# Orbea Opal w/ Sram Force



## rcordray (Jul 30, 2006)

To all:

My first post here.
I'm 52, 185 lbs. I've been road riding off and on since high school, with a long hiatus into rock climbing and mountain biking. My previous ride has been an '05 Cannondale R1000, size 58, with full Ultegra, Triple Crank 30/39/53 10 spd, 11-25 cassette. I live in Studio City, CA at the base of the Santa Monica Mtns. My usual morning ride is up to Mulholland Drive via local side streets that can include grades of up to 22% (Sunswept Rd. done clockwise) A more typical ride would be around 10 miles with about 1200 feet of climbing on grades of 16% or less, or a flatter spin over to Griffith park and back. I purchased the triple because of the availibilty of stiff climbs in my neighborhood. I get some longer rides on the weekends out to the Malibu Mountains with occasional trips up to Mammoth to ride at altitude. When I purchased the C'dale, I was unaware of the more recent compact drivetrain technology, and began immediately to research what I wanted in my next bike. After many hours reading reviews on the web, checking out the annual buyers guides in the cycling rags, visiting local shops to drool over all the eye candy on display, and endless hours of discussion with any roadies willing to talk (all of them..) I decided to look into a full carbon-fiber frame with a compact drivetrain. My choices were many and varied but the one bike that kept creeping into my head was the Orbea. My local shop is Universal Cycles in the Cahuenga pass, and the owners, Owen and Carlos, had an Opal on display. I was really impressed with the workmanship and looks of the frame and the specs showed it to be really light and stiff. Owen let me test drive his own Opal, size 60. The top tube of the Opal 60 is 59cm, the same as my C'dale's. His was set up with a conventional Dura Ace double 39/53. I loved the frame and the size seemed perfect for me. The bike just leapt under my pedals and on my test drive around Griffith park, I felt like I was flying. The difference between carbon and aluminum was astounding. I started a piggy bank slush fund and started researching the various choices of drivetrains. I've been very intrigued by the new Sram Force gruppo and have read every review I can find. When I read online that Orbea would market their line with Sram, I was hooked. Two weeks ago, I went to see Owen and Carlos and lo and behold... There's an Opal with the Sram on display! I ordered one on the spot. I recieved it this past Tuesday and Owen spent a couple of hours dialing in the fit. Before pedals and cages, the bike weighed just a tick under 15.5 lbs. I added my Fizik Aliante carbon saddle, my Look Keo Carbon-Ti pedals, and carbon bottle cages and it's still under 16 lbs. Here's the noble steed:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62116&stc=1&d=1155439620

I went with the compact crank in a 34/50:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62117&stc=1&d=1155439741

I got the 11-26 climbing cassette:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62118&stc=1&d=1155439910

The Cockpit with my VDO MC 1.0+ (Superb Cyclocomputer w/Altimeter!)

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62119&stc=1&d=1155440061

The right shifter:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62120&stc=1&d=1155440115

Front Brake:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62121&stc=1&d=1155440199

The review:
It took all of about two minutes to get used to the Sram double-tap shifting. Seriously, this is a beautifully-engineered system. It is completely intuitive and works flawlessly as near as I can tell. I have about 75 miles on the bike so far and about 8500 feet of climbing, and I absolutely love the drivetrain. Having come from the past 3500 miles on an Ultegra triple, this is a huge step up in terms of weight-savings, and convenience. I have a very close match to my previous gear ratios and the Sram shifts gears silently and precisely. One nice difference over the Shimano STI, is that the brake levers on the Sram do not swing like they need to on the STI. On a quick transition from a steep dowhill while braking into a steep uphill, I can brake with my index finger while shifting with my middle finger. A subtle difference is that the STI levers sweep parallel to the handle bar, while the Sram's arc toward you a little. No biggie.

The bike is simply a gorgeous piece of art. It is beautifully crafted with large-weave carbon seen on few other brands. I purchased an '06 model, which has more subtle garphics than the '07. The airbrushed paint accents on this bike are really nice. The bottom bracket area is beefy and must certainly add to the stiffness. If there's one design aspect that takes some getting used to, it's the junction of all the tubes of the front triangle. It seems a bit oversized to my traditionalist tastes. I was told that the oversized head triangle helps in torsional stiffness while climbing and steep twisty descents. It does present a large surface area in crosswinds, though. I paid $3999 for this bike and I feel like I got a steal of a deal, what with the full-carbon monococque frame and the new Sram compact gruppo. A note about sizing: there seems to be a lot of disagreement on Orbea sizing on this website. Many new Orbea buyers claim to have gone down in size from their previous bikes... I went up and couldn't be more pleased. Perhaps I was riding too small of a C'dale? Not sure, but in checking my measurements closely, the 60 Orbea Opal seemed almost identical to the 58 Cannondale R1000.


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## The Dude (Sep 14, 2005)

rcordray said:


> To all:
> 
> My first post here.
> I'm 52, 185 lbs. I've been road riding off and on since high school, with a long hiatus into rock climbing and mountain biking. My previous ride has been an '05 Cannondale R1000, size 58, with full Ultegra, Triple Crank 30/39/53 10 spd, 11-25 cassette. I live in Studio City, CA at the base of the Santa Monica Mtns. My usual morning ride is up to Mulholland Drive via local side streets that can include grades of up to 22% (Sunswept Rd. done clockwise) A more typical ride would be around 10 miles with about 1200 feet of climbing on grades of 16% or less, or a flatter spin over to Griffith park and back. I purchased the triple because of the availibilty of stiff climbs in my neighborhood. I get some longer rides on the weekends out to the Malibu Mountains with occasional trips up to Mammoth to ride at altitude. When I purchased the C'dale, I was unaware of the more recent compact drivetrain technology, and began immediately to research what I wanted in my next bike. After many hours reading reviews on the web, checking out the annual buyers guides in the cycling rags, visiting local shops to drool over all the eye candy on display, and endless hours of discussion with any roadies willing to talk (all of them..) I decided to look into a full carbon-fiber frame with a compact drivetrain. My choices were many and varied but the one bike that kept creeping into my head was the Orbea. My local shop is Universal Cycles in the Cahuenga pass, and the owners, Owen and Carlos, had an Opal on display. I was really impressed with the workmanship and looks of the frame and the specs showed it to be really light and stiff. Owen let me test drive his own Opal, size 60. The top tube of the Opal 60 is 59cm, the same as my C'dale's. His was set up with a conventional Dura Ace double 39/53. I loved the frame and the size seemed perfect for me. The bike just leapt under my pedals and on my test drive around Griffith park, I felt like I was flying. The difference between carbon and aluminum was astounding. I started a piggy bank slush fund and started researching the various choices of drivetrains. I've been very intrigued by the new Sram Force gruppo and have read every review I can find. When I read online that Orbea would market their line with Sram, I was hooked. Two weeks ago, I went to see Owen and Carlos and lo and behold... There's an Opal with the Sram on display! I ordered one on the spot. I recieved it this past Tuesday and Owen spent a couple of hours dialing in the fit. Before pedals and cages, the bike weighed just a tick under 15.5 lbs. I added my Fizik Aliante carbon saddle, my Look Keo Carbon-Ti pedals, and carbon bottle cages and it's still under 16 lbs. Here's the noble steed:
> ...


Great review on the SRAM. I think my wife is switching over from DA and I think this helps my case.


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## rcordray (Jul 30, 2006)

*More to add...*

Thanx! Having had another week on the bike I have a couple more thoughts to add. I have a chronically sprained right thumb that has taken way too long to heal. My former Ultegra setup w/ the STI shifters seemed to constantly aggravate the sprain. the Sram shifters are significantly smaller, more ergo, and don't have the cable emerging from the side, like Shimano. They fit my hand comfortably and I'm not struggling to find a pain-free position when I'm riding on the hoods. I know this is an issue specific to my right hand, not everyone else's, but I do like the comfort factor. The look is very clean, like Campy, having the derailleur cable hidden under the bar tape. Another thing: I have short, stubby fingers and the STI brake levers always seemed a little out of reach when I was in the drops. I never tried the shims that are available that bring the levers closer to your hand, I simply did most of my braking from the hoods. When I was in the drops and needed to brake, I almost always brought my hand up topside to brake. With the Sram, they are much closer and I don't feel that I need to change hand positions. I'm able to stay in the drops which adds to the aerodynamics and therefore speed!


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## chainwheelfrank (Jul 11, 2006)

*Sram*

Good review, i love the Sram also. Only one complaint so far. I am too dumb to remember what gear I am in. With no gear indicator I will occasionally try to shift to a lower gear when in my lowest (26t)) gear. It doesn't stop like shimano or campy, rather it goes down to the 24t.
--Frank


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