Orbea

Orca Bronze/Shimano Ultegra Complete Road Bike

When you first look at the new Orbea Orca Bronze/Shimano Ultegra Complete Road Bike, you'll notice that the lines and geometry are strikingly similar to Orbea's flagship Gold and Silver road bikes. The stable handling, exceptional ride quality, and overall comfort is also reminiscent of these top-end machines, as the Orca BLT was constructed using many of the same frame technologies and design details. However, the differences between the Orca BLT and the Orca Gold really only comes down to the BLT's carbon layup and build kit. Orbea specifically spec'd this frameset with Shimano's reputable Ultegra 6700 groupset, providing you with a lightweight, fast, and reliable road bike package at a great value.

The Orca BLT was built using Orbea’s Bronze grade carbon, which is a blend of intermediate modulus fibers that have a touch more elasticity than the higher modulus fibers used to construct the Gold and Silver Orcas. The result is a durable layup that provides a smooth, compliant, and road-dampening feel, yet still yields an ultra-rigid pedaling platform. This translates into more of your pedaling power being directed straight into the back wheel, instead of being wasted on flexing the frame side-to-side. A quick acceleration out of the saddle is all it takes to feel just how solid this construction really is.

Like the Gold and Silver models, The BLT frame and fork were molded using a monocoque construction method. Essentially, this creates a homogenous structure with fibers running continuously along the length of the tubes and through the intersections. This increases the total strength of the bike, particularly at the tube junctions. Additionally, it adds to frame's overall durability. However, there are a few structural differences that separate the Orca BLT from the Silver and Gold. The BLT uses alloy dropouts, which are a few grams heavier than the full-carbon versions found on the more expensive models, but the tradeoff is that they are much more durable. Also, the seat tube on the BLT is round whereas the Gold and Silver have a more sculpted, aerodynamic shape. This allows the use of a standard round seatpost and conventional clamp assembly.

Aside from these small differences, the front triangle uses the same planar styling as the other Orca models. The angular tube shapes and pronounced edges are the result of what is known as Finite Element Analysis (FEA), which was engineered to create resistance to flex in critical areas like the bottom bracket, seat tube, and head tube junction. Orbea also applied what it terms as Size Specific Nerve (SSN) technology in order to produce frames that provide the same comfort and ride-quality characteristics throughout the size range. In other words, each frame size has specific carbon layups and tube dimensions, providing the same road-tuned feel regardless of what size of frame you select.

The Orca BLT was built with a BB30 bottom bracket and a tapered, oversized head tube. Both of these details work to decrease weight while increasing stiffness where it counts. At the bottom bracket, you’ll enjoy a stiffer and lighter junction compared to standard external bearing design, which is the same for the tapered, 1.5-inch lower bearing head tube. Both of these design characteristics were trickled down from the Silver and Gold models, which increases the torsional stiffness of the frame.

For the build of the Orca BLT, Orbea spec'd the bike with Shimano's Ultegra 6700 10-speeed drivetrain, complete with its BB30 50/34t compact crankset. The cockpit received Orbea's aluminum Pro bar and stem, with an Orbea carbon post supporting Selle Italia's SL Flow saddle. In the wheel department, Orbea wrapped the durable Mavic Aksium hoops with Mavic Aksium clincher tires.

The Orbea Orca Bronze/Shimano Ultegra Complete Road Bike is available in the sizes 48, 51, 53, 55, 57, and 60cm. It also comes in the colors Anthracite/carbon and White/carbon/red.