The Orbea Oiz first appeared under the Luna Chix pros as a 26” full suspension race rocket in 2012. From the beginning, it was made to be as efficient as possible, very light weight and just plain fast. In other words, to win races. World Cup races, to be exact. And it did, taking the podium top at Mont Saint Anne under Catherine Pendrel. And then she repeated a week later at Wyndham.
Even then, though, the cross country market was leaning heavily toward 29ers. Now it’s all but swung that way entirely, save for a slight intrusion of today’s hot wheel size, 27.5”, relegating 26” bikes to the entry level market, not the World Cup race level. So, the Oiz has been updated, taking advantage of Orbea’s BWC (Big Wheels Concept) to offer both wheel sizes. The 27.5” (650B) wheels will come on S/M/L size frames, and 29er will be on M/L/XL.
Beyond the wheels, the spirit of the bike has remained the same, but it does get retuned and tweaked to make the most of the new wheel sizes. That means it keeps the 95mm rear wheel travel, a number that was intentionally kept under 100mm so there was no confusion as to this bike’s purpose. You won’t be tempted to put anything more than a 100mm fork on it…
Offering two wheel sizes was all about fit. When 29ers took over the race scene, the stack height went way up, leading many people run negative rise stems or end up with higher bottom brackets and/or shorter travel forks to compensate on the smaller frame sizes. None of those solutions are perfect, particularly the last two since they compromise the sharp handling and performance a top level XC race bike needs. Orbea’s solution was to offer 27.5” wheels on the smaller sizes, which opened up better fit options for smaller riders or those with challenging body proportions, but still gave the bike the benefits of larger wheels. All of their measurements are based on a progressing stack and reach:
Stack is how high your handlebar is from BB center, and reach is how far out in front of BB center the handlebar is. The Oiz’s stack is among the lowest available on any bike, and is lower on the 27.5” bikes, which is to be expected since the wheels are smaller. On bikes with the same wheel size, shared frame sizes share the same reach. For the Oiz, Stack and Reach measurements grow in a linear fashion in consistent increments as they go up the size range. This lets riders find a frame and wheel size that should match up well for heights from 160cm (5’3”) to 195cm (6’5”).
The reach is the same as their Alma hardtail race bike, and chainstays are only 4mm longer. That similarity means it’s easy to switch back and forth between hardtail and full suspension depending on the race course. Sure, most of us aren’t likely to have two XC race bikes these days, but for their sponsored pros, that’s an important feature.
Chainstays remained at 425mm (16.73”) for the 27.5”, same as the 26”, and only grew to 440mm (17.3”) for the 29er. That’s respectably short on its own, but even more impressive considering both bikes are designed to work with a front derailleur and aren’t limited to single chainrings.
FRAME DESIGN & WEIGHT
The Oiz will only be available in carbon, no alloy models are offered. The front triangle is full carbon monocoque, which means no bonded sections to add weight or create weak points. It’s made as one piece, with continuous fibers running through the tube junctions to maximize strength. It also boosts durability by distributing forces throughout the frame.
It uses their pivotless rear triangle (meaning no pivot at the rear axle), which not only saves 120g by eliminating bearings and the necessary tube reinforcements, but gives it one less thing to go wrong. The design is called UFO (U-Flexion by Orbea). It was originally designed for the 2006 Oiz and put flex in the front of the chainstays without a pivot at the BB by using a flat, U-shaped section that gave the bike 80mm of rear wheel travel. But, when the 2012 model upped it to 95mm, they had to put a pivot at the BB, so the flex was moved to the seatstays, which is what allows for a one-piece-per-side seat-and-chainstay piece.
SUSPENSION PERFORMANCE

SPECS & BUILDS

