Orbea factory visit from Enduro #23

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$10.95 ENDURO MAG SUMMER 2013

Bike Trends 2013

SRAM TAKES it to 11 | highland fling | orbea factory visit | 6 bikes on test | long term reviews

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Or b e a Fac to r y Vi s it It’s funny how we tend to build up a patchwork quilt style image of a place in our minds. I had done this with Spain over a number of years. I had visited it briefly before but had only really seen Barcelona (which, while beautiful, is a city crawling with tourists (just like myself)) and a small town in the south of Spain (which, while lovely and fantastic for riding, showed all the signs of becoming a post-colonial quasi-British colony).

My patchwork quilt image of Spain before my recent trip, looked like this: Pedro Almodovar films, Iberico ham, tapas, chorizo, Pedro Ximenez, Don Quixote, Penelope Cruz, Miguel Indurain, bullfighting, siestas, E.T.A., the Spanish Armada, the 2004 Madrid bombings and, more recently Spain’s role in the Eurozone Crisis.

Oh, and Orbea bikes.

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learly, I was arriving in Spain carrying a large bag filled with preconceptions.

However, given the haphazard manner in which I had pulled this my patchwork quilt of Spain together, I was prepared to have it pulled apart in the same way they I had put it together, piece by piece.

I would land in the sun-drenched capital of Spain, Madrid, and head north to the principalities of Asturias and Euskadi (the latter better known to outsiders as the Basque region) to follow the Vuelta a Espa単a for a few days before heading to the headquarters of Orbea for a tour of the factory.

But before we get to the Orbea factory, that patchwork quilt.

For whatever reason, I expected to drive through hundreds of kilometres of parched, golden yellow landscapes as I made my way out of Madrid toward the north coast. So it was some surprise and excitement when the road started to thread itself through luscious rolling green hills and then tipped unapologetically upward into some serious mountains somewhere halfway across the principality of Leon. It was through these serious mountains that I would follow the Vuelta a Espa単a and see three mountain-top finishes in Leon and Asturias.

It was an incredible few days which consisted of the following: hour after hour of driving through spectacular mountains, hours of cycling-related traffic jams before jostling for car parks, hours of walking up the mountain roads which were closed to traffic, even more hours hanging out with the cycling-mad Spanish fans, a couple of minutes watching the fastest riders in the world whiz past and then hours of walking down the mountain, followed by hours of driving to our accommodation in a sleepy, one-bar, mountain town.

On paper it might sound like a lot of hard work for a small gain, but nearly every minute of every one of those hours was fantastic fun.

It was during the hours walking up and down the mountain climbs and hanging out the with the Spanish cycling fans that I learned the most about what cycling means to the Spanish, and how different it is to what cycling means to a lot of Australians.

In Australia, the culture of bike bling is alive and

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well both on and (to a slightly lesser extent) off road. In many cycling circles, to keep up with the Joneses (particularly on the road) you will ride a top-end carbon frame (if it’s not a Specialized, Giant or Trek it had better be something ‘boutique’) with carbon wheels and either Red, Dura-Ace or Super Record, oh and you’d better be decked out in the latest Rapha, Assos or Castelli gear. Oh, and make sure you document your ride or coffee stop on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And if in doubt, spend vastly more time reading about cycling on the Internet (or engaging in cycling-related email banter) than actually partaking in cycling. (Many of us are probably guilty of one or more of the above to some extent, at least I am.)

Of course I’m making sweeping generalisations on both sides of the ledger, but, in Spain it seems that people just ride. I don’t know if it’s because the sport is older and more established or the Spaniards weren’t deeply affected by the Lance phenomenon (and how it flourished with the aid of the internet) like we were in the English-speaking world, but they just ride and they don’t seem to make a fuss about it. They ride anything. They ride everything - road bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes and all of all vintages (although seemingly all in good working order).

And they don’t just mosey along easy flat meandering bike tracks (although I’m sure they do

that too), waiting for the likes of Contador and Rodriguez to do their climbing dance past me, I saw bikes of all kinds being hauled up some of the toughest climbs in Spain. Not only that, but the old rode alongside the young - riders in their sixties with skin as saggy as their knicks rode alongside kids of ten and twelve who were perched atop road bikes that were too big for them (perhaps passed down to them by an older sibling or friend).

It was impressive, but just when I thought I’d seen it all I watched in amazement as a girl who could not have been eight years old grind her way up the mountain on her 20”-wheeeled bike, doggedly following the wheel of her dad. She was about 8km up a gruelling climb at this point and was having a tough time but was not looking like giving up despite the fact that she probably only weighed twice as much as her bike. The crowd, which was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the race an hour or two later, jumped to their

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feet and cheered the girl with many offering a push along the way. People yelled, sounded horns and clapped. It was great.

You are probably wondering why I am going on about this, but it was over these few days that I gained a real appreciation for the relationship

part of Spain. The road signs are both in Spanish (Castilian) and Euskadi (spoken by nearly a third of the population in the province) and the radio crackles and pops as Euskadi radio comes into range. Political graffiti is sprinkled throughout the otherwise neat and tidy towns, much of

that the Spaniards have with cycling, their bikes and their environment, and how different it is to mine and that of my friends and riding colleagues in Australia.

Of course, this part of the experience wasn’t the highlight of that part of the trip, that was undoubtedly seeing my heroes fly up ridiculous inclines, but I think that gaining an appreciation for what cycling means to Spaniards gave me important context for my visit to the Orbea headquarters in Euskadi.

And so it was with this experience under my belt that I drove east through the beautiful principality of Asturias toward, the arguably even more beautiful, Euskadi region.

Euskadi is nestled in the sort of armpit of the Bay of Biscay and the border with France lies just beyond the spectacular seaside town of San Sebastian. As you drive into Euskadi you get the strong sense that you are either leaving Spain, or at the very least you are entering a very different

it stencil art seeking amnesty for ETA (the armed Euskadi nationalist/separatist organisation) prisoners who are being held throughout the rest of Spain. Indeed, you don’t need to spend long in Euskadi, particularly if you start chatting to locals, to realise that they see themselves as Euskadi first and Spanish a very, very distant second, if they see themselves as Spanish at all. They are very proud people who have strong links to their Euskadi language, history, culture and their principality, each of which is older and more rich than Spain’s (which is a comparatively new concept). It is a fascinating culture, and I was keen to hear and see how Orbea fitted into this picture.

The Orbea factory is in between Bilbao and San Sebastian in the industrial estate just outside of Mallabia. The countryside around Mallabia is severe. Towering rock formations appear to have thrust themselves up through thick forests and rolling green hills. It’s a spectacular area. The

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town of Mallabia itself is quite pretty and wedged between steep but small hills and to fit everyone into the small town, most people live in modest apartments blocks, all of about 8-10 stories in height.

To say that the Orbea factory is located in an industrial estate is probably selling it a little short.

The estate is small, clean and you can smell singletrack from the front door of the factory. It is an impressive building from the outside and is equally impressive from within. The factory foyer makes an immediate impact with the actual race bike of Orbea and Euskaltel Euskadi poster-boy

of the cooperative who have bought in to the company, work for the company and share in the profits of the company. And Jokin? Yes, he bought into the company (Jokin’s t-shirt which reads “We are not the system – Orbea people” makes more sense now…).

When the rest of the Spain is in economic meltdown, this concept is fascinating (check out Mondragon on the web if you have the chance and the inclination to learn more).

So how is Orbea weathering the storm? We’ll it’s obviously not immune from the effects of the Eurozone crisis (and since my visit has cut

showing Orbea bikes being ridden in grand tours, in classics, to mountain bike world championships and Olympic gold medals. It was a good reminder that the bikes deliver on the promise of being world-class, as well as being backed up by a fascinating story of economic stability and one in which workers are invested in the company’s success.

From there the discussion naturally turned to Orbea’s racing pedigree. The topic of the day was, of course, the departure of long-time Orbea man Julien Absalon who has signed for BMC. Orbea are indebted to Absalon for what he has

(and Olympic road race champion), Sammy Sanchez being the first thing you see. Opposite Sammy’s bike stands a sparkling new Occam carbon29er, hinting at part of Orbea’s bright future.

I was greeted warmly for the factory tour by Jokin Díez, Orbea’s media communications guy.

As well as being warm and welcoming, Jokin is a young a fit-looking man whose passion for Orbea and cycling shone through from the outset.

First up was a history lesson, which again provided more context and another important layer to my understanding of Orbea.

The company hasn’t always been in Mallabia and hasn’t always manufactured bikes; it started out manufacturing munitions in 1830 just down a couple of kilometres down the road. Orbea continued to make munitions until after the First World War when it moved into making bicycles.

Orbea flourished making bicycles and it wasn’t long before Orbea was the bike of choice for the young and old folks in the streets of Spain and elite athletes competing in the grand tours and classics.

Having made a successful transition from the manufacture of munitions to bikes, Orbea’s next big transition was in 1979 when the one of the five brothers who owned the business together wanted out. The brothers had an immense sense of pride about the business that they had built up, and they cared for it like they cared for the workers who had helped them make it what it was. And so rather than sell the business to a third party and put the brand and workers’ future in doubt, the brothers agreed to sell Orbea to a workers’ cooperative, the Mondragon Corporation.

The Mondragon Corporation is the largest and most well-known (and potentially the most important) cooperative in Spain. The corporation was conceived of in 1956 and has grown to the point where it employs over 85,000 people in over 250 companies. For its part, Orbea employs 170 workers and of those workers, 155 are members

funding to the mountain bike program in Spain), but more generally, the economy in the Euskadi region is still strong, with unemployment at an impressive 12.5%, that is half than the unemployment rate of the rest of Spain. Jokin tells me that companies (both Mondragon cooperatives and independent companies) in Euskadi invested heavily in industry (manufacturing, minerals, power generation) in the last century and this is the key to its economic success. Orbea is just one example of this.

The history lesson was delivered as we walked past rows and rows of photographs

done for the profile of the company. Absalon piloted Orbea bikes to numerous victories from the Olympics, to world championships to world cups and was the mountain bike face of the brand. I was interested to hear about Absalon’s preference for a 26” hardtail, a setup which he basically rode unchanged year after year. Jokin’s answer was simple: he was very successful on that setup and didn’t want to change, and Orbea would never ask him to.

On the other hand, Orbea work with the Luna Chix female mountain bike team and Jokin tells me that Catharine Prendrel was keen to ride

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an Alma prototype which was in development.

Unfortunately the prototype was only ready days before a world cup, but Catharine asked for the bike to be delivered anyway. It arrived a couple of days before the race and, after riding it once, Catharine said she would ride it in the world cup.

She won.

Orbea’s work with pro riders and the top end is focussed, but goes hand in hand with its push in the last decade or so to step up its game with its designs. In this time, Orbea has invested vast amounts in technology, computer programs and design talent to ensure that it stays in the hunt at the top end. Despite this investment, Orbea is in no hurry to keep up with the latest trends and its only recent introduction of the Occam 29er hints at a design program that is measured, rather than being reactionary.

Leaving the slick foyer behind us we don steel-capped covers for our shoes and head out onto the factory floor. It’s an impressive factory,

but in many ways what you’d expect given that the majority of Orbea bikes produced come out of it. As we visit different parts of the factory (fabrication, testing, painting, assembly) and meet the workers, the overwhelming impression is that this is one big happy family. I’m unsure whether it’s the co-op aspect of Orbea, the Euskadi influence or something else, and it doesn’t matter, but it’s an unexpected surprise.

As we move through the various assembly points, Jokin stops to show me a frame on the rack with a MyO custom card hanging off it.

Orbea offer MyO customisation on all bikes over 500 Euros. This customisation allows prospective buyers to customise their bike built from the factory floor. This option doesn’t cost the customer any extra (other than any difference of the parts being fitted) and is a great option for buyers in a market where the options are almost endless. This bike, after it is built to the customer’s liking, is off the US. We then step into the assembly area for the top end bikes, where two specialised mechanics apply the TLC which the top end bikes deserve and require. It’s a small part of the factory and while it’s a nice touch, it made me realise that like many companies, the bread and butter of the brand is bikes for the masses.

As we removed our steel-capped shoe covers and bade farewell to the factory floor everything seemed to fall into place in my head. Sure there was a specialised area where the top end bikes are assembled, sure there is high-tech research and design going on upstairs, sure Orbea bikes are winning at the top level of road, mountain bike and triathlon…but the bikes for the masses are assembled by hand by people who are more than just employees, they are part of the company and invested in it. There’s something to this and every time I see an Orbea bike I will be reminded of this.

With all of this swirling around in my head I

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say my goodbyes to Jokin and begin to reflect on my visit to the Orbea factory during a spectacular coastal drive to San Sebastian. On arrival in San Sebastian, equally spectacular plates of pintxos (the Euskadi version of ‘tapas’), several glasses of local red wine and the narrow, buzzing cobbled streets aid this reflection.

On my visit to the north of Spain and the Orbea factory I had learned much more than I had anticipated. From the other side of the world I had observed Orbea bikes at the top end of the sport, but I now know that what I knew about Orbea before the trip was just the tip of the iceberg.

Orbea is a company which is much more than top end bikes. It is as much about looking after its workers as it is making bikes for the people of the Euskadi region, Spain and the rest of the world; bikes that they are proud of, bikes that will win world championships as well as bikes that will do the grunt-work of doing the grocery run day after day and year after year, bikes to grow up on and bikes to grow old on.

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29er OCCAM ORBEA NEW WITH ADVANCED DYNAMICS. JAIZKIBEL - N: 43º27’6.9336” · W: 1º55’19.7508”

OCCAM29er S10

OCCAM29er H10

OCCAM29er S30

OCCAM29er H30

OCCAM29er S50

OCCAM29er H50

OCCAM29er S30X

OCCAM29er H30X

Words by wil barrett photos : adam macleod

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Orbea

OCCAM 29 S50

L

ast year, Basque brand Orbea introduced their first dual suspension 29er based on the 26” Occam race platform. With 105mm of rear travel along with modern geometry comprising of short chainstays and a longer top tube than average, the Occam 29 delivered a unique take on the hotly contested 4” travel XC/Trail segment. This coming season sees the launch of the OMS model that uses the same geometry as the existing Occam 29 Hydro but with a high tech carbon frame that looks set to raise the bar on performance.

At the 2013 Orbea launch in Melbourne, we were able to get our grubby mitts on one of the first Carbon Occam’s in the country, and couldn’t wait to put this rocket ship through the Enduro test cycle.

The Bike Unlike the 120mm 26” version, Orbea didn’t have to go large on travel with the Occam as the big wheels provide a natural calming effect that provides more stability and confidence than smaller wheels. The rear shock is driven by the innovative Diamond Link that utilises a sealed bearing pivot where it attaches to the Float CTD damper instead of a traditional bushing. The idea here is to boost rear-end sensitivity at the end of the shock that sees the most rotation. The flip side of this is that the upper shock mount gets standard Fox shock hardware. The frame is capable of fitting up to 120mm travel up front but ours came stock with a 100mm Fox Float CTD fork. Upon initial inspection the rear suspension layout is not that dissimilar to the Trek Superfly 100, a bike we’re very familiar with. It even uses a concentric pivot around the rear axle like Trek's ABP system,

though apparently it does not infringe on any existing patents. The main pivot is a bit higher on the Occam which provides slightly snappier pedalling.

Trading the Hydro-formed alloy mainframe and chainstays for carbon fibre has allowed Orbea to drop about 400 grams out of the Occam, with a claimed weight of just 2.3kg including rear shock. Seatstays remain alloy as they’re reportedly stiffer than a comparable carbon structure. The Occam boasts an elegant hourglass tapered head tube as well as modern post mount rear disc brake tabs but, interestingly, uses a standard threaded bottom bracket. This is a positive for us due to its ease of maintenance compared to pressfit systems. Cable routing along the downtube is turned into an aesthetic feature and we like that only the front derailleur is routed internally.

The progressive geometry on our medium size comprises of an enormous 61cm effective top tube that would normally indicate a large size frame. Bizarrely, our S50 test bike was fitted with a 95mm stem and narrow 670mm flat bars for a very stretched out cockpit while the S30X model gets a wider bar and a 70mm stem as stock. In order to manage that huge top tube we fitted on a cockpit to mimic that of the S30X so as to review the bike accordingly.

The Ride Intrigued to see how the Occam would feel out on the trail we headed straight to our local loop after dressing down the bike to ensure everything was tight and tuned. Out of the box the complete bike weighs in at 12.1kg without pedals, and it certainly feels light when pedalling on the road to the trail head. We immediately noticed the stiff front

triangle and responsive handling that directs steering inputs to the leading wheel with zero hesitation. This was despite the quick release front hub so we can only imagine how immediate the steering would feel with a thru-axle. On that note, you can upgrade the rear dropouts on the frame to a 142x12mm set up, though we’re not sure the frame needs it as it’s pretty darn rigid as it is. The quick handling also has to be attributed to the long top tube and short stem geometry, which is clearly not just the domain of longtravel All Mountain bikes.The Occam is fast and efficient like a race bike but throws in the nurturing effect of the 29er wheels so that you’re not punished for poor line choices. The rear suspension is snappy under power even in the Descend mode on the shock and exhibits a racy personality that cunningly encourages you to pedal harder. We found the Trail and Climb modes way too harsh for any real off road use which is indicative of the firm tune selected for the Float CTD rear shock.

On that note, you’ll only see Fox suspension on the Occam range as Orbea have worked alongside the European arm of Fox to dial in the Float shocks for the Occams 2-stage leverage ratio. It’s clear that the emphasis has been placed on efficiency and high speed control as opposed to small bump sensitivity and it’s safe to say that the Occam really only comes alive when you step on the gas. Part of that characteristic has to be attributed to the basic Evolution Series Float CTD shock which felt a little overwhelmed on the Spanish machine and exhibited an unsettling knock in the mid stroke that we couldn’t track down.

The fork suffered a similarly wooden feel that separates its performance from the higher end Kashima models. Despite the Diamond Link using a smoother cartridge bearing

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to attach to the shaft of the shock, there was still a lot of trail feedback from the rear wheel. We couldn’t help but think that the Occam would have been far better off with a Boost Valveequipped rear shock to make the most of its neutral suspension layout and refined geometry. Bombing downhill rock gardens at speed, the Occam tends to skip over the top of trail debris rather than melting all over it so trail hackers will probably want to look elsewhere.

In terms of specs, the entry level S50 has to make compromises somewhere and the SRAM X5 trigger shifters are an area where corners have been cut. Shift action was quite heavy, particularly on the front derailleur, though the Type 2 X9 rear derailleur was impressive at limiting chain slap. We struggled with noise and vibration from the Formula RX brakes, despite being careful to bed them in as per Formula’s instructions and we annoyingly had to adjust the callipers for disc rotor rub every three rides or so.

The MT66 wheels are a rock solid choice with UST tubeless compatibility and serviceable cup and cone hubs. But at almost 2kg for the wheelset, it would be the first area we would upgrade to maximise the Occam’s efficient suspension. The Geax AKA tyres were a nice surprise with their predictable grip on hardpack trails and the slightly longer tread blocks meant it could handle varying surfaces better than a more condition specific tyre.

Frame

Occam OMS 29 w/Silver Carbon Fiber main frame, chainstay & Diamond link, hydroformed alloy seatstay.

Tapered head tube, downtube cable highway and Concen tric C9.12 rear pivot w/100mm travel

suspension

Fox Evo Series Float CTD rear shock, Climb/Trail/Descend preset positions Fox Evo Series 32 Float 29 CTD 100mm,

The Verdict While the carbon frame is impressively light and beautifully crafted, there are too many concessions made in the S50 build in order to get it down to its price point. For the same money, it’s worth pointing out that you can get the alloy Occam (the Hydro H10) that, although heavier in the frame, gets lighter weight XT wheels, SLX brakes and, more importantly, higher end Fox suspension with a QR15 fork. If the lure of the carbon is too much for you however, we would highly recommend spending the extra $900 on the S30X model which comes fitted with the same XT build kit as the H10 and a longer 120mm travel Fox fork.

As it stands, the Occam 29er package is exceptionally fast and we love the modern long-top-tube-short-stem set-up. Despite being nimble, it rarely feels like a nervous XC bike and as such it would make a fantastic endurance race machine. However, in our opinion it really needs better quality suspension and components to make the most of the refined frameset.

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tapered alloy steerer, 9mm quick release Wheelset

Shimano MT66 29er, UST Tubeless compatible, Centrelock disc mount Geax AKA XC 29x2.20”, folding bead

drivetrain

SRAM 2x10 w/X5 Trigger Shifters, X7 front & X9 rear derailleurs. SRAM 1000 2-piece 38x24t crankset w/GXP external bottom bracket. SLX 11-36t cassette

brakes

Formula RX w/180mm front & 160mm rear disc rotors

cockpit

Orbea OC-11 Flat Alloy handlebar, RaceFace Alloy stem, RaceFace Ride seatpost & Selle Italia Nekkar saddle

RRP contact

$4,299.00 www.orbea.com/au-en

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