SUPERBIKE

#118 Lachlan Blair’s orange switch 7

Yorkshire brand rewrite their enduro playbook with a shock-link and mullet wheels

INFO

Price: £7,500 (stock Orange Switch 7 SE)
Contact: www.orangebikes.com
Also try: Hope HB.916, from £5,995 (without drivetrain), www.hopetechhb.com

Billed as ‘the mullet with muscle’, the new Switch 7 is a big-hitting, mixed-wheel-size enduro machine with long travel and aggressive angles. It sports Orange’s trademark monocoque aluminium mainframe and swing-arm, but, in a radical departure for the Halifax-based brand, uses a hidden linkage to drive the shock (1) – something seemingly anathema to the Orange mantra of keeping frames as simple as possible (while constantly refining the geometry and kinematics). This Switch 7 belongs to Lachlan Blair, the Enduro World Series and Downhill World Cup racer from Fort William, who’s built it up with a drool-worthy selection of parts.

All hail the coil

While Lachlan’s favoured terrain is fast, flowy jump trails – “the looser and dustier the better!” – the young Scot admits: “I tend to get better results when the tracks are tight and wet, as that’s what I rode most growing up.” In either situation, the Switch 7 has his back. The new linkage has enabled Orange’s designers to build in more progression for big-hitting enduro courses, while keeping the top of the stroke nice and supple for maximum traction on technical trails.

Lachlan uses a 170mm-travel Öhlins RXF38 m.2 fork and matching TTX Coil shock. “I run both as fast as they’ll go and fairly light on the compression, as I find this a good combination for enduro, where you don’t fully know the track,” he explains. Many enduro riders prefer coilsprung shocks, because of their low stiction and improved resistance to overheating on long descents. “I’m a big fan of simplicity, and a coil shock has consistent feel from the start to the end of the stroke,” says Lachlan, “and, with no air pressures to keep track of, it’s easier when I’m racing.”

He adds: “The smooth progressiveness of the Switch 7 definitely helps when running a coil shock. It’s even better than before [when he was racing the single-pivot Orange Stage 6, also with a coil], with way fewer bottom-outs.” To keep the bike from sinking into its travel with his light compression set-up, Lachlan has switched from a 480lb spring to a stiffer 502lb coil.

Party at the back

Another change from the Stage 6 is that the Switch 7 pairs a 29in front wheel with a 650b rear wheel. “The mullet set-up is fantastic!” says Lachlan. “It’s something I’ve tried a few times, since 2015. I find the bike more nimble when cornering and easier to control in a drift, as the front wheel has more grip than the rear when running the same tyres. At 5ft 9in [175cm] with relatively short legs, the extra clearance with a 27.5in rear wheel is noticeable when things get wild!”

Both wheels are Stan’s NoTubes Flow MK4s, shod with Michelin Wild Enduro Racing Line tyres. These lightweight hoops allow Lachlan to accelerate quickly and get maximum performance from his suspension and brakes, because of the lower unsprung and rotating mass. Powerful Formula Cura 4 brakes with big 203mm rotors slow the Switch 7 down.

Lachlan runs plenty of spacers beneath his Burgtec Enduro MK4 50mm stem (2), and rolls his 30mm-rise Burgtec RideWide Enduro carbon bar back further than most. The Orange’s steep 76-degree seat tube makes for efficient climbing, aided by a 200mmdrop SDG Tellis post, topped with a SDG Bel-Air V3 saddle.

Cranking up the heat

Heading down the hill, an MRP SX guide ensures Lachlan doesn’t drop his chain, while, surprisingly, this high-spec bike sports a mid-range Shimano SLX crankset (3). “I started off with XTR cranks, but bought a set with the wrong Q-factor and they didn’t clear my chainstay protector,” he explains. Unable to return them, or to afford top-end XTR again, Lachlan went for SLX. “They’re tough and have been faultless all year so I can’t complain about the extra grams!”

For racing, he favours 165mm crank arms: “On EWS stages you often find yourself pedalling in places you normally wouldn’t, through rocks and roots, which makes the extra clearance useful for avoiding pedal strikes.” A 34t Burgtec chainring paired with a Shimano XTR 11-46t cassette gives him a wide spread of gears, for climbing steep transitions between stages as well as pedalling flat-out down fireroads.

Lachlan’s bike is finished off with a pair of Crankbrothers Mallet DH clipless pedals. “I prefer the larger platform of the DH pedals over the [Mallet E] enduro ones,” he explains. The ability to clip in backwards (as well as forwards) on Crankbrothers pedals is a feature Lachlan says he’d now struggle to ride without. He switches to flat pedals when playing around between races, but doesn’t feel as comfortable riding fast with them. And that, after all, is what this bike is all about! (4)

WHO IS…

LACHLAN BLAIR

Lachlan is one of those rare racers who has the talent to compete at the sharp end of both the Enduro World Series and Downhill World Cup series. This stylish former Dude of Hazzard from Onich, just down the road from Fort William, is partial to a bit of jibbing and rut-smashing fun, too. In his own words, Lachlan sees his role as “getting professionally sketchy for Orange Factory Racing”.