There is no doubt Orbea’s new Occam looks like a ball of fun, but if you’re after something a bit more budget friendly, or your local trails are better suited to a hardtail, the 'slack and simple’ Laufey might just be the ticket.
Like the new Specialized Fuse, the Laufey is an all-alloy affair, and the frame is heavily hydroformed to increase strength and prevent flex in the wrong plane.
The head angle is slacker, now 65.5 degrees, the seat angle is two degrees steeper at 75 degrees and reach grows by 25mm from its predecessor, measuring 435mm in a size medium.
With this contemporary geometry, the Laufey should be well behaved on both the ups and downs, especially with the extra 10mm of travel at the front, up from 130mm.
Like the reach, the chainstays measure 435mm, so the bike won’t be overly ‘whippy’, but this extends the wheelbase to 1,174mm in a size medium, meaning it should be plenty stable at speed.
The extra length and the forged rear chainstay yoke also help to fit a 29 x 2.6in tyre comfortably in the rear without the need for dropped or raised chainstays, as we’ve seen on other bikes in this category.
At the back, the frame is based around 12 x 148mm thru-axle spacing and sees provision for post-mount brakes.
With fully internal cable routing, the Laufey gets stealth dropper post routing and a straight seat tube, so there should be no issues with seatpost insertion depth.
The Laufy also has a threaded bottom bracket (hooray!) and ISCG 05 tabs should you need a touch of added chain security.
Orbea is offering three off-the-rack models, but being part of the MyO program they can be completely customised.
The base build is the H30 with a 1x11 Shimano SLX drivetrain and RockShox Recon RL fork for €1,299 / $1,499.
The H10 comes with a 12-speed SLX drivetrain and Marzocchi Bomber Z2 fork for €1,599/$1,899.
The top-end H-LTD has the latest XT/SLX kit and a Fox 34 at the front for €1,999/$2,499.