# Is Orbea the Trek of Spain?



## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

I was in spain last year and went into a few shops in the Barcellona area. Every shop was selling these bikes there. I know they are a spanish company, but are they the equivelant to Trek in the US. I am not trying to compare them quality wise, but rather to the proliferation of them as the home town bike for spain.


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## foz (Sep 30, 2004)

*i live here and i´ve got one...*

i´ve never been to the states so i don´t know how common treks are over there, but orbeas (usually named zeus in spain) are very common over here. it´s not surprising really, because they are by far the best value for money there is, at least in spain, i don´t know how their prices compare elsewhere. my 2002 airplane frameset with full carbon fork, centaur 10 and kysrium ssc cost me about 1800 euros if a remember correctly (2423 USD at today´s rate). the equivalent colnago frame at that time was the dream (this was before it had carbon stays and HP) and the frame only price was twice the frame only price of my frame. they also give you lots of options of frame, group, finishing kit, wheels, paint, etc that means you can get more or less exactly the bike you want at a very reasonable price. there are a lot of them on the roads over here, but there are probably just as many colnagos as there are orbeas, and the top of the line orca and the starship are very well reknowned frames (comunitat valenciana, euskaltel and of course the orbea team all ride them in the pro ranks)

foz


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## Boise100 (Sep 9, 2003)

I was given an 03 Orbea lobular 100 from a friend that races for team Iomega-orbea. I almost have it built. It does seem like the frame is specific to Orbea and not a renamed eastern pacific build. I was wondering what sort of other brands is Orbea on par with. Is it considered a "yuppy" brand like a Colnago or Pinerello (sp?).


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## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

Boise100 said:


> I was given an 03 Orbea lobular 100 from a friend that races for team Iomega-orbea. I almost have it built. It does seem like the frame is specific to Orbea and not a renamed eastern pacific build. I was wondering what sort of other brands is Orbea on par with. Is it considered a "yuppy" brand like a Colnago or Pinerello (sp?).


Are Colnago or Pinarello considered "yuppy" in Italy?


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## Boise100 (Sep 9, 2003)

Well, in the context of the US market. It seems in most of the high $ comparisons there is an Orbea in the lineup.


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## Italianrider76 (May 13, 2005)

filtersweep said:


> Are Colnago or Pinarello considered "yuppy" in Italy?


Not really.....they're just brands that have a history and tradition. This translates to prestige. We Italians don't consider the yuppy lifestyle like americans do..eg..working in finance, hanging out at fashionable cafe's and restaurants.

Having said that I do believe that Colnago and Pinarello are somewhat overpriced. Prestige and history come at a high price. I think companies like Giant for example produce bikes of a similar quality but a much more realistic price. I recently got to ride a Giant TCR Advanced and was blown away with the quality of this bike. It would give any Pinarello, Colnago, Bianch or De Rosa a serious run for its money.


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## Hooben (Aug 22, 2004)

Trek has had such a quick rise to glory, and now they push technology so far. 
I remember when team 7-11 had to sit on bikes that read HUFFY...how
embarassing. The Orbea has much tradition that Trek, as of yet, does not.
Back when Trek was not real well known and when 7-11 was on huffys, Pedro
Delgado was in the Tour de France on an Orbea. To me its like the Pinarello
of Spain.


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

Hooben said:


> Trek has had such a quick rise to glory, and now they push technology so far.
> I remember when team 7-11 had to sit on bikes that read HUFFY...how
> embarassing. The Orbea has much tradition that Trek, as of yet, does not.
> Back when Trek was not real well known and when 7-11 was on huffys, Pedro
> ...


The Huffy bikes the 7-11 guys were riding were in fact state of the art Serotta's.


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## Thommy (Sep 23, 2003)

*Huffy road bikes*

I still can't beleive how many people STILL think Huffys were actually Huffys riding around stomping Euro-trash pro cyclists.


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## Hooben (Aug 22, 2004)

I can't believe that a great company like serotta would allow one of their masterpieces to get labeled Huffy. Hey, back then Huffy was a big seller at the department store. Unfortunately I don't think that 7-11 kicked too much Euro - butt.
If it says huffy, then it's a huffy. 
That's what everyone watching on TV thought.


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## Serac (Jul 22, 2002)

*Whats the story with the Huffy label?*



spookyload said:


> The Huffy bikes the 7-11 guys were riding were in fact state of the art Serotta's.



Does anyone know why the bikes weren't tagged Serotta?


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## botto (Jul 22, 2005)

*same reason why Indurain's Pinarello wasn't labeled Pegoretti*



Serac said:


> Does anyone know why the bikes weren't tagged Serotta?


beacuse another company paid money to have their names painted on the frame. 

these days it's kind of tough to ride a serotta with a trek/giant/specialized paint job and actually get away with it (think armstrong's litespeed blade TT bike with a trek paint job in the '99 TdF)


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