First launched two summers ago with rim brakes, then last year with disc brakes, Orbea’s aero road bike – the Orca Aero – gets updated this year with more modern spec options, and in several cases lower pricing. The Orca Aero Disc talks about chasing aerodynamic gains, but favored usable cockpit integration rather than hiding every cable inside, so the addition of new eTap AXS options is probably welcome news to many.
2020 Orbea Orca Aero Disc carbon road bike updated
We detailed the carbon Orca Aero Disc when it was actually all-new last summer, and the aerodynamically optimized frame, fork & seatpost look to be unchanged. Boiling it down to the essentials, the Orca Aero Disc takes Orbea’s concept of a stiff & responsive bottom end and mates it to a more forgiving toptube & seatstays for a modicum of road racing comfort. Throw on top of that a wide set aero fork and aero tube profiles throughout said to max out the UCI allowances, and a reasonable level of integration that should keep your mechanic from pulling his hair out. Catch up on the full details here.
So, what’s actually new?
Orbea says the 2020 Orca Aero is about “new graphics, new colors, new components”. What that means in the end is a new higher top-level spec thanks to new SRAM wireless groupsets and a slightly revised look that you can still customize with the Orbea MyO custom configuration tool.
That new top bike is the 2020 Orca Aero M11eTeam-D at $9000 / 8600€ with a SRAM Red eTap AXS 12-speed double wireless groupset. Interestingly too, the Dura-Ace Di2 build drops four hundred dollars for the US market vs. last year making that a nice update as well. In fact, all of the US prices for the Shimano spec’d bikes drop this year, making AXS a boon even to those who don’t want it.
In the middle there is also a new M21eTeam-D build for $5500 / 5300€ with a SRAM Force eTap AXS wireless build (although surely including the eTap batteries that didn’t make it into the studio photoshoot.)
Then, the Orca Aero disc frameset alone remains the same price at $3300 / 3000€, and the 105 complete drops a couple hundred bucks to $3500 / (up a hundred Euros to) 3400€ as the most affordable complete bike build. Check out the full pricing details at:
