A preliminary and end review of the Orange Alpine E LE (2018) all rolled into one. Shortest review ever!
Getting one thing out of the way to begin with, I was disappointed when Orange first announced that they were building an eMTB. I realise that market forces have created the requirement of doing so, in the ‘you snooze, you lose’ world of commerce and business, but it still grates that they have sold out.
When I saw the concept bike, I was quick to forward concerns in respect of design and function, all of which sailed over the heads of the bods at Orange, and has found it’s way into the design of this bike.
Seeing the bike in flesh did nothing to inspire or excite me. Firstly, the bike has one of the ugliest downtube designs that I have seen, and had the bike been constructed from steel, I would state that the company had decided to rob and use the forth bridge for it’s construction. To me it looks as though they couldn’t decide what parts to put into the wheelie bin, so used the wheelie bin instead for the construction.
The first task was to turn the bike on…. Long pause while I search and search for the power button, but cannot find it. After asking the shop owner where it was, and being told that even they had to phone the company to locate it, I was told that it was on the front of the downtube.
You have to be joking, who in their right mind would put a power button on the front of the downtube of an eMTB. Clearly someone that is either clueless, or just doesn’t care that it will be hit by every bit of crud and mud going, and will be impossible to find during any ride that involves said mud and crud.
The bike powered up instantly, and my next question followed…. How do you remove the battery?
The reply lead to more of me saying, "you must be joking". You seriously have to undo a load of Allen key bolts, just to get it out, and it takes how long!!! By this time, I’m starting to think that Orange have actually supplied the dealer with the prototype bike, and not the production version.
There you are mid ride, filth and mud everywhere, and the battery runs flat. I can really imagine being thrilled at the prospect of changing the battery after first unpacking the kit to find an Allen key, then getting covered in crud and mud again, loosing a bolt or two in the mud, and to make things even worse, just imagine doing this in the darkness on a freezing cold winters night.
By this time, my interest in the bike has reached zero, but I take it for a quick spin anyway.
First observation, what is the point of fitting Shimano DI2 on a bike that has a 1X set up. I can see the benefits and merits of it on a 2X or 3X, but certainly not on a 1X set up. I just see it as a marketing gimmick, to pad out the product. Totally pointless.
Second observation which is one going to be perhaps be the only unfair comment within this review, and that is that the Shimano E8000 drive unit was noisier than the Bosch drive unit. I say unfair, as the motor was almost zero mileage, so I accept that it might, or rather should quieten down over time.
As things stand, I’d not buy a bike any bike fitted with the Shimano E8000 drive unit, simply because of reports from riders that I respect, that the DU cuts out to prevent over heating when used in alpine climbing conditions. That isn’t something that I would want to chance, but for UK riding, I doubt that this would ever present an issue.
One thing that I always do when riding an ebike of differing drive units and design, is to ride the bike with no assist at all. What I will say is that the Shimano E8000 when linked to the final drive gearing as chosen by Orange, gives the most natural riding experience of any ebike that that I have ridden. It definitely left me thinking that within reason, having to return from a ride with a flat battery, wouldn’t be such a dread. Even the weight of the bike was hidden very well.
I have been offered the chance to have a proper play on the bike in a couple of week’s time, but have decided against it. I have to have enthusiasm and desire to ride a bike, and this one just doesn’t do it for me. The high cost of the bike aside, I wouldn’t buy one, simply because of the positioning of the power button, and the hassle that the battery is to remove. I’m also totally against front downtube mounted batteries, irrelevant of bike manufacturer.
I know those that have ridden the Alpine E love and rave about it's off road capability, but capability of ride and practicality of use, are two very integrated things for me. I’m sure that you could spend half the cost of this bike, and still have a bike that might handle just as well, but retain all of the required practicalities of day to day riding. I know which I would take, and it wouldn’t be the Orange.
If I were in the market for a bike that costs as much as the Orange, I'd wait to see how the proposed Santa Cruz turns out. As things stand, it looks to be a world apart in both quality and design. edit.. Scrap that, the Santa Cruz looks as though it might have the same DU, or a brose DU, with a front loading downtube battery.
Getting one thing out of the way to begin with, I was disappointed when Orange first announced that they were building an eMTB. I realise that market forces have created the requirement of doing so, in the ‘you snooze, you lose’ world of commerce and business, but it still grates that they have sold out.
When I saw the concept bike, I was quick to forward concerns in respect of design and function, all of which sailed over the heads of the bods at Orange, and has found it’s way into the design of this bike.
Seeing the bike in flesh did nothing to inspire or excite me. Firstly, the bike has one of the ugliest downtube designs that I have seen, and had the bike been constructed from steel, I would state that the company had decided to rob and use the forth bridge for it’s construction. To me it looks as though they couldn’t decide what parts to put into the wheelie bin, so used the wheelie bin instead for the construction.
The first task was to turn the bike on…. Long pause while I search and search for the power button, but cannot find it. After asking the shop owner where it was, and being told that even they had to phone the company to locate it, I was told that it was on the front of the downtube.
You have to be joking, who in their right mind would put a power button on the front of the downtube of an eMTB. Clearly someone that is either clueless, or just doesn’t care that it will be hit by every bit of crud and mud going, and will be impossible to find during any ride that involves said mud and crud.
The bike powered up instantly, and my next question followed…. How do you remove the battery?
The reply lead to more of me saying, "you must be joking". You seriously have to undo a load of Allen key bolts, just to get it out, and it takes how long!!! By this time, I’m starting to think that Orange have actually supplied the dealer with the prototype bike, and not the production version.
There you are mid ride, filth and mud everywhere, and the battery runs flat. I can really imagine being thrilled at the prospect of changing the battery after first unpacking the kit to find an Allen key, then getting covered in crud and mud again, loosing a bolt or two in the mud, and to make things even worse, just imagine doing this in the darkness on a freezing cold winters night.
By this time, my interest in the bike has reached zero, but I take it for a quick spin anyway.
First observation, what is the point of fitting Shimano DI2 on a bike that has a 1X set up. I can see the benefits and merits of it on a 2X or 3X, but certainly not on a 1X set up. I just see it as a marketing gimmick, to pad out the product. Totally pointless.
Second observation which is one going to be perhaps be the only unfair comment within this review, and that is that the Shimano E8000 drive unit was noisier than the Bosch drive unit. I say unfair, as the motor was almost zero mileage, so I accept that it might, or rather should quieten down over time.
As things stand, I’d not buy a bike any bike fitted with the Shimano E8000 drive unit, simply because of reports from riders that I respect, that the DU cuts out to prevent over heating when used in alpine climbing conditions. That isn’t something that I would want to chance, but for UK riding, I doubt that this would ever present an issue.
One thing that I always do when riding an ebike of differing drive units and design, is to ride the bike with no assist at all. What I will say is that the Shimano E8000 when linked to the final drive gearing as chosen by Orange, gives the most natural riding experience of any ebike that that I have ridden. It definitely left me thinking that within reason, having to return from a ride with a flat battery, wouldn’t be such a dread. Even the weight of the bike was hidden very well.
I have been offered the chance to have a proper play on the bike in a couple of week’s time, but have decided against it. I have to have enthusiasm and desire to ride a bike, and this one just doesn’t do it for me. The high cost of the bike aside, I wouldn’t buy one, simply because of the positioning of the power button, and the hassle that the battery is to remove. I’m also totally against front downtube mounted batteries, irrelevant of bike manufacturer.
I know those that have ridden the Alpine E love and rave about it's off road capability, but capability of ride and practicality of use, are two very integrated things for me. I’m sure that you could spend half the cost of this bike, and still have a bike that might handle just as well, but retain all of the required practicalities of day to day riding. I know which I would take, and it wouldn’t be the Orange.
If I were in the market for a bike that costs as much as the Orange, I'd wait to see how the proposed Santa Cruz turns out. As things stand, it looks to be a world apart in both quality and design. edit.. Scrap that, the Santa Cruz looks as though it might have the same DU, or a brose DU, with a front loading downtube battery.
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