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Orbea Avant first look + video

Versatile and disc compatible carbon road bike ticks a lot of boxes

This is Orbea's new Avant, their brand new endurance carbon road bike designed to be compatible with disc brakes, electronic and mechanical groupsets, and with capacity for 28mm tyres. It even has mudguard and rack mounts, so it's ticking a lot of boxes.

Here's Jokim Diez of Orbea with the low-down on the Avant:

It's seen here with SRAM's Red hydraulic disc brake groupset, with the hoses that carry the fluid to the calipers routed internally for some very clean lines. The rear caliper is located inside the stays, an approach that is common among the many new disc-equipped bikes at the show. The rear dropouts will take either 130 or 135mm hubs. With disc road bikes still in their infancy, Orbea wanted to future-proof the Avant. Adjusting the width is as easy as removing chips from the dropouts.

It's a bike designed to tackle long road rides with comfort; the carbon fibre frame is designed to provide a smooth ride. The geometry yields a shorter top tube and taller head tube, and the frame will be available in seven sizes from 47 to 60cm.  Orbea use a fork with a 53mm rake on the three smallest sizes, and a 43mm rake fork on the larger sizes.

There are clear influences from the Orca here. Orbea have even considered the aerodynamics, though that wasn't a top priority.  Orbea reckon their wind tunnel testing of the Avant with and without disc brakes returned 'negligible' differences, with caliper brakes only offering a clear advantage at yaw angles greater than 10 degrees. That's an interesting finding.

Other contemporary design features on the Avant include the Press Fit bottom bracket and tapered head tube. The mounting hardware for the calipers and disc brakes has been designed to be removable, so it's both an easy swap from one system to the other, and you're not left with redundant mounts.

While we looked at the carbon model, an aluminium version will also be available with the same features as this bike.

I can confidently say, this is my highlight of the show, and it's a bike I really can't wait to get a ride on.

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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11 comments

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Solo77 | 10 years ago
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To the left hand side of the price is grey writing saying Geometry and Ergonomics ..click it and it brings everything up  4

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Bikeylikey | 10 years ago
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It's gorgeous. Can't find the geometry anywhere though, not even on Orbea's site. They say things like 'taller head tube' and 'shorter top tube' but don't say how tall or long. What are the actual measurements in mm? Can anyone help?

I'd love to see a comparison test of all these 'comfort' type frames (this, Spesh Roubaix, Time Fluidity, Trek Domane etc.). Add in a titanium sportive type frame or two. Just how much flex and 'vertical compliance' objectively measured somehow would be good, if that's possible, plus an assessment by an experienced rider over different types of surface.

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andys2tyred | 10 years ago
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I like it but £1700 starting point is not value for money when you look what else is in the market.

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PJ McNally | 10 years ago
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the hole drilled in the fork for rim brakes is super ugly.

I'd want to put a white reflector on a stalk there, just to cover it up.

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dave atkinson replied to PJ McNally | 10 years ago
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PJ McNally wrote:

the hole drilled in the fork for rim brakes is super ugly.

I'd want to put a white reflector on a stalk there, just to cover it up.

it should have a bung or something in, at least

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CyclingDan | 10 years ago
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rack mounts and mudguards on a the carbon framed bike. This isnt meant to be a touring bike?  39 A bike for the cobbles or a best Sunday bike. There's far too much doing on here IMO

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BBB replied to CyclingDan | 10 years ago
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CyclingDan wrote:

rack mounts and mudguards on a the carbon framed bike. This isnt meant to be a touring bike?  39 A bike for the cobbles or a best Sunday bike. There's far too much doing on here IMO

It's not a touring bike. It's just a "normal" road bike with sensible tyre clearance (28mm makes perfect sense on most of UK roads) and an OPTION to attach rack and panniers in case you fancy to do a bit of light touring or commuting on it.
You honestly don't believe that the extra options and features are going to slow you down on your dry Sun ride, do you?

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BBB replied to CyclingDan | 10 years ago
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double post...

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Chuck | 10 years ago
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I should really like this, but I don't. The disc-equipped Roubaixs (Roubaixes?) look much nicer IMO, but then they probably doesn't have guard/rack mounts.

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amazon22 | 10 years ago
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Very very nice - at last some common sense thinking and adaptability in carbon frames.

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alotronic | 10 years ago
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An Equilibrium in carbon. PERFECT!

Well it would be if the 'tall head tube, short top tube' ethos worked for my body shape and if a frame only version might actually be affordable  2

The good news is that other carbonistas will catchup pretty quick.

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