$1,037.53

The Orbea Ordu has been completely revamped for 2016. It fits better, it’s faster, more comfortable, and easier to adjust. It’s even UCI-legal. The word “ordu” refers to “moment,” and as you know, a moment can last forever or pass before you realize it. And you want both. You want to ride as fast as possible, over before you realize it, and as comfortable as possible while going fast, because when you’re in the middle or an all-out effort, it can feel like forever.

Let’s start with the first thing that hits the wind. The fork. Orbea changed the leg design. They call it Freeflow. What it means is that the legs splay out wider from the crown than most forks, and the legs are nearly perpendicular to the ground. This reduces turbulence where the front rim spins by the fork legs by giving more room for air to flow. This way, wide rims aren’t coming close to the legs. And the fork is also lighter, by 96g.

Then they created a mini-taper fork, with a 25.4mm upper steerer diameter and a 28.6mm lower diameter. This reduces frontal area by 10%, adding more speed still.

And the tubes are called Mondragon, for the Spanish university that worked with optimizing tube shapes. The cross-section is shorter than a classic airfoil, and longer than a Kamm-tail, reducing weight and adding rigidity. The medium frame is 96% lighter than the previous Ordu, resulting in a frameset weight if 1952g, and still being 16% stiffer at the rear triangle.

Stiffness is also aided by the switch to the BB386EVO standard. The greater width, diameter, and the flexibility to go with 30mm spindles are the reasons. Just about all cranks work with the standard as well-it’s the same width as BB86, just a greater diameter.

And the dropouts are a vertical design, which makes quick wheel changes on the road easy.

At the top of the bike, you can see the improvement in adjustability and fit. The steerer, which comes with a shim for 1 1/8” stems, allows for a standard stem, though theirs comes with the bike, to sit flush with the top tube for better aerodynamics but still be easy to switch as well as pull for travel. The top tube slopes slightly to give more fit options-choosing what kind of drop you want from the saddle to stem. The seatpost clamp, of which there are two, can actually be oriented forward or back, so you have -49mm or +49mm of setback with one clamp or -23mm or +23mm of setback with the other. That’s basically 10cm of fore-aft adjustment. And the clamps work with all rails. The post itself, made of carbon, is 330mm long. For folks who like a low frame, that represents lots of height over the top tube. For folks who don’t, the post can be cut down to insure it fits.

The other major part of the fit equation is the geometry itself. Orbea has been focused on making their frame sizing more linear. And this iteration is more linear than the last, meaning the increases in stack and reach from one size to the next are consistent. And to further dial in ride, the two smallest sizes of the five-size run utilize a fork with a 53mm offset, versus the 43mm offset of the larger frames.

Another feature of the new Ordu is Orbea’s embrace of TriRig brakes. These light, small, strong, aero stoppers come with the frame and the rear cable system has a route just for these. Minimizing frontal area is beyond just trimming tubes.

Finally, Orbea went crazy on mounting choices. There are mounts on the top tube, down tube, and front and back of the seat tube. These are the “water bottle” width apart, and the standard just about everyone is using not only for bottle cages, but bags and boxes as well. The downtube actually sports three bosses instead of two. If you’re using a single bottle, mount it on the lower two bosses for better aerodynamics. If you’re going double, then use the higher two. Two round bottles of any size will fit. There’s even a box Orbea makes for the bosses behind the seat tube. It can fit tools as well as food, and it integrates with the bike perfectly, even smoothing out the aerodynamics.

The bike routes all cables, be they electronic or mechanical or hydraulic, internally. There’s a Hatchback behind the seat tube that fits a Shimano Di2 battery-Campagnolo EPS won’t currently fit. And all the plugs and stops are included, as well as the brakes and seatpost clamps. There’s even a plug that can be removed if you prefer to remove the TriRig brake in back and go for a more conventional stopper. Max chainring size is 55-teeth for a round ring, 53 for an oval.

The Orbea Ordu LTD OMP is ready for your moments.