The Blood, to some a conundrum in the range, but for those who ride one, it’s a paradox that becomes abundantly clear. A tight handling trail whippet which performs beyond its image, not just a hard riding big air beasty, but a nimble trail bike waiting to kick through the corners of your favourite trail centre. You don’t have to understand, just appreciate.

This year, the Blood goes on a diet with a more trail ready spec, the guys in the factory demand it, so you deserve it too. Lowering the front-end steepens the head-angle slightly and lowers the BB, this creates a bike that hugs the ground a little closer as you jump, manual and pump between trail undulations. The 2.5:1 leverage ratio provides a supple five inches of progressive travel so the short back end handles big and small bumps with equal aplomb. The Maxle rear, square fabricated stays and oversized pivot assembly makes the Blood one of our stiffest ever frames, but light and responsive when you need to stomp on the pedals. This bike might be a misnomer in normal model category stakes, but if you need this kind of bike, you’ll know…

ROCKR SHOCK CONTROL

We love single-pivot simplicity at Orange, and the Blood is essentially a single pivot with a twist. Without getting too technical, the Blood’s ROCKR-Link is a way of achieving a highly durable 2.5:1 leverage ratio while carefully controlling the shock’s progression to optimise how the frame and shock work together. In practice this means a bike you can pedal, but one with a highly active and fast-reacting back end that delivers a super-supple initial stroke and a mid to end stroke which never shoots through its travel – perfect for those big hits. When it comes to actual rear wheel travel, it’s a triumph of quality over quantity. Ride one – you’ll see what we mean.