(upbeat music)
- This is my Orbea Orca M-LTD.
And it might not be a familiar sight to you as yet
because I only managed to get my dirty little hands
on it at the beginning of December.
But in that time, I've racked up a number of hours
in the saddle.
And it must be said, I think there's something
of a romance burgeoning.
(wolf whistle)
The previous version of the Orca that I'd had
was actually the first real proper time
I'd ever spent on an Orbea.
And I discovered very quickly that it was probably one
of the sweetest handling bikes I had ever ridden.
And so when I saw the new Orca that was
at the Tour de France under Cofidis rider
Geoffrey Soupe in that very cool prototype colour scheme
I was incredibly excited.
Now, at the time, they told us that they'd
made the bike lighter
which they had.
They told us that they'd made it stiffer,
which apparently they also have.
They told us that they'd made it more aerodynamic
which we can't test for.
But certainly you can see that it looks it,
the fact that they've optimised the
top of the seat tube there and also the head tube
and the way the forks bow out.
They call it free flow.
And it mimics their time trial bike.
But one thing had me slightly concerned
because they said that they'd altered the geometry slightly
therefore potentially altering the handling characteristics.
So alarm bells rang but fortunately
despite all of the changes that they've made
it is, in fact, an even better handling bike.
So clearly the guys at Orbea kind of know what they're doing
when it comes to making bikes ride well.
In terms of the weight lost, the frame actually
saves about 80 grammes over the previous version.
Which is not to be sniffed at
because it now comes under 800 grammes for the frame.
Now the way that they've done it apparently
is by modifying their manufacturing process.
So effectively, they have refined all the pieces
of carbon and the way it goes into the mould
so that there is just enough overlap to
make the frame what it is but with no wastage.
And then also they've altered the lay up
because it is effectively a completely new design.
The group set, as you'll see, is SRAM's RED mechanical.
Now I do have the luxury of having SRAM's eTAP
on one of my other bikes.
Now going back to mechanical,
it's certainly not much of a come down at all
although there is a slight one.
But one of the things that offsets it
is the fact that the mechanical group set
is still fractionally lighter than eTAP.
And lightweight is one thing that I was really
thinking about when this bike was put together.
One of the really nice touches that I
do appreciate on this bike,
and I'm not entirely sure whether it is a SRAM
standard thing or whether it's the fact that
this bike is assembled by hand in the Basque country
which is a pretty wet part of the world
but it has fully sealed cables.
Look at that.
That is something of a luxury, I'm not gonna lie.
Now, in terms of the numbers on this group set,
we've got an 11 to 28 cassette.
Pretty standard.
The chain ring size is, well they're 50 34
which is not exactly my favourite.
And I will be changing it to my standard 52 39.
There is one deviation from the full SRAM (mumbles)
group set and that is the FSA K-Force light cranks.
And that is because I've used those in order
to get my power to the max, powermeter on there.
Other modifications I've made to this bike already
mainly revolve around the position.
So I've put a 110-millimeter stem on there
as opposed to 100-millimeter stem.
And then I've also changed the saddle
so I've got my favourite Fizik Arione on there.
And I also managed to find one that really matched the bike.
I'm really quite chuffed about that, it has to be said.
Other dimensions, so the handlebars
are a relatively narrow 42-centimeter wide bars.
And I say they're relatively narrow because FSA'S bars
somehow always come up a little bit on the narrow side.
But those are absolutely perfect here.
They're also exceedingly compact as you'll see.
And so I've got around that fact by
putting the levers quite far out the front
which I wouldn't normally do.
But on this bike, it feels absolutely right.
And it also means that the position over
to my other bikes is completely seamless
so I did it like that.
Now the eagle-eyed amongst you will notice
that from my mechanical video, I said
that I was going to cut the steerer tube
so that the stem would lie flush.
I was gonna completely slam it.
And there is now a five-mil spacer under there.
So yes, it must be said that I didn't heed my own advice.
But when you're completely set in your position,
it's the logical thing to do.
And actually my position wasn't completely fixed
at the time of cutting my steerer tube.
But fortunately I managed to get away with it.
So there we go, happy days.
Position now completely dialled.
You see all the finishing kit on this bike
is from FSA's range.
So I've got a K-Force Light seat post on there
the OS 99 stem and then the extra light bars.
Also from the FSA stable are these Vision Metron 40 wheels.
The first time I got to ride an Orbea Orca,
the new version anyway
it had the super shallow Metron wheels
because it was the lightest bike I've ever ridden.
But for everyday riding, and I do say that
knowing full well how lucky I am to
consider a carbon wheel set for everyday riding
but hear me out
I would go for the Metron 40
because it is a little bit more aerodynamic
and I'm more than happy to put up
with the ever so slight weight penalty.
Tyres on this are 23 C wide.
The reason I've kept 'em on for the moment
is because actually they measure up far wider.
And I've actually got my callipers out to prove it.
These measure 24.89 millimetres wide.
So that is pretty big for a 23 C tyre.
Therefore, they are still on this bike.
And to be fair, it doesn't really need much help
in the comfort stakes
because as well as increasing the stiffness of the bike
and reducing the weight and so forth
they have also increased the compliance, apparently.
And that is pretty noticeable.
It is a comfy bike.
I've mentioned a few times that this bike is lightweight.
Now it's time for the moment of truth.
Water bottle already off, by the way.
Every gramme counts.
Ready?
Well I can't get an exact figure
because my arms are shaking so much
because they're so puny
but that, to my mind, looks like
it's almost exactly seven kilos.
Which is pretty darn impressive when
you consider that that's with GPS mount
and that is with a power metre as well.
And it's not a small bike.
Yeah, that is lightweight.
Now there has only been one
slight downer to this bike so far
and that is that since I've had it
I've not been at my fittest.
So, unfortunately, this poor bike has not really been
ridden quite as fast as perhaps it deserves to have done.
Despite the fact that, as you've just seen,
it's incredibly lightweight.
It hasn't really been going up climbs as fast as it might.
But hopefully that will change as the year progresses.
And I've got a power metre on there now as well
so I can certainly use it and train properly with it.
Undoubtedly, this is a bike that you will
see plenty more of on the channel in the coming months.
To make sure you don't miss any of that content,
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And if now you are craving some more Orbea content,
then if you click just up there
you'll get through to a video where I was fortunate enough
to ride in the Basque country on a retro heritage Orbea
and compare just how fast it was next to a modern one.
Or, to see my other pro bike here on G-C-N
or my presenter bike, should I say, my Canyon Aeroad,
you can get through to it just down there.