(logo whooshes)
- Finally, after over seven months,
I get to give you a proper look around my Orbea Orca Aero.
I turned up at the GCN HQ on the 1st of June last year
and we've been together ever since.
(upbeat music)
This bike is really special to me
because I had some amazing experiences
whilst riding it last summer.
Not only that, but I was also fitter than I ever had been
as I'd just stopped racing but I was a lot fresher
which meant I could go out on any day of the week
and set loads of new PBs
and who doesn't like going faster
than they've ever gone before.
And finally, part of this bike
holds an unofficial world record thanks to Emma Pooley
who borrowed a couple of bits of my groupset
when she set her hour record,
her uphill hour record recently in Oman.
So here it is, my Orbea Orca Aero
in bright red and valley green.
Not only my first Orbea but my first Spanish bike full stop.
(upbeat music)
I'm not quite sure who came up with the color scheme
and at first I was a little bit unsure
but having spent a lot of time riding it,
and a lot of time watching it on the videos,
I now absolutely love it.
The way it stands out and pops against almost any background
is my absolute favorite thing about it.
It's just a mega bold color choice that I completely adore.
Right, let's take a closer look
and start up top with my saddle.
And I finally get to openly use my favorite saddle
of all time, the Fizik Arione.
I like it because it's got the flexi wings on the sides
and I just find that really comfortable.
When I raced, I use the heavily padded version
and I had to black out all the details
because of course we weren't sponsored by Fizik at the time.
I find the flat top is perfect for sliding around the saddle
and getting that perfect position
for every pedaling situation.
Moving to the front of the bike
and I've got the Vision Metron 5D sprint style bar
which is mega beefy and stiff
which is probably why I like it.
It's got a 120 mil stem, although it looks shorter
because the stem kind of flares from around 3/4
of the way up to the bar.
The bar is a 420 millimeters wide which is great
for the confidence when you're descending.
Onto the levers and I run my Shimano Dura Ace Di2 levers
a little bit higher up on the bar
than I would have when I was racing,
I used to keep them low 'cause it was aero, apparently.
And I wind the brake lever quite far in,
I don't have small hands, but I really like the feeling
of having the brake lever right underneath my fingertips
when I'm racing, or riding at any point
for that matter these days.
Something I started doing years ago on my mountain bike
but I've only recently in the last couple
of seasons done it on the road
and I found it to be a really big enhancement of confidence.
I run my sticky Fizik bar tape wrapped back
as thin as possible and this is again for a feeling
of confidence and control, especially on the descent.
I have my stem slammed as low as it'll go on this bike
and that is because, if I was being really fussy,
it's perhaps one size too big
and I may have chosen a 51, this is a 53,
but I'm not racing anymore so it's not a major issue.
And also, this bike is mega comfortable
and because it's that little bit bigger at the front,
I ride in the drops more which is again great
for confidence on the descent.
Generally speaking, I only run one bottle cage
on my bike now, now that I don't ride any further
than a couple of hours at a time,
I don't feel the need for two.
But, you can see that I've borrowed it actually
for another bike at the moment.
That'll be back there soon enough though.
Moving down to the wheels
and I've got the Zipp 404 Firecrests on here
with the big wide decals
and that really recognizable golf ball textured rim surface.
They've got the show-stopper braking surface
on there as well and mounted to those wheels
are the Continental GP 4000 2 S tires.
I've got a 25 mil in the back
but up front I've got a 28 mil and that's again
for the handling and the confidence on the big descends
that we did in the summer.
In the tires I'm riding 65 to 85 psi or 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 bar,
depending on the road surface and the weather
and things like that.
And this is all again setup to aid the handling of the bike.
Moving down to the gearing
and my Shimano Dura Ace Di2 shifts an 11-28 cassette
on the back which is a standard cassette
and it's got a lovely spread across it.
Up the front though is a 50-34 and at the time,
this was the lowest gear I'd ever been given
and I didn't think I was gonna enjoy using it,
but we did so many mountainous rides in the summer
that I learned to love it and in fact, I needed it.
I really thought I was gonna spin out on the 50
but unless you're doin' 55 Ks an hour consistently,
then it's more than enough to be honest.
My cranks are 172 1/2 millimeters.
I would normally choose 170s
but I actually quite enjoyed slightly longer cranks.
The brakes are direct mount Shimano 9100 Dura Ace calipers
and I like to run them quite wide off the rim.
And I do that because I like them to bite just
before the lever touches the bar.
And finally, the pedals are a leftover from my pro-career.
They are the Speedplay Zero Aero Titanium pedals
and they're single sided, clip-in pedals, quite standard,
quite minimalistic, they look pretty cool on the bike.
Right then, the all important weight test.
I reckon it's around 7 1/2 kilos, 7.37.
So that's it, that's the in depth look at my bike.
There's a few other things to note,
it's a 53 centimeter frame
and my saddle height is 745 millimeters.
So there you go, it's a wrap
and hopefully you've noticed I've set the bike up
to handle well, be good fun to ride
and just to be really confidence inspiring.
If you enjoyed watching this video
as much as I enjoyed riding it,
make sure you give me a big thumbs up
and if you want to see my groupset, set a world record,
why not check out Emma's Oman video down there?