Katherina Nash put in a phenomenal lap in the relay race and secured the silver medal for the Czech Republic at the home World Championships in Nove Mesto. What few people realise is that the former cross-country skier was riding a new bike: the Orbea Oiz. The Spaniards have completed the new Race-Fully just in time for the World Championships and have given it the slogan "born to win". The bike thus paves the way for Catherine Pendrel and the Luna Pro Team.
On the new Oiz, the prepreg mats are cut from pre-impregnated carbon fibres using lasers to minimise excess material. This allows Orbea to save material, which has a positive effect on the weight. The Oiz carbon frame uses only as much carbon as necessary. Orbea calls the rear triangle design "UFO", which eliminates the joint between the chainstay and seatstay. Many modern race full-suspension bikes are also made in this way, as the flex over the carbon layup is sufficient, weight is saved and this solution is easier to maintain.
As with almost all new mountain bikes rolling out for 2017, Orbea is also relying on Boost. Thanks to the increased stiffness of the continuous 12 mm axle system, the Oiz should be more precise and responsive to control. The Boost 148 standard stands for an increased rear axle length of 148 mm, which moves the crank outwards by 3 mm. Three millimetres may not sound like much, but it is enough to allow the chainstays to be relatively short (425 in 27.5 inches/440 mm in 29 inches) and tyres up to 2.4 inches to be used.
95 mm travel is available at the rear of the Oiz, with 100 mm travel forks at the front. The gear ratio increases over the first three quarters of the travel and then changes to a decreasing ratio in order to utilise the full travel on big hits. Compared to the predecessor model, the new Oiz features Boost technology, fully internally routed cable routing, a Direct Mount front derailleur mount and the inclusion of telescopic seatposts with integrated cable routing.
Orbea already offers six models of the Oiz from 3000 to 7500 euros on its website, i.e. the bikes are available immediately.
