Orbea Avant disc brake road bike introduced

Orbea Avant disc brake road bike introduced

Carbon endurance bike has mounts for rim and disc brakes

The new Orbea Avant comes ready to handle disc or rim brakes

Courtesy

Ben Delaney

Published: June 19, 2013 at 4:17 pm
The new Orbea Avant comes ready to handle disc or rim brakes - Courtesy
All the cable routing — hydraulic, mechanical or electric — is internal - Courtesy
Since the hydraulic brake routing is done through the down tube, so too is the mechanical routing, and therefore the rear rim brake mounts are under the chainstays - Courtesy
The rear rim brake mounts underneath the chainstays - Courtesy
The Avant has one head tube cable guide for electric and another for mechanical. And the hydraulic brake lines are routed internally, too - Courtesy
SRAM Red Hydraulic is beginning to get some traction, with the Orbea Avant being an early adopter - Courtesy
The Avant fork routing - Courtesy
No brake here - but there is a fender mount on the underside of the seatstay yoke - Courtesy
Another look at the rear rim brake mount - Courtesy
Discreet fender mounts on the bottom of the fork legs - Courtesy
Three things not usually seen together: hydraulic road brakes, Zipp wheels and a rack - Courtesy
A close look at the rack and fender mount - Courtesy
Rear hub spacing can be changed from 135mm to 130 with two 2.5mm 'chips' that bolt into the dropout - Courtesy
The new Orbea Avant, with fenders and rack - Courtesy

Basque bike maker Orbea has launched a new endurance road bike called the Avant that works with disc brakes or rim brakes. There are seven models, ranging from Shimano 105 bikes at $2,299/£1,999 up through Shimano Ultegra Di2 at $4,699/£3,699 and the top bike with SRAM Red Hydraulic for $8,499/£8,999.

Compared to the company's flagship race bike, the Orca, the Avant features more relaxed geometry with a taller head tube and a shorter top tube. Thanks to the use of two different fork rakes (43 and 53mm), Orbea was able to reduce if not eliminate toe overalp on the smallest 47cm frame size while keeping trail within 9mm through the line, all the way up to the largest 60cm size (adjusting head tube angle appropriately). Most of the bikes come with 25mm tires, and the frame — which also has hidden fender mounts — can handle up to 28mm tires.

All the cable routing — hydraulic, mechanical or electric — is internal: all the cable routing — hydraulic, mechanical or electric — is internal - Courtesy

Hydraulic road discs or rim brakes — you can use both on the Avant

Since the Avant can be used with either rim or disc brakes, the frame is built with disc-wheel-friendly 135mm rear spacing, and it comes with 2.5mm 'chips' that bolt onto the dropouts with Allen bolts to bring spacing down to the 130mm road standard.

As all the internal cable routing is done through the down tube, the Avant features a under-mounted brake when in the rim-brake configuration.

The new orbea avant comes ready to handle disc or rim brakes: the new orbea avant comes ready to handle disc or rim brakes - Courtesy

Besides the disc/rim choice, the Avant easily adapts for either mechanical or electrical drivetrains with the change of a head-tube-mounted cable guide. Also, the Avant has discreet fender mounts at the bottom of the fork legs, just above the rear dropouts and under the seatstay yoke.

Features the monocoque construction that Orbea has always done with carbon, the Avant gets a BB86 bottom bracket (past Orbeas have had the narrower), which gives a wider platform for tube connections.

As for the name, Orbea took it from the Pax Avant, a monstrous gran fondo Orbea is putting on this year for the first time. Featuring 15,000ft of climbing over a 125mi course, Orbea hopes it will be as hard as The Dolomiti, which is widely regarded as Europe's toughest grand fondo.

Another look at the rear rim brake mount: another look at the rear rim brake mount - Courtesy

Since the brake routing goes through the down tube, the rim brake mounts are on the underside of the chainstays

Ben Delaney

Contributor

Ben Delaney is a journalist with more than two decades of experience writing for and editing some of the biggest publications in cycling. Having studied journalism at the University of New Mexico, Ben has worked for Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, VeloNews and BikeRadar. He has also previously worked as Global Brand Communications Manager for Specialized. Ben covers all things road and gravel, and can be found logging big miles in the Rocky Mountains that nestle alongside his home in Boulder, Colorado. He has covered the most important bike races in the sport, from the Tour de France and Tour of Flanders, to the Unbound gravel race, and specialises in tech content, showcasing what the pros are riding and putting everyday equipment through its paces.
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