The Orange 279: Taking our racing heritage to the next level

The Orange downhill platform is the most successful in our history and the new 279 takes everything that has come before and aims squarely at the top step for the fastest bike we’ve ever built. 

The Orange downhill story began in the earliest days of the sport and moved at lightning pace with numerous UCI World Cup wins, downhill legends and iconic bikes. Starting with the weird and wonderful 628 through the Mr O, and then the game-changing 222 (made famous by a certain plumber from Sheffield), the World-Championship-winning 224 (nice one, Tracey Hannah) and more recently the fast-as-all-hell 327 and its big-wheeled sibling, the 329. Orange Bikes downhill heritage spans nearly three decades and combines gradual evolution with rocket-fast racing, told on the tracks of World Cups and National Championships, bike parks and local secret trails by pros, privateers and pinners. 

For the ‘22 season, Orange’s downhill story adds its next chapter with the Orange 279. MX wheels, 200mm travel, subtle-but–significant frame improvements and a whole heap of marginal gains to make the suspension more progressive and more efficient than ever. The 279 is the fastest bike in our 3 decades of racing history. 

Modern downhill tracks are bigger, faster and rougher than ever and the 279 has stepped up to match them head-on. The heart of the Orange 279 is our handmade-in-Halifax frameset, built with a brutally capable 200mm of travel and a revised and re-tuned suspension layout. 

And, of course, the 279 gets the MX treatment with a fast-rolling 29” wheel up front and a nimble, quick-on-the-gas 27.5” on the rear. Over years of racing, we’ve tried every combination, and a mixed-wheelset is our answer to the puzzle of modern-day downhill. Fast and stable at speed, engaing, quick to accelerate, snappy through the turns and that perfect mix of straight-line speed and berm-ripping fun. 

The 279 is now more progressive than any Orange downhill bike that precedes it, offering even-better control and confidence when you’re charging hard.

The 279’s geometry has also evolved, taking what we’ve learned from the 327, 329 and our new-school Evo enduro bikes. The head-angle is slackened out to 62° and reach has been increased. Taking inspiration from Orange 'Evo' geometry we’ve pushed the chainstay length centralising weight distribution to give heaps of stability and improved suspension performance.

The result is a bike that’s beautifully fast over rough terrain, nimble through the tech sections and very ‘Orange’ from the start-gate to the finish line.