The latest evolution of the Orbea Oiz has pushed the performance limit further. The Cape Epic winning bike’s latest iteration has now landed in South Africa!
Orbea was born, way back when, in the year 1840 in Northern Spain and their bikes are designed and assembled there to this day. The ethos of this company is creating high quality bicycles that are category leaders in many respects and tailored to suit the people who ride them.rbea
The Oiz is Orbea’s fully fledged marathon and XCO racing weapon, the previous generation of the bike was raced to victory at the 2022 ABSA Cape Epic by Georg Egger and Lukas Baum and the duo will be racing aboard the 2023 Orbea Oiz at this year’s Epic to defend their title.
That 2023 Oiz is a highly refined race bike that combines some great geometry with a lightweight frame and 120mm suspension platform to make for a formidable package that pros and amateurs alike can take full advantage of in search of speed and big mileage. Here are some of the key details and geo numbers of the Oiz M11 AXS that we’ve had for a couple days to check out!
2023 Orbea Oiz M11 AXS Specs
- Frame: Full Carbon, alloy options available as well. 1740g frame weight. Linkage driven single pivot with flex stays
- Suspension: Fox Performance: 3 Stage lockout. 120mm of travel front and rear
- Brakes: Shimano XT M8100 2 piston. 180 mm / 160 mm rotors front / rear
- Drivetrain: SRAM GX Eagle AXS 10-50t
- Wheels: OQUO Alloy 28mm internal width / DT SWISS 350 Hubs
- Tires: MAXXIS Reckon Race 2.4 EXO 120 TPI
- Seatpost: OC Mountain Control 125mm drop (medium)
- Saddle: Fizik Taiga
- Cockpit: OC Mountain Performance 760mm flat bar | OC Mountain Performance Stem 75mm / – 6 deg
- Additional Notes: Internal Cable Routing via headset, 2 bottle cage mounts, Orbea chain guide.
- See more detail below.
2023 Orbea Oiz Geometry
You can find all the 2023 Orbea Oiz geometry numbers for each size in the chart below.
2023 Orbea Oiz Design
The core of this bike is the Carbon Oiz Frame. The design ethos of the Oiz is using simplicity to achieve light weight and ultimately speed. You’ve got 120mm of travel at the rear wheel through a flex stay linkage driven single pivot system, a very popular and high performing design found on several on modern XC and Marathon bikes. Having 120mm of travel available means that you get a more compliant ride which makes a difference on the harsh South African terrain. A lot of our climbs are rugged and a bike like the Oiz allows you to maintain traction easier on this kind of terrain. What Orbea have done well is to retain that taut feeling of a performance focused racer despite the increased compliance.
2023 Orbea Oiz Model Range
Orbea are playing no games when it comes to spec choices across their model range with 8 Carbon base builds and 3 Alloy models, before you even look into the customisations. The welding on the alloy bikes is very tidy to the point where you could easily mistake them for a Carbon model!
The best thing to do is to head onto www.cyclelab.com to see which models are available locally.
First Impressions
I must note that this is not a full review of the new Orbea Oiz but rather an overview of the bike with some focus on its key features as well as some initial impressions.
Sizing
The Oiz comes in 4 sizes from Small to XL and caters for riders from 155cm tall up to 198cm. At 178cm tall, the medium bike was comfortable for me and offered a very agile ride but I could also see myself opting for a bit more room and stability on the size Large for marathon racing.
Setup
In the online user manual you’ll find recommended suspension pressures for the Oiz and they felt bang on from the get go. I think at worst they’ll get you into a solid starting position from where you can make some tweaks to suit your style, good job to Orbea there!
Note: You’ll need to scroll a fair bit through the bike’s manual to find those suspension settings.
Handling
Taking the first few corners on the Oiz you’ll notice that the ride is very well balanced. Your weight is well distributed between the two wheels and there aren’t any big movements required to generate good traction, you can just get on with hitting the line that you want. This would be owed to the refined geometry of the bike and the 120mm of travel allowing the bike to sit a little deeper in the travel and thus more settled and supple on the wheels than with a 100mm option.
The Oiz has a great get up and go feeling on the trail which I noticed particularly on technical climbs. Both the middle and open settings on the suspension lockout felt supple enough to keep the wheels rolling and generate traction when things got rough while still being supportive. Fully locked out, the bike is firm and responsive but not harsh which I personally enjoyed.
Orbea Oiz Highlights
- As for the bike’s highlights, I’ll definitely note the 120mm suspension platform. It manages it well so that you’re in a real sweet spot with ample traction bust still a responsive ride.
- You’ve got 2 bottle cage mounts on all frame sizes, crucial for the African sun!
- The overall aesthetic of the bike is very sleek from the frame construction to the headset cable routing and colour options.
- Lastly it is always good to see a bike specced with a dropper seatpost off the floor, allowing the rider more control to ride safer and / or faster, whatever you choose.
So that is the Orbea Oiz in overview with a few initial thoughts on the ride and its best features!
To get your hands on one for a test ride or to make it yours, get online at cyclelab.com or head to your nearest Cycle Lab store.
