Unlike in Spain and France, there are only a few Orbea bikes on the starting line at racing events in German-speaking countries. Former champion Julien Absalon has been collecting World Cup victories and titles on Orbea hardtails since 2007, albeit on a 26er. As with all Spanish bikes, you can customise your bike part by part. Our test bike is based on the 3300 euro Alma S30. The frame in the "Toblerone design" (comment by F. Vogel) with its corners and edges (1347 grams) is polarising, even if the stiffness falls somewhat by the wayside. The fork on the Orbea is the only one of the five Fox forks to have a lockout lever on the handlebars. The double crankset with 38/26 teeth and the XTR Shadow Plus rear derailleur also impressed us on the rough, steep test lap. Only the high front end and the long stem make the handling unnecessarily stiff. The angular cable routing, only one bottle cage and the double seat clamp are not very user-friendly.
Conclusionextravagant, polarising 29er with many custom options; frame not very stiff.
