Orbea Alma Carbon 29er
July 6th, 2006 by Tim GrahlI talked with my guy at Orbea yesterday and he gave me some info on the Alma 29er.
First off, as you may have seen already, a few things have been done with the design to make it as laterally stiff as possible. The top tube has been flared out almost like a fender and the rear triangle has a parellelogram shape to it.
As far as availablity goes… they’ve already sold out of the first run of medium frames they got in. The retail on these full X.0 or XTR is right at $4400.
Come August they are gonna have a few more options available. Hopefully the small and large sizes will be available. Plus you’ll be able to pick the bike up with X.9 or XT components or just grab the frame for $1700.
I’m hoping to get some more detailed specs here pretty soon.
I’m also pretty excited about this bike. With all these other companys coming out with as cheap a 29er as possible, Orbea goes all out with a full carbon, top of the line bike in the Alma… and they are already sold out of the first run.
Yeah… it’s just a passing fad.
And here’s some pictures I got of the last bike they have in the warehouse…
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Aaah, that asks for a long-offset carbon fork! The On-One offering will be available in about a month. Turn this baby into a super-lively racer toy. frame+fork = sub-5lb!
I saw one of those cruise by on Elk Ave on the 4th. Pretty distinctive looking bike.
I guess bikes are kind of like prostitutes, you can ride a cheap one but the expensive ones are better to be actually seen with and brag about to your friends.
They probably will perform better but you have to perform also to really get your moneys worth.
High end bikes that are worthy of their pricetags should sell out fast, especially ones that are filling a hole, even in a niche market otherwise the manufacturers/builders risk is not worth it. Can anyone say custom, lightweight, FS? How much are they going for in a 29″ format these days? Sales brisk? You bet. How about long lead time Ti frames with noodly bends? The line forms at the rear, that is if the line is not closed off. All in all high end bikes are still a cheaper hobby than whoring around and usually don’t end up in a divorce if the wife finds out about it either.
That whole prostitute metaphor was effingbrilliant!
Race success is what will promote this more than anything. Assuming they really do turn out to be better.
-M
Yeah, that bike could be an embarassment to the guy that can’t match the looks with his legs! Crazy looking bike, but soo interesting, almost like artwork.
I agree that if someone starts pulling down some hardware on a 29″er that the “movement” might become an “earthquake”, in terms of interest and sales generated. It’s going to take someone with an already powerhouse team, like Specialized, to put their athletes onboard one of these 29″ers before that happens, though. No “privateer” is going to break into the top ranks. Not anymore these days.
I think that the whole “own an F-1 of the bike world” thing is one of the coolest features of being a cyclist. You can own and ride the very latest/best equipment and not have to be super rich to buy it, or be a technically trained racer to operate it.
You just run the risk of being called a poser!
That would be such a sweet singlespeed..droool