Orbea is a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

manufacturer based in Mallabia, Spain. It is part of the

Mondragón Cooperative Corporation The Mondragon Corporation is a corporation and federation of worker cooperatives based in the Basque region of Spain. It was founded in the town of Mondragon in 1956 by José María Arizmendiarrieta and a group of his students at a technical ...

and Spain's largest bicycle manufacturer. Orbea manufactures and assembles bikes at their own factory in Mallabia, the other models being made in Portugal and frameset are from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

History

Bicicleta Orbea (de la decada de 1970) 01

Orbea was founded in 1840 by brothers Juan Manuel, Mateo, and Casimiro Orbea in Eibar,

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

, Spain. Originally a rifle and gun producer, Orbea exited the gun business and began designing and producing bicycles as Orbea Bicycles in 1930. Orbea began participating in the Tour de France as early as 1934, with famous Spaniard

Mariano Cañardo Mariano Cañardo Lacasta (5 February 1906 in Olite – 21 June 1987 in Barcelona) was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He won a record seven editions of the Volta a Catalunya in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as four Spanish National Ro ...

as the face of the Orbea

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

team. In 1969, under dire financial circumstances, employees formed a co-operative and purchased Orbea from the Orbea family. The newly formed Orbea cooperative left Eibar the same year to nearby Mallabia, where their first dedicated bicycle factory was built. For the next several decades, the company would focus on producing leisure bikes for consumers in Spain and around Europe. Orbea would return to competitive road cycling in the 1980s as Gin MG-Orbea and later

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

-Orbea, led by Spaniard cyclists Pedro Delgado,

Jokin Mújika Jokin Mújika Aramburu (born 22 August 1962) is a former professional road cyclist and cyclocross-racer from the Basque Country. Career achievements Major results Road * Stage 2, Vuelta a Galega 1984 * Stage 7, Tour de l'Avenir 1986 * General ...

, and

Pello Ruiz Cabestany Pello Ruiz Cabestany (born March 13, 1962 in San Sebastián) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. Major results ;1980 : 1st Pursuit, National Track Championships ;1982 : 1st : 1st Stages 8b & 11 Vuelta a Guatemala : 1st Stage ...

. Participating in both Tour de France and Vuelta a España. Orbea began manufacturing

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

s in 1989.

Products

Orbea designs and manufactures a variety of road, mountain, triathlon, and urban bikes. More famously seen in competitions: the Orca and Avant road bikes, Rallon and Occam Mountain Bikes, and Ordu time trial/triathlon models.

Competitive use

Orbea has sponsored and supplied bikes to teams, including the professional team in the Basque area of Spain and the Herring Gas team in the USA.

Samuel Sánchez Samuel "Samu" Sánchez González (born 5 February 1978) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally in the sport between 2000 and 2017 for the and squads. He was the gold medal winner in the road race at the 2 ...

rode an Orbea Orca Carbon to win the road race at the Beijing Olympics and

Julien Absalon Julien Arnaud Absalon (born 16 August 1980) is a French cross-country mountain biker. Career 2003: Absalon won his first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. 2004: Gold at World Champions and the Athens Olympic Games. 2005: Absalon again won the Wor ...

won the

gold on an Orbea Alma. Craig Alexander, three time Ironman World Triathlon Champion (2008, 2009, 2011), rode an Orbea Ordu in his first 2 wins and although he had planned to spend the rest of his career racing on Orbea bicycles, having signed a lifetime contract with Orbea in 2010, he switched to another brand for the 2011 race. The UCI Professional Continental team

Cofidis Solutions Crédits Cofidis is a French company, now majority owned by Crédit Mutuel, based in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. Founded in 1982 by 3 Suisses International in cooperation with Cetelem, Cofidis specialized in the consumer credit business of the 3 Suisses Group. It ...

raced Orbea bikes in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The UCI Domestic Elite Cycling Team, Rio Grande Elite Cycling Team, currently races on Orbea bikes.

E-bikes

Launching at the end of 2017, Orbea introduced the Gain

e-bike An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...

model available in both road and hybrid model. Further to this they introduced the electric-assisted Orbea Wild

in 2019.

References

External links

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Orbea AustraliaOrbea RomaniaCyclingnews.com - Inside Orbea: Spain's co-operative bike company
{{Sports equipment brands Firearm manufacturers of Spain Cycle manufacturers of Spain Mondragon Corporation Mountain bike manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1840 Basque companies Spanish brands Gipuzkoa