Orbea Mitis 4 Double

Price Paid:  $1899.00 at LBS(Mike's Bikes in

Model Year:
2006

Favorite Ride:
Anything Flat to Rolling Hills...

Bike Setup:
Orbea Mitis 4 w/ Campy Veloce, Orbea Brakes, Selle Italia SLR Gel.

Summary:
First off this is an awesome frame. The finish, the paint and the ride quality is unequaled of similarly or even higher priced bikes. Carbon fiber chainstays and the seat stays take the edge off the road. After riding this bike on some extended rides including a 60 plus mile trip you really start appreciating the carbon fiber. Main triangle is built out of 7005 aliminium making it an awesome sprinting/crit bike. The frame is very stiff and I can actually hop the rear wheel off the ground at times while sprinting. Campagnolo Veloce Grouppo that came equipped with the bike is more than adequate for a mid-level rider. In my personal opinion its equivalent of an Ultegra from Shimano. Shifting is extremely crisp and almost instantenous. Sometimes it is so smooth I'll have to glance at the casette to make sure it shifted. Compact frame with 73.2 headtube angle and a 73.2 seat tube angle makes it to be an extremely responsive bike. If you are not a fan of twitchy/responsive bikes you might want to consider another frame. Personally I love it. The bike corners as it is on rails, extremely secure feeling while dipping in and out of turns. Compact frame might be a little uncomfortable for the less flexible kind, if you are a little less flexible than most might want to try out a semi-compact frame.

Strengths:
Cornering
Responsiveness
Quality of Ride

Weaknesses:
Campact Frame might be a little uncomfortable at first.
The original seat is absolute torture.

Similar Products Used:
2006 Specialized Allez Elite(105 w/ carbon seat stays)

2006 Felt F-75 9carbon seat stays with 105/ultegra mix)

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Glory Cycles

Favorite Ride:
Wasatch Crest Trail

Bike Setup:
Orbea Mitis 4 double, stock. Only thing that I will change out is the white bartape, which was dirty before I ever finished first ride. Can't wait to see how ghetto it looks after a mid-ride tire change.

Summary:
I have been researching road bikes for almost 2 years. I almost bought 4 different bikes, but nothing felt perfect until this bike. It is a brand new bike that I just set up today. Only rode shortly to dial it in. Here are my initial thoughts: stunning frame, ultegra shifts very smoothly, very light and responsive.
This is a huge upgrade from my original road bike (12 speed trek 1200). This bike is absolutely beautiful. I got the Dallas Cowboy color scheme (blue/silver). The frame is definately stiff enough for my size: 5'11" 220lbs. I can stand and sprint and this bike takes off. Responsiveness is phenomenal.

After looking at new road bikes, I came to several conclusions: (1) customer service is virtually nonexistent in my LBS's-- possibly because I was looking in the sub $2k price range? (2) knowledge base of salespeople is less than I learned in 20 minutes on the internet, which makes no sense since it seems that bike buyers tend to research their decisions more than car buyers (3) little increase in price (+100-200) signifigantly upgrades components, except to dura ace, which is a huge jump (4) everything pretty much looks/ cost similar, within a few hundred bucks...Giant, Klein, Specialized, etc. or Trek, Felt, etc, until I saw the Orbeas. The craftsmanship of these frames is exceptional. Plus, the fit for me is perfect, which immediately ruled out Trek and Felt. Sloping toptube/ compact geometry is perfect for me. I have only a 30" inseam and am 5'11". So, conventional framesets do not allow adequate standover for me. The compact does this for me beautifully. Not that standover is overly important for a roadbike, but when you need it, it is nice to have.

Upgrading from downtube 105 12 speed, everything is a step up. But, let me say, Ultegra blew me away. It is so damn light and accurate.

I will update this as I add on the miles, but just wanted to give first impressions.


Finally, I would like to give a plug for Glory Cycles. I found them on the Orbea website, and they were awesome. They are the most informed roadie shop that I have ever dealt with. They will sell mail order, their prices are excellent, and their custome service is awesome.

My final thoughts are this: the supergo house brand bikes are an awesome value and I almost bought one of those. But, I have skimped before and been unhappy and here is why I didn't: Purchasing a road bike should not be compared to purchasing a mountain bike. Think of this, how many old road bikes do you see still hanging in friends garages? Better still, how many old road bikes do you see people riding? I bet alot. If you save 2-300 dollars, what does that equate to per ride if you have the bike for 10+ years? Not much. Also, the technology does not affect road bikes as much as mountain bikes. Also the abuse factor is signifigantly less. So, I decided to buy something really nice. I want the frame to last, and I want the components to last. Also, I think that compact geometry or semi-compact is where the industry is definately heading. We can argue the pros and cons forever, but as I said, it is definately right for my measurements.

Strengths:
looks and originality
lifetime warranty
stiffness
carbon
component specs
price

Weaknesses:
None yet.

Similar Products Used:
Lemond Zurich-- probably my second choice. little heavy, semi-compact frame geometry was ok fit, not perfect.
Specialized Robeaux-- too soft, felt dead
Specialized Allez-- way too flexy, felt easy to overpower.
Trek 5000- little too flexy, poor fit for me
Felt- best components for the $$, just didn't fit me well. nice looks
Klein- nice looks, least value
Fondriest-- amazing frame, maybe better than orbea, but framesets alone are tough to testride.
Giant TCR -- forget it; too vanilla