We took advantage of having Orbea USA’s president cornered at Press Camp and had him give us a quick video run down of the new 2011 Orbea Orca road bike.
Despite owning the Orca wetsuit brand, Orbea’s Spanish home office actually came up with name for the Orca by combining “Orbea” and “Carbon” when they developed the original model and before they purchased the wetsuit company. Now in its 3rd iteration, the 2011 model is pretty slick, with improvements to aerodynamics, stiffness and in our opinion, looks.
Check our original post for tech specs and more details, and hit more for lots of detail photos and frame info…
The 2011 Orbea Orca gets a dramatically reshaped body to increase stiffness and reduce aerodynamic drag.
The headtube’s hourglass shape hides a tapered steerer, and the bulging arcs curving from the top tube to the downtube are still there from the previous model, albeit in a much more sculpted fashion.
Both Di2 and traditional frames will have the internal brake cable routing, but only the Di2 gets internal wiring/cabling for the shifters.
Traditionally cabled frames will have a Gore Ride-On system that uses elegantly machined, color-matched alloy guides like what they’ve put on their new carbon Alma 29er. The shift cables will nestle into grooves on the downtube (which run along the orange paint stripe, and they’ll be contained in the clear outer housing used on Gore’s professional road system.
The Di2 frame is blessedly free of any cable guides. Check the polished alloy BB30 bearing cups.
Similar painted grooves adorn the top tube.
The 2011 Orca’s aero benefits come in several forms. The upper part of the fork and seatstays are tucked in very close to the wheel to prevent too much air from getting stuck in the turbulence between them.
The stays flare out dramatically, which does more than just look good. The tubes are bent and twisted as they widen, which Orbea says diffuses vibration dramatically before it can make it to your rump.
The MonoLink seatpost is a collaboration between Orbea and Selle Italia. It has 30% more fore-aft adjustment and independent adjustments for angle and fore-aft position. An adapter will let you run a traditional saddle if you prefer.
House-brand Zeus components make up the bar and stem.
