Orbea Cycles

Frank Wilson

Any body ride one of these, I was looking at them in my local bike store in Portugal (that's all he seems to sell) but they looked a bit expensive, well over 1000 Euro for an alluminium bike.

Any thoughts on them from people who have experienced them?

macroadie

Frank Wilson wrote:

Any body ride one of these, I was looking at them in my local bike store in Portugal (that's all he seems to sell) but they looked a bit expensive, well over 1000 Euro for an alluminium bike.

Any thoughts on them from people who have experienced them?

I did test ride two Orbea aqua TPX, Orbea Orca and Orbea orcal SLT. They are good bikes but not common here in Houston. I only know one guy in our group and he rides the SLT, very fast. From what I hear they are good bikes.

peterberry

I have the Orbea Orca. Rides nice and fast and not common. I would recommend them

andy_s_t

I have a 2012 Aqua T105, lovely bike, and as said above not that common over here in the UK. I also like the lifetime frame warranty too, not that I have had to use it.

Langlais

+1. I have a 2013 Aqua TTG (10-speed Tiagra) that I use as a winter bike (bought in France for around 900 euros). Very happy with it (especially after swapping out the stock wheels for a pair of Fulcrum Racing 5 Evos). I reckon that its admittedly entry-level aluminium frame is lighter than plenty of others in that price bracket. Geometry reasonably lively. It's a minor point but the paint job is good - no chips so far from gravel etc.

IanLD

Have three, so I guess I like them

Road bike, hybrid and mountain bike and all are nice bikes. Not the best value out there, but decent bikes and I like the features such as the rear stays having distinctive bends in them.

Have been to the headquarters in the Basque country, so nice to see where they do some of the work. Some of the frames are made in the Far East with final assembly carried out in Spain.

Workers are all part of the company as it runs as a co-operative, so that appealed to me too. Meant a bit more when I was buying them.

As you've said, they are not the cheapest of bikes, but in the UK they are fairly rare and nice to be a wee bit different. Good ride and handling and I've not had any issues other than my own messing the indexing up on my hybrid.

stash36

I rented an Orbea aqua with 2013 Sora gears this summer in Pau.
I was very impressed, very light and got me up the tourmalet and d'aubisque despite my er..ability.
The gear change was brilliant, really liked the new Sora (i have an allez sport with old Sora) and the brakes were terrific, gave me lots of confidence on the descent.

simona75

I've got an Orca and am very happy with it. I'm also now sorely tempted by the Avant that was at Eurobike the other week.....

pete.whelan

good bikes and generally well respected make.

Elmy Cycles in Ipswich sell quite a lot of them

asjc

I too have an orca, 2005 I think, first generation, still looks great IMO, fast, comfortable, quite light, frame and fork still looks newish largely down to the quality of the build at the time. Had an alu/carbon orbea a few years ago and it held up to winter all weather riding really well.

Frank Wilson

Thanks all for the info, seems though not many in number those who have them are pleased with their bikes. Next time in Portugal may go and look more seriously at getting one as my 130 euro Berg Mtb I have over there ain't doing it for me!

Interesting that they are assembled in the Basque country as I noticed Euskatel were using them in the Veulta.

Whilst branching off onto a Basque thread has anybody done any riding there, the roads and the scenery look absolutely stunning. Have been to some of the major cities but not off the beaten track so much, especially more so now that they have built a new motorway which is a great help on our journey to Portugal but robs us of seeing a lot of the countryside.

team47b

Frank Wilson wrote:

my local bike store in Portugal (that's all he seems to sell) but they looked a bit expensive, well over 1000 Euro for an alluminium bike.

You can buy most well known brands here but all the bikes are way more expensive than the UK, Which part of Portugal are you in?

Berg are a portuguese bike company and sell through Sportzone, these are 'more reasonable'. http://www.bergcycles.com/catalog/road

You could just buy a really nice full carbon bike in the UK and have it delivered to me, I will look after it for until you return

asjc

My orca is a jelly belly team edition, they used the first generation then euskaltel used them right through to this years vuelta when the team finished, loved seeing the orange jerseys in the peleton.
The new orca is supposed to be very nice.

Frank Wilson

team47b wrote:

Frank Wilson wrote:

my local bike store in Portugal (that's all he seems to sell) but they looked a bit expensive, well over 1000 Euro for an alluminium bike.

You can buy most well known brands here but all the bikes are way more expensive than the UK, Which part of Portugal are you in?

Berg are a portuguese bike company and sell through Sportzone, these are 'more reasonable'. http://www.bergcycles.com/catalog/road

You could just buy a really nice full carbon bike in the UK and have it delivered to me, I will look after it for until you return

Yes got my Berg from Sportzone when my 29 euro supermarket bike fell apart (literally). The Berg is ok for knocking about to the shops and that but if you want to go for a serious ride then it obviously don't cut the mustard.

We are based Eastern Algarve and are hoping as retirement looms to spend a lot more time there so a decent bike is high on my priorities (providing my pension forecasts start looking up and not continually down!)

I have two options really, buy one out there or upgrade here and bring my current bike over next time we come by car.

Looking forward to doing some proper cycling out there.

ariba

Frank Wilson wrote:

Thanks all for the info, seems though not many in number those who have them are pleased with their bikes. Next time in Portugal may go and look more seriously at getting one as my 130 euro Berg Mtb I have over there ain't doing it for me!

Interesting that they are assembled in the Basque country as I noticed Euskatel were using them in the Veulta.

Whilst branching off onto a Basque thread has anybody done any riding there, the roads and the scenery look absolutely stunning. Have been to some of the major cities but not off the beaten track so much, especially more so now that they have built a new motorway which is a great help on our journey to Portugal but robs us of seeing a lot of the countryside.

I've done a bit of riding around Bilbao - there's a hill climb (Trapagaran - La Reinata) which was included in this year's tour of the Basque Country which good (only about 6km) I tended to go out to west towards Castro-Urdiales as I was staying in Santurtzi.

Lots of nice roads - a lot of people out in the weekends. Also the cars gave plenty of space when overtaking. There are plenty of hills to enjoy in the area (if you're into hills )

The motorways take a lot of the traffic of the "a" road equivelents, so the riding is really pleasant. Also, plenty of bars where ever you go, so always possible to caffeine up.

earth

Is Miguel Indurain from the Basque Country?

ariba

yes - from somewhere near Pamplona.

I think he owns a bar now - can't remember where I read this. google may be required!