GUY’S ORANGE P7 29 S £1,800

The P7 gets some posh upgrades – Guy’s not being greedy, honest!

We try to keep things affordable when choosing our long-termers, opting for good value mid-range models rather than top-dollar bikes where possible, but there’s an inevitable trend for them to inherit more costly components as we go along. That comes down to more than sheer magpie greed, though.

Example one, forks. While the Orange started with a perfectly functional RockShox Revelation, it was host to Öhlins, X-Fusion and SR Suntour forks as part of our winter grouptest ( MBUK 353). The Suntour Auron RC2 stayed on, because we wanted to see how it would hold up to another few months’ use. It’s now seen enough weather to extinguish any initial doubts about seal quality or durability, though, and we’ve got another fork that needs work.

Well, actually the Öhlins RXF 36 Coil has already had work, being changed from its stock damping tune to the more open ‘C2’ version, which will be standard on new forks. After a few rides where it’s remained pretty firm, we’re tempted to go to an even lighter compression tune, to really let the theoretically super-smooth coil internals ‘breathe’ and benefit from the minimal drag that should come from the lack of air seals.

The other Gucci upgrade on the Orange is a set of Santa Cruz carbon wheels, and there’s a story behind that too. A visit to their California HQ included a factory tour that ended with the opportunity to embarrass myself by hand-building (more like hand-mangling) a front wheel. Their in-house experts coaxed my efforts back into shape and built a matching rear, so I left with a set of super-tough 29er trail wheels. They’re impressing so far, too, with a balance of strength and liveliness that the sturdy P7 frame is thriving on. Only time will tell if I’m better at killing the thick-walled rims than trials ace Danny MacAskill was in his recent video. www.orangebikes.co.uk