Mr. and Mrs. Orbea

Reviews of the Diva and the Orca from the respective perspectives of the sexes...

It's been a few years since Lynn and I treated ourselves to a matched pair of superfine bikes, but the 2010 Orbea lineup had each of us drooling over the Diva and Orca, so we decided to sign onto the Orbea Made to Order website and build up a couple of dreamy rides. We let these bikes adorn the sales floor for a couple of weeks, but now the rains have subsided, and we've taken the bikes on their maiden voyages.  Check them out from each of our reviews:

Ladies First

First of all, if you are looking for my opinion about this bike's stiffness, just skip to the men's review.  As a woman, reviewing a women's specific bike, I don't need to venture into the men's realm of being obsessed with stiffness.  If the rider and the bike combined don't cross the 140 pound mark on the scales, then speaking "stiffness" is completely unnecessary in my opinion.  Everything is "stiff" with me.

I'd rather start my women's review with my take on this bike - The Diva is to bicycles what the little black dress is to good wardrobes of well-dressed women - a must have. This baby is smart, stylish, appropriate in most all situations, comfortable yet sexy, and an incredibly good investment for the years to come. Like the perfect black shift, you'll never regret you chose this one and it will compare admirably when you encounter the extremely overdone or the person with more money than taste.  If I don't have you with the wardrobe analogy, read on and maybe the details will make this clearer.

I chose a SRAM Force build kit with FSA compact cranks and Ksyrium SL wheels for my Diva. With cages, pedals, and computer, she weighs in at 15 pounds.  If you haven't ridden a 15 pound bike, be prepared to practically feel like you are cheating when you spin up your favorite hill.  But don't worry, even though this bike climbs like a gazelle, it descends steady and true.  So you have all the upside of lightweight without any negative trade-offs.  So in the dress analogy - slenderizing, yet an appropriate color for any event.

The new Diva uses the same carbon fiber of the Orca, and  I won't even try to tell you that I can make comparisons about rigidity of this model to my last Diva, but here's what's relevant to me about Orbea and carbon fiber - a lifetime warranty!  Women understand relationships and commitment and possibly hold these things in a higher regard than men when shopping around.  If you're going to buy carbon, buy the brand with an unrivaled commitment to the quality of their product.  In terms of the dress, this is silk, not rayon,  and the designer will stand behind it as long as you're wearing it (and it doesn't have a dry clean only tag).

The group is SRAM Force, which I feel warrants a few raves.  As a Campy rider of six years, I feel a little guilty gushing over the performance of SRAM, but this stuff is awesome.  Making the change to the different shifting system is pretty effortless, as it is very intuitive and can be operated with less of a stretch of the hand. The ability to ride in the drops and dance through the rear cassette with the touch (and an incredibly light one) of a single finger is quite fun. SRAM offers the ability to have different positions of the brake levers for very petite hands and there are more gearing options readily available to make one wheelset cover every need. I chose an 11/26 rear cassette which will enable me to chase down any heavy group of men on a downhill, but still get over a mountain with an easy spin. The SRAM groups on the whole are as lightweight and perform better than their Campy and Shimano same level groups costing hundreds of dollars more.  So, why pay for the Prada, if the Banana Republic dress looks better?

And last on my list, when I choose a brand, it matters to me how these people operate in the cycling world. Yes, everyone knows that Orbea is an incredibly cool Spanish brand and that Sammy Sanchez rode to Olympic gold on an Orca, but what do they do in my backyard? Well, Orbea understands that women's bikes are about more than paint colors. The women's frames and builds are well-engineered and completely on a par with the men's or general line. These guys support the women in the pro peleton as well as the men; but, more importantly, Orbea supports women in the local community. For three years, Orbea has provided two road bikes for top Hope on Wheels fundraisers in Nashville.

The Diva is beautiful, rides like a dream, and with the build I chose, comes in about $5,000 retail.  A little further down the line, add Zipp 202 wheels and a RED rear cassette and she could be a 14 pound bike.  Versatile, durable, beautiful, comfortable - this Diva has it all going on! You need one in your closet stable.  --Vida

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The Man Speaks Now - Lynn's Review of the Orca

So, has the world as we know it come to an end? Well, yes and no.  It is true that my gold standard for bike is Italian steel with a Campy Record or Chorus drivetrain and hand built wheels; old School and reliable, always comfortable and plenty fast for most out of racing situations.  So what am I doing riding a superlight carbon fiber bike with a (gasp) SRAM drivetrain?  Having a lot of fun and shifting (no pun intended) my bias towards a non-Italian drivetrain.

I have ridden carbon fiber bikes on and off since 1992.  The early frames were as heavy as their steel counterparts and much more flexey without any real improvement in ride quality, with the exception of Calfee. Fast forward to 2005 through today, and it seems that the entire bike industry is made of carbon fiber.  The bikes are superlight, ride well, and can be pretty affordable.  Even though I'm happy with my current stable of bikes that includes two steel frames, one carbon, and one aluminum, I thought it was time to try the latest creation from Orbea.

The 2010 Orbea Orca has all the new whiz bang features that modern carbon fiber bikes possess.  Orbea starts with their Size Specific Nerve that allows them to fine tune the ride quality and strength of a bike over different sizes.  Next Orbea decided to stiffen the drivetrain and improve the handling.  They achieved this by using the new BB30 oversize bottom bracket and beefing up the head tube and fork by tapering the head tube from 1 1/8" to 1 1/2".  Even with the additional stiffening features, the frame came in lighter than last year's.  At 940 grams for a 51 cm frame, this is the lightest carbon frame with a lifetime warranty.  This weight is for a finished frame, unlike many other claimed weights.

Vida and I used Orbea's Made to Order website to build up what we thought was the best performance for the dollar bicycles.  We chose SRAM Force for the drivetrains.  I decided to use Fulcrum Racing One wheels and a saddle and handlebar that I know very well.  By doing this, I knew I was judging the frameset and drivetrain only.  The total bike with pedals, water bottle cages, and a Cat Eye computer weighs only 15 pounds.  This is very impressive when you take into account that I didn't choose anything based on the weight.  I wanted reliable parts that wouldn't break the bank (or just break.).

How does the Orca ride?  Fast!  I really like it.  It climbs how anyone would expect a light weight bike to climb.  It takes less effort than a heavier bike for sure.  Usually the downfall of a light bike is descending, however, the Orca's improved stiffness allows for greater control thus carrying more speed into and out of corners.  Rough roads don't disappear under you, but the Orca does a great job of soaking up the bumps and road chatter.  The stiffer fork also allows the bike to track straight through the rough stuff at speed.  I think I'll stick to my steel bikes for gravel roads, but for everything else I would probably choose the Orca -  it truly does do everything well, without any weight penalty.  -  Lynn Greer

Are you really riding SRAM?  Yes, and I like it a lot.  I think SRAM force may be the best group set on the market right now.  There I said it.  Mr. Campy said it.  Now let me qualify that it would still be a no-no to put anything but Campy on a Pegoretti, Ciocc, or Casati.  That's like wearing a white belt with black shoes.  For anything else on the market, American titanium or steel, and any carbon bike, I would recommend SRAM Force without hesitation.

I feel that Orbea and SRAM both really dialed these two products in really well.  I don't think anyone could find anything to complain about or nit pick on this bike.  The Orca looks great,  rides great, weighs nothing and has a lifetime warranty.  Not bad at all, great really!