Orbea? Buh?

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Andrew_Culture

Andrew_Culture

Internet Marketing bod
Location
The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
Management has given me clearance to start saving my pennies for a carbon bike, which means some time around April 2021 I might have enough money.

I'm dreaming of a budget of between £1500 and £2000. I specifically want a new bike because every bike I've owned before has been a significant compromise in some way (my current bike has Dura Ace components but they grind and the drivetrain crunches, and the bike is ex-hire and a bit gouged). Sounds daft, but I want a bike that I consider to be near perfect.

From using CycleChat I've built an idea of the strong and weak points of various brands but can't seem to figure out much 'consumer intel' on Orbea.

At the moment I'm aiming towards a Cube Agree Pro, but the look of Orbea has really caught my eye.

So if you own a Orbea what convinced you to buy?

What are the perceived strengths of the Orbea brand?
 
ianrauk

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
ping User13710 - she's an Orbea owner.
 
coffeejo

coffeejo

Ælfrēd
Location
West Somerset
I've got an Orbea - bought it because my LBS stocks them (and the staff ride them) and it was on offer at the end of the season. Love it. Lots. But then again, everyone I know says that about their road bike.
 
E

earth

Well-Known Member
I've been considering whether I should tell this story or not. It may put people off.

I sold my PlanetX SL Pro and bought an Orbea Orca. The Orbea is noticeably stiffer than the PX but slightly heavier even though it has Ultegra components rather than 105. I am sure the frame is where the extra weight is because I kept the wheels from the PX and the Ultegra components on the Orbea should be lighter than 105 components on the PX. So it is only the frame that can account for the extra weight. It feels a bit more reluctant to corner than the PlanetX which was a bit twitchy and required constant attention. The silver lining is that I prefer descending on it. The PlanetX was starting to creak while the Orbea is solid. It looks fantastic in my opinion and quite a few people have made admiring comments. I feel much less interested in another bike now.

But I have had a few issues with it. This is the same bike with the poor shifting performance that I mentioned in another thread.

To be fair it is an ex-team bike from the shop-sponsored team. But it is a 2009 Orca with full 6700 groupset which had a list price of £4400 for the knock down price of £900. So for 25% the list price it's difficult to complain. And I got about £450 for the PX. The shop said it was actually always owned by them so the lifetime warranty was still valid - read on.

The bike shop I got it from tightened the stem bolts too much and the steerer tube developed a crack at the top. It has taken about 5 months to get a fix. First the bike shop did nothing with the fork for a month. Then they looked at it and confirmed it was cracked. Then they asked someone for a second opinion - presumably someone from Orbea. Then the shop contacted Orbea and Orbea said it was under warranty so it would be fixed or replaced. Then the word was the shop had a replacement fork but it was the a different colourway. I said I wanted like for like. The shop said Orbea will have to put one through the paint shop. Then the shop said Orbea don't make that fork anymore. Then the shop said Orbea would replace the steerer tube on the fork if it was sent to them. Then I moved to a different town and wanted to take the bike with me - this was about 3 months after it going to the shop. I contacted the Orbea rep here and he told me to take it to another shop where I now live and gave me a claim number to quote. Took it to the shop, after about a week it was collected by the Orbea rep and sent to spain a few weeks before Christmas. Phoned after Christmas to see where it was and the shop said they did not have it. Phoned the rep and he said Orbea would now not fix it because it was not considered an under warranty fault but he said he would find out more about it. Phoned the shop back and they then said it had arrived back before Christmas. Went to collect it that weekend and discovered that it was either a new fork (with the same blemishes in the paint work) or they had in fact fitted a new steerer tube. Either way, it was fixed!

Can see why I was wondering if I should say that or not? From that episode I have a nagging feeling that buying a ex-team bike was a mistake even though it was a bargain. But I think the bike is great and the problems were not Orbea. Orbea did in fact honour the warranty and the work was completed pretty quick once they got the fork. There was a lot of confusion as to if it was being fixed and where it was. But again I think Orbea did well and everyone else could improve.
 
lulubel

lulubel

Über Member
Location
Malaga, Spain
I don't have one, but I do see a few around here (with it being a Spanish brand), and they're very nice looking bikes. The Spanish tend to be pretty loyal to their own brands (I see a lot of BH bikes as well) so it's hard to say whether that's an indication of how good they are, but there are people around here with plenty - and I do mean plenty - of money to spend on their bikes, and they chose to spend their money on Orbea. That must mean something.
 
Easytigers

Easytigers

Guru
Andrew_Culture said:
There are days when I'm sure she'd welcome being headhunted.
Click to expand...
Haha!!! My wife went nuts when I wanted the £300 for the Triban!
 
OP
OP
Andrew_Culture

Andrew_Culture

Internet Marketing bod
Location
The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
Easytigers said:
Haha!!! My wife went nuts when I wanted the £300 for the Triban!
Click to expand...

The trick is to initially pitch in high but don't name a price. Through subtle drip drip feed of bike prices - like chatter about the cost of Wiggin's bike - I created the impression in my wife that the type of bike I wanted would cost £5000. It's crucial that I didn't mention that figure, she arrived at it herself. So when I presented my budget of £1500 she was actually pleased with me.
 
Easytigers

Easytigers

Guru
Ooohh
Andrew_Culture said:
The trick is to initially pitch in high but don't name a price. Through subtle drip drip feed of bike prices - like chatter about the cost of Wiggin's bike - I created the impression in my wife that the type of bike I wanted would cost £5000. It's crucial that I didn't mention that figure, she arrived at it herself. So when I presented my budget of £1500 she was actually pleased with me.
Click to expand...
Ooohh...that's good! Cunning plan. Just going to stick on 'Road to glory' that I recorded in the front room and talk bike prices with the missus!!!
 
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