Another question I get alot: "So, Sol, which is your favorite bike you've ridden during your years at Austinbikes?" I have a definitive answer for this one: Each one has been the best at something and none (that I can remember) would rate in the "terrible" column in any one category. Some of the highlights I can remember ever since I began ranking are as follows:
Orbea Opal 2006-INVISIBLE- This bike was originally intended as a stop-gap measure while floating between two bikes. I ended up racing this bike quite a few times at The Pure Austin Fitness Driveway Series and found it extremely capable, fairly light (full carbon frame with full carbon fork) but most of all a great all-around rider/racer. I don't know how to say this and make it sound like a positive commentary though it is intended to be; this bike was invisible during a ride.
Orbea Orca 2008- MATURE-I rode this bike for about 4 months. It pretty much opened my eyes as to what a bunch of good hard thought and design would produce in a carbon racing frame. The full carbon fork on this bike is reasonably light and definitely the stiffest 1 1/8" fork I have ridden to date. Stiff bike (laterally) for sure, but what amazed me about this bike is how comfy it was. All day in the saddle rides were a breeze, and those Basque craftsmen know how to build a bike that climbs like monkey chased by a tiger.
Orbea Opal 2009- EVOLVED-I picked this bike up with a newly-released full Dura-Ace 7900 group. This selection confirmed three things. A) Orbea's R&D team was really on-point in the redesign of a model which took them through 4 good years without a hiccup. The fork was borrowed from the Orca (read review above) and the frame retained alot of the design qualities of the Orca withoug the high pricetag. I also really liked the look of this bike. Really sporty, great paint and nice juxtaposition of fork artwork with frame *contrasty* B) Shimano "does" front shifting better than anyone in the industry C) Shimano Rear (road) shifting development squad needs to back away from the ping-pong table, unsubscribe from their online World of Warcraft accounts and get back to the drawing board.
Scott Addict ISP 2009- PEPPY- If you are the kind of guy that likes riding a F1 car up and down pot-holey streets because you just love that "road feel" this no-longer-produced bike would be worth hunting down and securing as yours! With this bike, efficiency is the name of the game. Zero flex, Zero frills, next-to-Zero weight (780 grams for frame with integrated seat mast). Press on the pedals of this bike and it moves. Never impressed me all that much as a climber even though it was really light. Don't know exactly what to attribute this to other than perhaps because it was SOOOO stiff it didn't really move with my body amidst that very specific type of output.
Orbea Orca Olympic 2010-MATURE AND WHITE- This bike was identical in every way to the Orca reviewed above with the exception of a BB30 bottom bracket and a tapered 1 1/8"-1 1/2" full carbon fork. I didn't notice any difference at all with these two additions. That was fine, since the bike wasn't any more expensive, it just give the market what it was wanting...a reason to sell their old cranks and get new ones!
Storck Fenomalist 2010- WHEEL: RE-INVENTED-This bike surprised me. Though not my ideal geometry (rather short wheelbase for my size and really really compact seattube and super super short headtube. read: I actually had to ride headset spacers. All this aside it rode exceptionally well. Fast handling (thanks to it's peculiarly minimal 37.5mm rake and 72.5 deg headtube angle) and really zippy. The rear-facing dropouts (a-la Klein bikes) really produced an amazing feel of power to the rear wheel. The rear triangle of this bike is where it really shined though. Super stout and well-appointed seat and chainstays made for the stiffest rear end in this compilation.
Ridley Noah 2011-JET PROPULSION- Literally the Swiss Army Knife of bikes. It climbed almost as good as an orca, had a rear end almost as stiff as the Fenomalist, the striking looks comparable to the Orca. But on a cool crisp morning, take this bike out to an open stretch of road and let 'er rip. This bike like to roll FAST. This is the frameset equivalent to racing on a pair of Mavic Cosmic Carbone's. A bit harder to accelerate than a pair of Zipp 202 tubulars but "set it and forget it" once your speed reaches 20+ MPH.
Look 695 2011- 10K BIKE YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU NEEDED- This bike is a bushel and a peck of crazy high tech. Additionally, it is like a rolling fine art canvas. Having really put a antique Look Kg281 through the ringer years ago as a Cat 3 morphing Cat 2, (circa 2001) I have been eyeing this brand from a safe distance since then. From a distance due to the fact that my Kg was, lets face it, a noodle. Old school aluminum-lugged w/round-tubed carbon did not perform well up against my 170 pound bull-in-a-china-shop style. In the years since Look has steadily been "teching up" and have successfully accomplished what lots of the big names have half-heartedly attempted in recent years. Look has parlayed their hands-on craftsmanship into an integrated design dynasty.
Those crazy frenchies at Look asked themselves a few years ago: why do people design their top-tier bikes for off-the-shelf parts relinquishing many very important ride characteristics to the component manufacturers specifications. The industry now thinks 24 millimeter thru-spindles are too skinny. BB30 must be the obvious choice, right? Six millimeters means you can use aluminum as a bottom bracket spindle instead. Great! Eureka! We've done it. Look says otherwise. Look counters: Why don't we make the bottom bracket shell big enough to put a ultra-rigid one-piece all carbon crank/bb spindle that we design and build here in France at 320 grams?
"Oh wait, then how is Glen Shimano or Johnny Sram gonna get their cranks on my bike," you ask? You should answer in singsong voice "Keep your off the shelf parts to yourself, thankyouverymuch." Do you prefer specifically designed and tuned components? Keep reading. Next, Let's see how that same philosophy could possibly effect the fork taper/stiffness and stem/front end stiffness. A continuously taper-rooted carbon fork that weighs less than any tapered fork on the market at 295 grams. Top it off with an integrated 1/2 mast seatpost designed in house that allows a rider to tune setback on the fly and select her own desired of shock absorption thru the use of interchangeable seatpost elastomer inserts.
This bike exists. And I *currently* own it. If you have appx a 74cm seatpost height, hit me up and I just may let you ride it.
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