NEW Orbea Orca M20iLTD

Orbea recognizes the polarization in the road bike world, with bikes focused on either climbing, aerodynamics, or endurance and knows that one bike really can’t effectively cover all the bases. With this in mind, Orbea has chosen to “Praise The Light” with the new Orca and deliver a superior climbing machine. The 7th generation Orbea Orca’s mission is simple: deliver the best climbing experience possible. The latest Orca accomplishes this via excellent power transfer, agile handling, vibration damping, and of course, impressively light weight. 

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the model, this latest edition of the Orca achieves its lofty aspirations by removing as many overlaps in the carbon frame layup as possible and carefully shaping the frame to avoid “sharp” edges and shape elements in the frame where epoxy can gather and add weight. Orbea also keeps the overall weight down by curating the component selection with their own OC Performance cockpits and their new line of Oquo wheels. Paint and frame hardware are also handled at Orbea’s Basque Country HQ, further enabling them to further control what does and doesn’t add weight to the bike.

The feeling of a lightweight bike is unbeatable, but all of the low-weight in the world is meaningless if the bike can’t deliver on the rest of the riding experience. As such, the Orca has been painstakingly engineered to deliver an impressive stiffness to weight ratio, agile, predictable handling and responsive acceleration. The previous geometry has been adjusted with slightly shorter chain-stays which helps deliver this agility, rounder tube shapes help reduce energy-robbing vibrations and wider tire clearance lets you run up to 32mm’s of rubber.

While aerodynamics are unapologetically not key to the new Orca, Orbea hasn’t forgotten about the marginal gains available with aero-optimization. Orbea states that whenever aerodynamics don’t compromise weight or feel, they choose the most aero solution. Orbea’s “ICR” cable routing minimizes drag up front, while the new seat clamp mechanism has been carefully designed to reduce surface area and improve aerodynamics.

The new Orca is built on Orbea’s nearly century-long understanding of performance and design, reflecting their belief that bikes should look great and ride better. Orca's minimal, timeless lines give it a distinctive style to go along with some very modern technology. The M20i LTD version features Orbea's lightest "OMX" level carbon frame, a 12 speed Shimano Ultegra Di2 drivetrain and Oquo Road Performance RP45LTD carbon wheels.