A small English company, Orange mountain bikes have come a long way and are now internationally known and respected.Based in Halifax, in Yorkshire, the company started with humble beginnings but has no developed so much that in recent years it has sponsored two world champions: Greg Minnaar and Steve Peat.
The recent financial crisis has placed a lot of emphasis on choosing British brands over foreign ones and brands are rarely more British than Orange mountain bikes.One of the company’s founders, Lester Noble grew up in Yorkshire and developed an interest in mountain biking in his young adulthood.He was originally a huge fan of a brand known as Muddy Fox, but feel out of love with it when he believed it was starting to become too concerned with urban fashion rather than off road biking.
Then Lester Noble started to design his own mountain bikes, although Orange mountain bikes still hadn’t been born, At the start, he bought bikes from Taiwan to sell in the UK using the company name Tushingham bikes.Later when he met his now business partner, Steve Wade who is another biking enthusiast they decided to set up a business together.Steve Wade’s engineering background and existing sheet metal business was ideal for bringing in the materials and expertise needed to start the bike business.
Originally they worked together assembling bike parts bought in from Taiwan but later began manufacturing. Orange mountain bikes, whose name is taken from ‘All Round Range’ came into existence. Today all Orange mountain bikes are manufactured and built in Yorkshire, apart from the cheaper range.
Sponsoring high profile bikers really gave Orange mountain bikes a head start in making its name. When the Animal/Orange team used the Patriot bike on British downhill courses. The production of the Patriot bike also led to the creation of the 222 downhill bike which engaged the interest of foreign bikers.
It’s true to say that from simple and humble roots, Orange mountain bikes have come on a lot.They are a firm favourite with mountain bikers in England and abroad and are sold in twenty six countries worldwide.
