Orbea
Look at that! It’s my new road bike, an Orca from Orbea.
How did Orbea end up at Pedal? True story: we have a petite client who wanted an e-MTB with a very low standover height. Ryan looked all over for the right answer and came across the Orbea Rise. He then asked me if there was any chance we could get one.
I’ve known about Orbea since forever. Spanish company. Cool bikes. Well regarded, but definitely not a marketing juggernaut like Trek and Specialized. That’s what I knew before I talked to anyone at Orbea. I quickly learned that all the bikes are assembled in Spain. The aluminum frames are produced in Portugal. The carbon product comes from Asia, like everyone else’s. Orbea is basically a bicycle production factory that mostly builds bikes to order. Only a small percentage of their production is for “stock.”
From a business perspective, this is pretty interesting. Most of the brands we know in this country have huge warehouses of inventory that dealers (like us!) draw from, and we’re pretty adept at managing that model. Orbea’s method takes the warehouse out of the picture, simplifying the chain, but requires us to get better with our projections. Blah blah, business business. What’s in it for you, dear client?
A super-cool byproduct of making bikes to order is that Orbea can easily customize a bike. My new bike is pretty custom. I chose the gearing. I chose the wheels. I chose the drivetrain. I picked the paint colors. I also chose the stem length and bar width. And I got it in about a month. Sometimes it takes longer! But still. That’s pretty darn awesome. “What,” you might ask, “is the upcharge for all of this awesome customization?” Zero. Sure, yes, if you pick more expensive wheels or whatever, the bike is more expensive. My Orca M20i LTD PWR cost exactly the same as a stock bike. Killer.
A meeting with Orbea to see if we could maybe get one bike turned into something quite a bit bigger.
Quick summary:
- Kick-ass analog bikes. We’re very excited about the Orca and Orca Aero road bikes, the Oiz XC mountain bike and the Terra Race gravel bike. Super nifty!
- Awesome e-bikes. We”re fired up about the Rise mountain bike and the Denna e-road/gravel bike. Hot stuff. Personally, I think the Carpe is a knockout.
- Custom is available, is fairly priced and doesn’t take forever. Nice!
Several of us have gone bonkers for Orbea. Charlotte has an Orca Aero (cuz, you know, she tris). Jay and Nick each have an Oiz. Ryan has a Terra Race. I have an Orca. We’re all very happy with our bikes. Blissed out, even. Perhaps there’s an Orbea in your future, too.
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