I know it's not an Islabike, but.....

swelsbyuk

What are people's thoughts on this?

http://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicis/modelo ... esentacion

My local shop is an Orbea dealer and spotted one of these on a recent visit and looks pretty good.

Any thoughts?

chrisw333

I'm also very interested in peoples views on this.

It looks a very nice bike and this model is fixed fork which should keep the weight down (they also do the xc suspension fork model too though)

In particular, does any one have any views on how it compares with the Secialized Hotrock A1, Giant XTC JR & Ridgeback MX24 which seem some of the other main contenders in this catagory? (I have seen the Carrera - but it felt very heavy to me)

I would have some concerns on re-sale value as the brand is no way near as well known as Specialized (and Isla of course)

swelsbyuk

The bike is for my daughter and will be passed onto her brother. I suspect that there won't be much to resell at the end of that usage!

The suspension fork barely adds anything to the price and, apparently, only around 0.5kg to the weight. The shop had a 20" version (fixed fork) waiting to be collected by another customer. He weighed it for me and it came in at 10.2kg. Not sure how that compares to Isla, but suspect it's slightly heavier.

The fork attracted me as it looked a lot sturdier than an Isla and my daughter likes to hammer it! LOL

bompington

swelsbyuk wrote:

The suspension fork barely adds anything to the price and, apparently, only around 0.5kg to the weight.

Then it probably adds nothing at all to the ride ;-)

baudman

chrisw333 wrote:

...Giant XTC JR

Thing1 has the girl's, solid forked, hub geared version of this. It is, however, essentially the same bike. I'm really, REALLY impressed, although the cranks are a little too long. (I don't understand why more kids bike manufacturers do what Trek have, cranks with multiple holes - makes it easier to have good geo for longer on the one bike - aha, perhaps there's a marketing reason not to)

And yeah, cheap suspension likely to take away, not add to the ride

swelsbyuk

After emailling Orbea direct they have come back to me with the following details regarding weight:

The MX 24 Dirt (with fixed fork) is 11.3kg (£269)

The MX 24 XC (with suspension fork) is 11.5kg (£285)

The MX 24 Team (with fixed fork) is 9.9kg (£399)

The first thing that jumps out at me about this is the lack of weight that the suspension fork adds.

The Team looks like a great option - even lighter than a 24" Islabike, but more expensive and possibly lack of return when re-selling. Perhaps I could try haggling with my local shop?

Thoughts from others gratefully received!

SmellTheGlove

Good looking but will that gearing be a bit spinny? I'm all for a 7/8-speed on 24inch by the way, so few manufacturers seem to do that option, and fixed fork ditto. You pay more for less!

swelsbyuk

Well, we bought the Orbea MX Team in size 24" - and she loves it!

Take a look here: viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=12853690

springtide9

Recently purchased the MX 24 Dirt for my daughter. It is a decent enough bike and a cheaper alternative to the Islabike.

I have no regrets buying it, but a couple of points:

- the tyres are much wider than the Isalabike's, which makes it harder going for a kid.
- the brakes are pretty cheap and not as good as what is fitted to the Islabike (they are harder to pull)
- my daughter gets on much better with gripshift (have already bought gripshift to fit to the MX)
- the gears are of a higher quality on the Isla IMO (SRAM X4's on the Isla)
- although there are wide ratios, it's a 7 speed rather than 8 speed (on the Islabike)
- the frame does feel noticeably heaver than the Islabike, although the MX Dirt is pretty light compared to a Halfords special.

So actually when you take all of the above into consideration, the Isalabike starts to look good value. Add to that resale value etc, then maybe the Orbea isn't as good value as originally thought.

But (and this is a big but!), the Orbea is a very good bike - think of it as a downgraded Beinn 24 rather than a cheaper one.

The MX 24 Team looks like a fantastic bike, and I guess the extra money probably goes on upgrading our version, taking it a step higher than the Isla in terms of spec.

swelsbyuk

Hi Springtide9

Just noticed your post. It was seeing a 24 Dirt in local Orbea dealers that set me off on the route that led me to the 24 Team.

I agree with the tyre comment - the Team has small block eights though which are ok.
The brakes really let the look of the Team down IMHO - they work but they look 20 years out-of-date.
The shifters on the Team are Shimano dyna-sys and are superb and my daughter much prefers them over her previous, grip-shift set-up.
The Team is 10 speed but only gears 3- 7 get used!

I suspect that the Team is equivalent to the Beinn but I (and, importantly, my daughter) much prefer the Orbea's looks and the dyna-sys (sp?) system really is impressive.

Just got to find some cash for disc brakes now!