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Orbea highlights 175 years with a few wild bikes from the past, future…and a Lamborghini

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1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

When you’ve been in business for 175 years, you’re in rare company in the bicycle business. True, Orbea started out manufacturing guns, but they’ve been onto bicycles for quite some time and have racked up more than a couple major wins over the many years.

Like any good bike brand, they’ve also racked up quite a few odd designs, not the least of which is this 1994 Next One hardtail…

orbea-historical-bicycles02

In 1930, Orbea left the gun business after demand dwindled following the first World War. They moved onto other things where their expertise in metal tubing could be useful. Namely, Bicycles. By the mid-1940s they were making 50,000 bicycles a year in their Eibar, Spain, factory, which was capable of making every component necessary for a complete bike. From there, they dabbled in mopeds and other non-motorized wheeled transport, but eventually focused entirely on bicycles. In 1969, the company’s employees bought the assets and formed a cooperative business in which everyone who works there is also an owner. Shortly thereafter, they moved to their current town of Mallabia.

orbea-historical-bicycles03

Over the past 50 years, they’ve made all manner of recreational bicycles…

orbea-historical-bicycles01

…and racing bicycles. And, in Europe., they continue to offer a very wide range of city, commuter, youth and other bikes beyond the performance road and mountain bikes we know them for in North America.

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

Early on, Orbea’s mountain bikes were designed in the U.S., but made in Asia. Helping pave the way to World Cup winning bikes like the Oiz and Alma was this, the 1994 Orbea Next One.

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

As indicated by the placard, the show bike’s Ambivalent Multiple Wheel fork is almost certainly installed backwards.

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

Check out the integrated shifter mount/brake lever, which included the cable entry mud shield for 1994 XTR.

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

Assuming the fork was flipped around, that’d put almost all of weight on the driveside, an interesting design decision.  Drum brakes front and rear probably weren’t affected by mud, but we’re guessing V-brakes were still an improvement.

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

Could you get this off quickly? Probably not, but without any stays on the opposite side, you wouldn’t need to remove the wheel to change a flat.

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

Hutchinson RockX Country tires.

1994 Orbea Next One hardtail mountain bike with drum brakes and single-sided drivetrain stays

 

 

Fast forward about twenty years and you have this:

Orbea-2016-Ordu-on-Lamborghini02

To celebrate the official launch of the new Ordu triathlon bike, Orbea hosted a little Spanish wine, cheese and meat cocktail party in their Eurobike booth, which was conveniently located near enough the exhibit halls large doors to hear this pull up.

Orbea-2016-Ordu-on-Lamborghini01

Orbea-2016-Ordu-on-Lamborghini03

Check out the 2016 Orbea Ordu here and here, and a few of there other 2016 models at these links:

Orbea.com

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22 Comments
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bikeduder
bikeduder
8 years ago

How does the rear wheel/attachment work on the Next One?

Dude
Dude
8 years ago

Reminds me of the Rob English “Project Right”

Diego B
Diego B
8 years ago

What I wanna know is what is the bike rack on the Lamborghini

JBikes
JBikes
8 years ago

I’m not sure if the fork would say it was almost certainly installed backwards, as it’s probably conflicted about the whole orientation situation.

Alfus
Alfus
8 years ago

The cassete and rear brake remain fixed on the frame and you only can take off the wheel.

Sean
8 years ago

Should have stuck to guns, their bikes are hideous.

Andy
Andy
8 years ago

Because after World War 1, you were either wounded or replenishing the population! Genius.

Serendipity
Serendipity
8 years ago

Has anyone who works at a shop stumbled upon one of the old 20″ Orbea folding bikes? If so, do you happen to know the ISO of their tires? I have a friend who is having fits trying to find a replacement.

Dan
Dan
8 years ago

@Diego … That bike rack is a Seasucker

Cliff
Cliff
8 years ago

@Dan…Not a Seasucker.

BDC
BDC
8 years ago

Look again regarding the rack…. Seasucker/Thule take a closer look at the pic.

Cheyne
Cheyne
8 years ago
Luis Raventos
8 years ago

I remember to check the next one bike back in 94. This looked a good idea, like a Cannondale prototype very similar, but much nicer.
It has some good ideas that now could be posible to do.

Tim
Tim
8 years ago

Is that thing up front on the One a suspension fork? It would be nice to see some close-ups of the other side of it where the big disc-shaped lump is that the hub attaches to.

Erik
Erik
8 years ago

pretty sure that fork is flipped in the top picture. Its supposed to be a “righty” not a “lefty”. They have it correct in the printed out picture in the plastic sleeve.

Chader
Chader
8 years ago

Per the Lambo rack: It is NOT a Seasucker. The rack pictured is using the “flip lever” style vacuum cups. Seasucker uses a plunger type vacuum pump which is superior to the flip lever style.

The flip lever vacuum cups fatal flaws are:
a) They lack a vacuum level indicator to warn of any drops in vacuum level. This commonly results in a dropped load. Anyone with a GPS of cell phone mount on the inside of a car window has probably had it fall off with no warning.

Note: there are a very small number of flip lever vacuum cups with a vacuum level indicator, but they are quite rare.

b) When a leak occurs, you have to full release and reattach the vacuum cup.

il Bruce
il Bruce
8 years ago

Fork on pink bike backwards. Like nails on a chalkboard…

“Black and Rad” & “We want to riot”? Somebody is going to get called into the principal’s office.

JBikes
JBikes
8 years ago

Chader – a) What good is a warning of vacuum level drop on the cup outside your car when you are inside driving it 80 mph down the highway. The indicator is to ensure proper installation and hold. Once you verify no leaks are present, you ultimately rely on the rubber seal.
b) if a leak occurs, a full release and reattachment may be a good idea as something is breaking the seal between cup and surface.

Edge
Edge
8 years ago

@jbikes… I was going to make the same comment about the level indicator. Chader sounds like a sales rep from seasucker.

Turtlehead
Turtlehead
8 years ago

@Edge and @Jbikes

presumably you check the vacuum level before you start going 80 down the highway. When a suction cup mount fails and drops from the windshield it is because there is no longer enough vacuum force to hold the load weight. The vacuum didn’t just disappear instantly, more like gradually fade due to thermodynamics, nahmean?

Chader
Chader
8 years ago

Turtlehead has it exactly right.

And no, I’m not a Sucker employee. But I work in the vacuum cup industry and am very familiar with most of the products in it as well as their pros/cons.

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