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TECH NEWS

Orbea's new Avant, 'the most adaptable bike ever seen'

Road bike will take discs or rim brakes and either mechanical or electronic shifting

Orbea are launching a new Avant road bike this autumn that will be disc or rim brake compatible and suitable for either mechanical or electronic shifting. They’re calling it ‘the most dynamic and adaptable bike ever seen’.

Orbea aren’t exaggerating when they say it’s versatile: the carbon monocoque Avant will also take mudguards and a rack, tyres up to 28mm, and the rear dropouts will accept either a 130 or 135mm hub. With all those features, the Avant is quite a hard bike to categorise. We’ll go for ‘all-round road bike’ and leave it at that.

We’ve been banging on about disc brakes on road bikes for months now (“Change the record, road.cc,” says everyone) and here’s yet more evidence that they’re taking hold. Orbea say that from the start of the design process the Avant has been designed to take disc brakes, rather than a disc option having been added at the last minute as an afterthought.

The bike in the pics that Orbea have sent through is disced up (yes, it’s a phrase; I just invented it), the discs in question being SRAM Red hydraulics. There’s a whole Red groupset on there although we imagine the Avant will be available in a bunch of other builds too (but Orbea have not released any details on that yet).

We’re not 100% sure whether the same frame will be used for both disc brakes and standard calipers, but that would appear to be the case. Threaded holes on the chainstays just the bottom bracket look like they’re for a direct mount brake, like Trek spec on high end Madones, for example. The internal cable routing looks like it’s suitable for both mechanical and electronic systems too, rather than Orbea producing slightly different versions of the frame for each setup.

We know for certain that the Avant will come in seven different sizes (47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57 and 60) and with two different forks, depending on the bike size. The fork will have a rake of 53mm on the smallest three sizes and 43mm on the larger ones, the idea being to “guaranteed correct steering geometry for a confidence inspiring ride”.

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The Avant will also come with a press fit bottom bracket and a tapered head tube, and it’ll be available in three different colour options. It’ll have a lifetime warranty.

As for the name, well, that’s an interesting one… It comes from the Pax Avant race. Here’s the full story from Orbea:

“In 1375 the people of two opposing Pyrenean valleys, one Spanish and one French, made peace after years of border disputes. The local officials created an agreement through which the Gauls surrendered three cows to the Navarrese each year with a celebration in July.

“Political representatives and citizens of each valley come to witness and partake of the festivities that follow the ceremony. As in years past, three animals are selected and delivered. The act closes with the pronunciation of two words: Pax Avant! (So let there be peace!)

“The Pax Avant is a cycling tour running through the two territories. The event blends the charm of beautiful Pyrenean villages with the intensity and beauty of the Pyrenean landscapes."

So there you go. A bit of history to enrich your day, and the first ever appearance of the year 1375 on road.cc.

That’s about all we know about the Avant so far. The bike should be available from this autumn but we don’t have a price yet (we’re working on it). For more info go to the Avant micro site.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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19 comments

Avatar
Cheesyclimber | 10 years ago
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This has gone straight to the top of my want list. I love the idea of it being future-proof and having loads of upgrade options. Love the colour scheme too.

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banzicyclist2 | 10 years ago
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Looks fabulous, but can I afford one, and convince the better half?  39

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BBB | 10 years ago
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Unlike "racing" bikes that are usually not used for racing at all and typically ridden at 15-17mph by overweight people bending in unnatural positions and trying to imitate pros, this type of bike should be simply called err... a road bike.
Not "comfort", "all round" "andurance" etc... just ROAD BIKE. That's what most of road bikes on shop floors should be like.

Now marketers only need to convince mentally lazy consumers that adding mudguard/rack mounts and extra tyre clearance won't make them any slower than they would be on any other bike.

Now can we have a Crossrip in carbon, please?

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Shred | 10 years ago
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I have a perfectly good road bike.

I have been good so far as there hasn't quite been the right bike, but now this comes along...  39

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Simon E replied to Shred | 10 years ago
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Shred wrote:

I have a perfectly good road bike.

I have been good so far as there hasn't quite been the right bike, but now this comes along...  39

Was thinking the same!

Orbea have lovely looking bikes and a great history but often fly under the radar for most people.

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alotronic | 10 years ago
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@pups110

I think the idea is it has NO cx cred at all! There are plenty of disc crossers with lazy head tube angles; the thing we *really* want is carbon, discs, real world features and road geometry.

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phy2sll replied to alotronic | 10 years ago
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alotronic wrote:

@pups110

I think the idea is it has NO cx cred at all! There are plenty of disc crossers with lazy head tube angles; the thing we *really* want is carbon, discs, real world features and road geometry.

Eh? Don't most cross bikes have 73.5 / 74 degree head tubes e.g. anything by Ridley.

That headtube though.  31

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pups110 | 10 years ago
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It looks sooo wrong and yet soooo right.
Could be just the ticket!
Any word on its cx/ offroad credentials?  39

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gw | 10 years ago
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Not enough of this sort of thing about, my wishlist Inc guards and discs for an allrounder, but not a Czech or tourer. Currently lusting after lynskey sportive disc...

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giles | 10 years ago
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Nice bike with lots of options

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a.jumper | 10 years ago
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I had the pleasure of riding an Orbea bike this summer on hire. I'd definitely consider them for my next bike, although this particular one looks a bit expensive for me.

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Lungsofa74yearold | 10 years ago
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Want!

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badkneestom | 10 years ago
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Yum

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Nick T | 10 years ago
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Actually, one thing I've idly wondered about disc brakes is wether rotor sizes and the rest have been standardised by Shimano, SRAM, Tektro et al. I can imagine if they have different ideas on where the calipers need mounting on the frame and forks that there'll be a fair few obsolete frames knocking about in the coming years.

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robert.brady replied to Nick T | 10 years ago
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Nick T wrote:

Actually, one thing I've idly wondered about disc brakes is wether rotor sizes and the rest have been standardised by Shimano, SRAM, Tektro et al. I can imagine if they have different ideas on where the calipers need mounting on the frame and forks that there'll be a fair few obsolete frames knocking about in the coming years.

Mountain bikes run rotors from 140mm to 203mm. You just need an adaptor between fork/frame and calliper.

Rob

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Nick T | 10 years ago
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Chuck both disc and rim brakes up on that bad boy, I want to see just how quickly we can make it grind to a halt.

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jackh | 10 years ago
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Perfect, this is exactly the kind of road bike I want. Adaptable, upgradeable to better brakes in the future, can take a pannier for light weight touring, mudguards for winter training. I'm guessing it will build up to sub 9kg no problem as well.

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alotronic | 10 years ago
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What he said ^^^

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rggfddne | 10 years ago
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Yes please  16

seems to be a product mainstream bike companies have been neglecting for a while now - we've got sportive bikes (with no tire clearance and no provisions for practical stuff racers don't need, like panniers, guards, brakes that work in the wet), cyclocross bikes (with off-road geo), 'gravel bikes', whatever they are, and all-rounders made by small manufacturers - and whilst they are lovely, I've been spoiled by carbon and a 10+ kg road bike just doesn't do it for me anymore.

The closest competition I can think of is probably the volagi liscio.

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