I too, love the orange.

Given the bikes that pros race today, there is hardly much perceptible difference among them I suspect. They are only good in so far as how good they suit the rider fit wise and performance wise. Do they win more races at the hands of the professionals? Absolutely. Could do they do the same with a lower brand? They could. The business of cycling is such that there is a certain democracy. The best things that the pro’s use, even normal riders like you and me can buy and use too. I think cycling business is really lucky to have this relationship with pro riders. I cannot see how else some of the big companies today would make their huge profits. Take Cervelo for example. They only make race bikes, and nothing for the utilitarian masses. Do they have a long and storied past, like Colnago does? No. But I suspect a large reason behind why they are selling is simply that pros are riding and winning more on them. Period. In fact, this brings about a delusion in the mind of consumers. Not only do they believe that they are sharing in the collective glory of the pro team by buying the same bike, they also entertain the notion that they will also win or somehow perform better with the same. To me, that second part is a delusion. Its a fancy.

On rare occasions I can see through the smoke & mirrors of the bike industry and buy a frame or other component that works well period. Orbea products seem to fall in this category. Plus it’s nice not to follow the crowd that follows the trends and buy a Trek or other well publicized bike. On another note I recently got tired of replacing my ultralight road frame every three years and bought a steel road frame and built it up to 18 lbs – it should last 10 years!

Thanks for another quality article.

I picked up a used orange 2006 Orbea Onix last year and have been really enjoying it. It was great to read about the roots and history of Orbea.

Great piece and one that is obviously well researched. Just wanted to add to your post by highlighting the concept of emotional design, the notion of how we experience the design of objects, put forth by design theorist Donald Norman in a book of the same title. He states that there are 3 levels of design at play: visceral, behavioural, and reflective. You have clearly picked up on the reflective nature of the bicycle, the politics and meaning behind associating yourself with the machine. Beyond the crisp shifting of your gruppo (behavioural) and that feeling you get when you admire the orange paint (visceral), the story behind the bicycle matters to you and your values.

Well done and see you on Seymour.