Any road cyclist who hasn’t noticed the rise and rise of the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:lightweight/aero bike must have been living under a stone. Almost all lightweight bikes have gained aero tube profiles over the last few years, to the point where full-on 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:aero road bikes were lookin𝓀g like an endangered species. Long lಌive the Specialized Venge.

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Changes to t﷽he UCI's tube profile rules have breathed new life into the aero bike sector, but now, Orbea has gone in the other direction entirely with the new 2024 Orca range, retur♛ning to rounded tube profiles for its high-spec Orca OMX bikes. 

Orbea says that there are too many compromises necessary when designing a lightweight aero bike. It’s never going to be as🍸 aero as a true aero bike and the construction complexities and the extra material needed to make a lightweight bike more aero mean that it’s never going to be as lightweight as a bike that doesn’t try to be aero. 

“This is why increasing the weight of a light bike in exchaﷺnge for aero features doesn't make any sense. On the climbs, the lighter the bike the better, and at high speeds, the more aero the better. The middle-weight bike with aero features doesn't win anywhere,” claims Joseba🦄 Arizaga, Road Product Manager at Orbea.

An 83g reduction in frame weight 

To prove his point, the top spec 2024 Orbea Orca OMX frame in size 53 has a 750g claimed weight while the fork weighs 360g. Contrast that with the 833g claimed weight for a size 53 frame in the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:outgoing Orca OMX, which includes aero profile tubing in the seat tube, down tube, seat s꧙tays and seatpost.

Orbea says that its change of direction provides the new Orca with easy climbing and acceleration, as well as the agility and responsiveness which only a true lightweight bike can offer. The round tubing is also said to reduce vibration transmissi𒅌on to the rider, saving energy.

Orbea’s tests suggest that the 500g reduction in frame weight for a lightweight bike over an aeroꦿ bike will save around three watts at a gradient of 5%, or six watts at 10%.

Orbea hasn’t totally thrown aero out though, nominally in areas where it could achieve aero gains without gaining weight. The Orca OMX includes integrated cable routing, a new seatpost clamp and a fork profile that it says all improve the bike’s aerodynamics. The brand also points out that its 'MyO' online custom bike configurator allows riders to choose wheels and ༒bars that are more aero and select a frame size and stem length which allow them to ride in a more aero position.

Orbea says that it has achieved🌞 the reduced weight of the new Orca OMX frame by using fewer, larger pieces of carbon fibre prepreg in its construction, reducing the total number of pieces by 90. This reduces the number of overlaps between layers, although it does mean that laying up the prepreg sheets in the frame mould must be more pr🐈ecise.

It shaved more weight from the frꦍame by designing its shapes so that resin doesn’t accumulate on corne♎rs or sharp edges.

Lighter components 

Orbea has also worked with its in-house component and wheel brands to design the bike and components together. It claims that its RP10 stem is one of the lightest available and its new HP11 bars for the Orca OMX weighཧ just 190g. The bars o🌃ffer a flared profile, which means narrower hoods for a more aero position there. 

The latest Oquo RP35-LTD 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:lightweight wheelset on the top-spec bike is claimed to weigh 1,380g and there are also lower-spec Team and Pro wheelsets, with three different depths: 35mm, 45mm and 57mm. The wheels are available with either carbon or alloy rims, all with a 21mm internal width to suit 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:wider tyres. 

Fina𒁏lly, Orbea claims that its paint weighs around 15g, while the hardware on the frame adds just 20g.

The result♈ is a complete top-spec bike that Orbea says weighs 6.7kg. But it also claims that it’s not had to com🌳promise on frame rigidity to reach this weight, with the head tube, down tube and chainstays resisting torsion, so that there’s efficient power transfer however many watts the rider puts out.

Orbea has left the Orca’s geometr🔯y largely as per the previous generation bike, with 408mm chainstay length and a shorter wheelbase, but still clearance for 32mm tyres, which it says adds traction and compliaౠnce, as well as reducing rolling resistance.

Other new features include a range of seatposts that can be used with saddle rails made of♛ diffe🌄rent materials and with round or oval sections.

Orbea Orca range and prices 

Along꧒side the Orca OMX, Orbea also sells the lower modulus OMR frameset clai﷽ming a 1030g weight for the frame and 410g for the fork, the same as the previous model, which also had round tube profiles.   

There are seven frame sizes available: 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57 and 60cm. While the OMX frame is available in two colours,꧒ the OMR frame comes in three colours. Orbea also offers the MyO custom colour configurator.

Prices for the six specs in the Orbea ♛Orca OMX range are from £6,299 ($5,999, €5,799) to £11,999 ($11,599, €10,999), while the five specs in the Orca OMR range are priced from £3,599 ($3,599, €3,399) to £6,999 ($6,899, €6,599).

The new Orbea Orca is available immediately and will be raced in the Tour de France Femmes by the WNT Ceratizit team and in the Clásica San Sebastian by the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Euskaltel-Euskadi men’s team.

With all that said, if you do hanker after an aero Orbea bike, don’t despair. Orbea still sells the aggressively aerodynamic 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Orca Aero alon🎐gside the new Orca OMX and OMR lightweight bikes.