Bike at Bedtime: Orro Terra C Adventure GRX 800

Orro has given its Terra C gravel bike a new front end for 2021, with the gear cables and brake hoses ducking inside the head tube and taking the internal route to the relevant component. It certainly looks slick.

We reviewed the Orro Terra C Adventure last year and loved it. Reviewer Stu Kerton called it a “stiff yet comfortable gravel racer that is just as much fun to ride on the road as off it”.

The Terra C is a lightweight gravel bike with a racy edge to it. It's absolutely spot on for nailing around on the local tracks and trails at speed.

We told you a few months ago that Orro is now routing the cables and hoses internally on its Venturi aero road bike. It has done a similar thing with the Terra C.

Read our review of the 2021 Orro Venturi STC SRAM Force eTap 2021

All of the Terra Cs in the range are built up with semi-integrated front ends – which is very unusual for a gravel bike. They use standard handlebars and stems with the cables/hoses running externally. Then a cable box on the headset allows the cables/hoses to go internally through the head tube. The use of 1 1/2in bearings top and bottom provides the space for this.

As well as hiding the cables/hoses away for a neater appearance, this means there’s no chance of the paint on the head tube getting rubbed. Plus, there will be no interference if you run a handlebar bag.

The new design can also be made fully integrated, so you see no cables at all, with a compatible handlebar and stem – similar to the 2021 Venturi.

The Terra C’s carbon-fibre frame features Innegra in areas that are most likely to be in the firing line of stones pinging up from the road/track surface. Innegra is a tough, durable and lightweight fibre whose yarns can be woven with others, like carbon fibre, to increase strength without adding weight.

All the other good features of last year’s Terra C are present and correct, including the mounts for mudguards and a rear rack, adding to the bike’s versatility. You also get a third bottle cage mount on the underside of the down tube.

Oh, and you always get a classy paint job with Orro. Check out the entire range; some of them are awesome. There's loads of depth to the colour and a little iridescence to it.

Orro is offering the Terra C in a total of seven different builds in 2021, starting with the £1,799.99 Terra C 105/FSA (the white model above) and going right up to the £3,499.99 Terra C Ekar 1x Adventure, Ekar being Campagnolo’s new gravel groupset, of course.

This year there are a couple of SRAM options for the first time: a 1X Apex build (£2,099.99) and a model with a full SRAM Rival 22 groupset (£2,299.99).

The model that we have here comes with a full 1x Shimano GRX 800 groupset with a 40-tooth chainset and an 11-42-tooth cassette. 800 is the top tier of GRX, the equivalent of the Ultegra road groupset.

Read our complete guide to Shimano’s GRX gravel groupset 

You get Fulcrum Rapid Red 5 wheels and Vredestein Aventura tyres in a 38mm width, although there's space for 700c x 45mm tyres, or 650b x 47mm.

The triple butted alloy Deda Gravel 100 bar is flared – the drops angle outwards by 12° to give you a more stable riding position over rough and unpredictable terrain.

We’d love to get a 2021 Orro Terra C in for review here at road.cc. Judging by the performance of last year’s model, it should be a lot of fun.

The 2021 Orro Terra C Adventure GRX 800 is priced £2,599.99. Like the other models, it will be available from 24th March. You can pre-order now at orrobikes.com