Details of a proposed new Orange Alpine 6 E electric mountain bike have just been put up online. Here’s what we know so far.

>>> Orange Alpine 6 Factory (2017) first ride

Orange Alpine 6 E

As the name suggests, the bike is based around the existing Orange Alpine 6 enduro bike. ‘Based around’ is probably too generalised a term actually. It looks exactly like a regular Alpine 6 but with a battery on the down tube and a motor slapped at the bottom. It looks great actually.

Indeed the info from Orange confirms that the Orange Alpine 6 E is to use the exact same geometry as the regular Alpine 6. So from that we already know that it’s a 27.5in wheeled 160mm travel single pivot bike with a 64.5° head angle and a Boost back end.

The motor they’ve gone with a Shimano E-8000 unit. 500w max power. Sub 3kg.

“If we’re going to do this we need to build what we would call a proper bike not a ‘concept’ piece for the show halls but a working, usuable mountain bike for the terrain we ride”, Orange boldly state.

But is it cheating?

That old chestnut again. Here’s Orange’s reasoning: “The most valuable thing a bike like the Alpine 6 E gives you is time. It hands it to you on a plate. What was previously an all day epic becomes a two hour blast.”

So it’s not for everyone. No bike is. But the time-poor shredder is clearly a significant target market for Orange with the Alpine 6 E.