the full suspension flag and proving that rigid rears are for road bikes!

Having infiltrated the top ten in the UCI trade teams rankings in 2007, we will again be a registered UCI trade team under the name Mojo/Orange but aiming higher! We may be a little team but we aspire to be up there with the big boys!

THE LINE UP

Dan Stanbridge (Stanny) - Elite DH

We’re keeping Dan on the team for what should be his best season yet. Dan continued to show good progress in 2007, a season in which he enjoyed his best World Cup result to date and got selected for the UK World’s team, reaffirming his place as one of the UK’s top downhill riders. Anyone who watched those World Championships live on BBC TV will remember Dan’s spectacular crash; he may be the politest man to ever race Downhill but he could never be accused of not giving it 100%.

"I am really looking forward to the 2008 season, the main focus is to continue to improve my performance in the world cup series, which looks to have a good spread of events this year. We have a lot of new components for the bike, which I have been trying recently, as well as a revamped team pit, so I am looking forward to a good season."

Ben Cathro - Elite DH

Ben has been one of Scotland’s fastest downhill riders over the past few years with strong performances at both National and World Cup level. Ben is hoping to capitalise on the expertise that Mojo will bring to his bike setup to continue to improve on his performances throughout 2008.

"Joining a team like Mojo/Orange for 2008 is an amazing opportunity for me, with their legendary assistance and equipment, I can’t wait for the season to start."

Chris Hutchens - Elite DH

Chris has been one of the fastest junior riders for the past two seasons at both National and World Cup level. For 2008 he takes the step up to the Elite downhill category. "Joining a new team for 2008 has given me a huge amount of motivation to train and prepare for the season even more than previous year. I can only push myself further this year and aim to get a number of top 30 World Cup finishes and be consistent in places throughout the season."

Monday, February 11, 2008 - posted by John

Dirt competition winner gets his Five

A while back Dirt Magazine ran a competition to win an Orange Five S. There nearly 2000 entries for this competition. They all went into the hat and a big fat hand pulled out a lucky winner.

And his name is: Dave Thomason from Dorset.

Monday, January 28, 2008 - posted by John

My Orange Bikes Gallery

We were so inundated with images when we put out the call for your contributions for last year's Singletrack Ad that we knew we had to do something constructive with all that Orange imagery.

So we set up a gallery web site for registered owners of Orange bikes to post up their images for the world to see. Go and have a browse through.

my.orangebikes.co.uk

We've got a little photo comp going through February, so if you registered your Orange bike on the web site, you should have been sent details telling you how to log-in and post pictures. Get stuck in...