“The Orca isn’t for everyone”. These are not the words of a jaded journalist who has seen it all, but of Orbea who invited us to the Basque brand's homeland to try out its redesigned race machine, the Orca.
Orbea Orca design
The approach Orbea has taken to designing the new Orca is quite unique. In a world where every bike claims to be a percentage-point more cushy and easier handling, the Orca is an unapologetically aggressive race bike that Orbea has tried to keep as light as possible whilst maintaining a high level of stiffness.
Starting with the frame, Orbea has moved to laser cut carbon sheets for 2017 (just like the new Avant, which we covered earlier) and has begun to use a full EPS foam mould, which makes for better compaction and thus a stiffer frame.
ADVERTISEMENT
Orbea was also keen to point out the layup is altered for larger sized frames to keep the ride quality consistent as rider weight increases.
Orbea claims that it could have made the Orca even lighter, but found that the stiffness of the bike was compromised when things became too feathery. And as Joseba Arizaga, the brand’s product manager, quite rightly points out, “what is an extra 20g anyway?”
Having said that, there’s no excess blubber on this Basque cetacean, with the frame coming in at a claimed 795g and fork at 315g, a drop of around 120g over last year's model.
You guessed it, discs
Aero Schm-aero
Orbea Orca finishing kit
Orbea Orca pricing and availability
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
via BikeRadar All the latest from BikeRadar.com http://ift.tt/2czd1Ng
No comments:
Post a Comment