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Orange Bikes has created a new custom Five Evo for Guy Martin, with the brand saying it “jumped at the chance” when Martin decided it was time to upgrade his trusty Orange Five.
Things have moved on a lot in the decade since the 2012 video ‘It Is What It Is’, where Martin visited Orange HQ and built his own bike, was produced, said Orange, and its bikes and manufacturing processes have come on leaps and bounds.
To get Martin up to date with a more modern Orange, the brand built him a custom Five Evo with a one-of-a-kind brushed alloy effect.
“To say Guy’s new bike is an upgrade on his old Five is as much of an understatement as saying “Guy Martin quite likes tinkering with engines”,” said Orange. “The two bikes are leagues apart and the new Five Evo is the end result of a decade of Orange evolving its manufacturing processes, its facilities, its machinery, its staff and – of course – its bike design.”
Since Martin filmed ‘It Is What It Is’, Orange has completely relocated its manufacturing headquarters to a more modern facility, invested in high-tech equipment and tooling and modernised how its frames are made.
The biggest change for Martin’s new bike is the move to complex monocoque tubes, made by folding aluminium sheets to create strong and lightweight frames. This allows the brand to make the exact shapes that want, fine-tuning ride ‘feel’, weight and stiffness and the downtube alone has over twice the folds of that older generation Five.
It’s a far cry from those old days of oily fingers, lumpy tubes and bought-in bits. The suspension design has also moved on leaps and bounds. The original bike employed an almost digressive design towards the end of its travel.
These days, the Orange Five (Evo) is much more progressive, said Orange, making it a super capable, aggressive and confidence-boosting platform that goes up as well as it goes along and down. Both bikes share similar rear travel numbers, with Orange choosing to push geometry rather than grow travel.
Unlike the old bike, there are now dropper posts, 27.5” wheels, 1X drive trains and improved suspension technology.
Martin’s one-off colour scheme is something Orange said it’s particularly proud of. It took eight hours of elbow grease from Orange warehouse manager Vaughan, who hand buffed Martin’s frame to create this custom look. It was hand polished with wire brushes and scouring pads, then brushed off with compressed air and finished with custom graphics. Orange finished the bike up with some Hope Racing Green components, which were handpicked by the man himself.
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Orange Bikes was founded in 1988. Based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, it produces a full range of bikes from urban commuter cycles through to high-end competition downhill mountain bikes.
