Kirk and Deville
So they made a good bike….actually change that…. they made a great bike. It slinked in. But how. Late 2013 the world’s press were invited for two days riding after the final Enduro World series race in Finale. Some were hungover, others did not turn up until late. But this was no time for nothing less than a hundred per cent focus for this was a bike that demanded the utmost respect. For many at that camp it took but one run for the perspective of Orbea to be transformed from an also ran in terms of enduro hardware to arguably one of the best pieces of 160mm machinery on the market.
“So they made a good bike… actually change that… they made a great bike”
It comes underpinned with some of the finest dampers in the business. Orbea working closely with their partners Bos located on the other side of the Pyrenees in Toulouse. With the Kirk on the rear and the Deville up front they have some of the best in the business controlling the 160mm of Basque travel.
And its adjustable, not by way of complex levers and pistons like the Canyon Shapeshifter, the bike just features a really neat flip-chip to lower or raise the bottom bracket. We simply slung it in the low setting and dumped it off the hill pretty sharpish. And boy it has a low bottom bracket, one of the lowest in the business for a 160mm travel bike. This creates a low centre of gravity, delivers great manoeuvrability and the weight distribution and cornering on this bike is fantastic
Orbea are obviously tuned into offering a great component package too. Shimano XT brakes, Reverb Stealth, Race Face Next SL, DT Spline E-1700 in a good price just over four thousand pounds.
Where does it sit in the scheme of things? Less expensive than a Specialized Enduro, larger than a YT Capra, less complicated and bigger hitting than a Canyon Strive and certainly more bulletproof than most carbon offerings. But then that’s what you’d expect of a company that began life making guns. Rallon gives it, all barrels.
