Orbea’s new carbon Terra gravel bike is a complete redesign of a bike that had its early origins in cyclocross, but is now more specifically suited for long and fast mixed-surface adventure in its latest iteration. With gravel riding having evolved dramatically since we first glimpsed the previous Terra gravel prototype, Orbea felt it was time to start with a clean slate for the new Terra. So, the new gravel bike project focused on meeting the needs of contemporary gravel riders – from those looking for speed, comfort & control over all surfaces to riders looking to ride further seeking adventure.
Orbea calls it “Gravel from the Ground Up.”
All-new 2022 Orbea Terra carbon gravel bike
We’ve followed the development of the Terra closely from its former life as a cyclocross bike, watching a prototype transform into a versatile cross-to-gravel-to all-road all-rounder four years ago. But now the Terra has been refined specifically as a gravel bike. It’s still an all-rounder, but now is built more as a quick-handling and comfortable mixed-surface bike that lives for long rides.
Orbea says the bike was reshaped to satisfy three types of gravel cyclists: fast all-day “true” gravel riders who want efficiency but no limit on what surfaces to ride, “explorers” who simply want to get off the beaten path/road, and “adventurers” who are going to strap on bikepacking bags and ride for days or weeks on end.
That has driven Orbea to turn the Terra into a lighter bike, with stable geometry tweaked forward to maintain its quick handling, and bigger tire clearance so gravel riders have the flexibility to adapt the bike to the terrain they are actually riding.
What’s new?
The new Terra features Orbea’s OMR-level carbon, a step up from the previous generation. That gives its layup a greater mix of hi-mod carbon fibers, and improved drivetrain & handling stiffness. At a claimed frameset weight of just 1130g before paint (figure the fork probably weighs 400g), Orbea seems to have gone super light. Sure, a paint job can likely add another 100g, but that still sounds impressively light.
Max tire size on the new Orbea Terra is said to be 700c x 45mm, which is only a few millimeters more than the previous bike, but means the latest crop of larger volume gravel tires should all fit now. Plus, with wider room in the fork & stays, the bike now has room for up to 650b x 50mm tires, a big improvement for gravel riders who prefer the smaller wheelsize.
Bigger tires pair with a careful carbon layup to ensure rider comfort. Orbea flattens the lower half of the seattube in a mini rear wheel cutout to introduce a bit of bump-absorbing flex, and dropped a sloping toptube to expose more of the 27.2mm seatpost, as well.
All-new Geometry
One interesting thing about this gravel bike, is that Orbea still sees the Terra as a super versatile platform – for everything from all-road riding to adventure bikepacking. That means the geometry had to be quite versatile, with predictable handling for all sizes and all styles of riding… “fast, precise and comfortable”.
To do that, headtube angles vary by 2° across the broad six size range (XS-XXL) as Orbea says they were “optimizing” head angle and trail for each frame size (while all use the same 55mm rake fork.)
With that comes a broad variety of complete spec options in their bike customizer from 700 x 30mm road slicks to 40mm gravel tires, plus larger 700×45 & 650c50 tire clearance. So what does that do to geometry? Orbea developed the gravel bike’s geometry around an anticipated ‘most common’ range of 30-40mm tires, giving 15mm variation in bottom bracket height and a resulting 18mm range in Trail depending on size (650×47 equates to ~700×32 in their tables).
The overall wheelbases of the new bike look a bit shorter than the previous generation, even with longer frame Reach, thanks to 1 full 1cm shorter chainstays. But they’re still designed to be long and stable, just now the 420mm chainstay length helps keep the bike maneuverable, as well.
Tech details
Orbea also gives the new gravel bike in-frame storage, with a Lockr under the bottle cage to store a spare tube, tool & pump low inside the downtube.
The frame features two standard sets of cage mounts, and another pair of bosses under the down tube where there’s also a bashguard, plus mounts for full-coverage fenders to use with up to 35mm tires.
The new Terra also maintains compatibility with 1x & 2x groupsets, giving riders plenty of opportunities to build exactly what they want – even room for mid-compact road double chainsets. All the routing is now completely internal as well, through special stems that maintain full adjustability directing cables into the upper headset opening.
Orbea Terra gravel bike – Pricing, options & availability
A wide range of seven models of the new carbon Orbea Terra are offered, in three standard paint colors. Pick from 1x, 2x electronic, mechanical, Shimano SRAM, or Campagnolo groupsets. You can even pick tires from either Vittoria or Pirelli depending on which you prefer (a rare option for choice on any stock bikes).
Orbea spec’s big 12° flare house brand OC or 16° Easton gravel dropbars on all models, but narrow 40-42cm widths at the hoods so you get 5.5cm wider stability in the drops for control off-road without going too wide.
Prices start from $3200 / 2900€ complete with GRX 600 1×11 that you can still customize extensively.
Then they rise to $5200 with Ekar 1×13 mechanical or $5300 / 5000€ with a Force AXS 1×12 groupset, still with alloy wheels but the chance to tweak wheel, tire, handlebar, and saddle spec.
Plus with MyO, you can even get custom paint colors on any model from that entry GRX bike on up…
First deliveries of the new Orbea Terra carbon gravel bikes are anticipated in shops starting in December, with full global availability in higher numbers from the start of 2022.
Orbea.com
