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Orange Factory Racing | 2020 to 2023 30 years of racing pedigree. A roster stacked with iconic names. Front-and-centre throughout downhill and enduro history. Orange Mountain Bikes has racing in its DNA and Orange Factory Racing is the latest chapter in that story. Way back in the late 80’s, our founders started Orange because they loved racing bikes. The rigid machines of the time weren’t quite right for their needs, so they made their own. Roll forward to 2023 and there’s been a whole load of evolution and innovation since those early bone-shakers, but the passion for riding bikes fast, against the clock hasn’t changed. In 2020 we launched Orange Factory Racing - a formal name for what we’d spent 3 decades doing, supporting talent and going fast between the tapes at the top of mountain bike competition. It was our way of bringing racing full in-house, under our own control and 100% on our terms. Run by Orange staff, partnering with brands that we trust and all to help our bikes and our riders go fast. It was run by the people that design and build the bikes with every hard-learned lesson going straight back to source to help Orange bikes evolve. For year one we recruited Scotsman Joe Connell, Lachlan Blair and longstanding Orange rider Tom Wilson. The Orange Stage 6 Evo was the team’s flagship bike - showing the world that single pivot and British-made could cut it on the World Stage. The team raced the full Enduro World Series, select Downhill World Cups and a few one-offs such as Trans Madeira and a whole heap of domestic British events. Good times and good results followed, spreading the good word of Orange around the globe. For 2021 the roster didn’t change but the tools of the trade developed. A Factory team isn’t simply about racing. It’s also about R&D, testing prototypes and proving our bike designs are ready for the world - and the team’s greatest success for 2021 was the Orange Switch 7. Our hard charging, World-stage-ready superbike, the Switch 7 was made for the demands of Factory-level riders and tested, refined and developed by the team. For 2023 the Roster switched, bidding a fond farewell to Joe and Lachlan, and welcoming Becky Cook and Christo Gallagher to the family. The racing evolved from Enduro World Series to Enduro World Cup, but, our commitment to round-the-world racing continued. Full EDR, a whole load of British and a few other bits and bobs in between. Becky scored the Switch 7’s first ever race win in the Welsh hills early in the year, and went on to a season of solid results with wins at Tweed Love and the UK’s prestigious Southern Enduro Championships and also a 3rd place at German National Enduro in Winterberg. Christo’s added more gold to the team trophy cabinet. First at the famously technical Dunkeld enduro and again at the British Downhill National at Glencoe, the South West Enduro Series Event at Minehead and Tweedlove Vallelujah race. And let’s not forget Tom Wilson. Gold medal at Tweedlove, gold medal at the IXS DH Cup in Winterberg, gold medal at Gisburn PMBA Enduro. Rock solid. But - all that good news comes with a bitter sweet note. Whilst we’re celebrating the successes of the team, we’re also drawing a line under this particular chapter of Orange’s history. Orange Factory Racing won’t return for 2024. With so much uncertainty in the bike industry, challenges around the future of the Enduro World Cup Series and the sheer cost of running a competitive Factory-level team, we’re pressing pause. We’ll return when the time is right. But for now, we’re ending on a high and will take a break to focus on our main goal of creating world-class bikes. All that said, our passion for racing isn’t going anywhere and neither is Orange Bikes. We’ll continue to support a number of talented athletes around the World - look out for more news on that in the new year. Orange Mountain Bikes would like to thank everyone that has supported Orange Factory Racing through its 3 year tenure. That includes our Staff, our athletes, our partner brands, race organisers, media and - of course - our customers and fans. Learn more about Orange at .
