Founded in 1988, Orange Bikes is an iconic British brand renowned for making some of the best mountain bikes. If you're a mountain bike rider of a certain age, the nostalgia of seeing that classic Orange logo will reignite those 'must have' feelings of owning those early years, mountain biking classics, like the Orange Clockwork and the Prestige.
The brand was born out of a love for mountain bike racing and is excited to announce the return of the Orange Factory Racing (OFR) team. With a reshuffled roster, complete with two new riders.
Becky Cook will become the first female factory rider for OFR and is joined by fellow newcomer Christo Gallagher. They will line up with Tom Wilson, who returns for his third year with the team as Orange aims to continue supporting talented riders and showcase the brand on the international enduro race scene.
The team will race the full Enduro World Cup (formerly the EWS), various European one-off events and a selection of domestic UK events such as the British National Enduro Series and the ArdRock Enduro.
Becky Cook joins Orange after a storming 2022 season that saw her top of the women's podium in domestic races, along with high placings in EWS and a career-high top five at Sugarloaf, USA. She is focusing squarely on achieving her best season to date at the new UCI Enduro World Cup.
Tom Wilson will be entering his seventh year on Orange Bikes, and his third at Orange Factory Racing. 2023 will see him race a mix of UCI Enduro World Cup and e-Enduro World Cup events, splitting his time between his team issue Orange Switch 7 and Phase MX e-MTB. Tom has been with the team since day one, working his way through the junior rankings and up the EWS results sheets.
A fresh face to Orange but no stranger to racing, Christo joins Orange with a whole heap of EWS and domestic racing experience. The Scottish rider has career highlights including the overall elite title at the 2021 British National Enduro Series as well as 2nd place at Ardrock, 14th at the Innerleithen EWS round, and 3rd overall in the super competitive Scottish National Enduro Series.
The star of the Orange Factory Race team is of course the bike and the Orange Switch 7 is back for 2023. Tested, developed, refined and proven by Orange Factory Racing, the Switch 7 will be the team rider's go-to for race days around the world.
The Switch 7 was launched last year as Orange looked to produce its fastest-ever enduro mountain bike. The 2023 model takes all of the Orange made-in-Halifax frame design and adds the new STRANGE power link, to create an even more progressive ride. Add the addition of feedback from supported EWS racers and the newly established factory riders and you may have a bike perfect for the brutal and technical stages of the EDR.
The new riders will hit the ground running with the Orange Factory season beginning with a Team Camp in South Wales this month and then they head to Tasmania, Australia for the UCI Enduro World Cup. As a massive fan of Orange, we hope to see the team racing and get a close-up look at the Switch 7 very soon.
You can also check out the riders socials to follow along and read more about the Switch 7 at Orange.
Don't buy a budget hardtail! The full-sus Calibre Bossnut is the best-value MTB right now with a massive £500 price cut in this Black Friday MTB deal
Continental’s Olympic and World Championship XC winning Race King Protection is the fastest rolling MTB tire I’ve ever ridden, but it’s not for the nervous
