The world’s most prestigious mountain bike stage race is renowned for being the ultimate test of rider and bike and in 2022, Speed Company Racing’s Lukas Baum and Georg Egger, passed that test with distinction, claiming the overall title at their first attempt on Orbea Oiz bikes. They’re back for the 2023 edition to defend their title, armed with the new Orbea Oiz. Here’s why it’s an absolute weapon.
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You can’t really fault the credibility of a bike that wins the Absa Cape Epic. The eight-day race through rugged South African terrain at race pace places demands on a bike that no other race does. Baum and Egger’s Cape Epic victory story has been widely told and two standout features include the fact that they had no mechanicals during the race; and cleaned and maintained their own bikes after each stage.
That kind of reliability is what bike brands strive for. Months of training, hundreds of thousands of Rand spent on bikes, components, supplements, gear and preparation races in the build-up, is a tremendous investment. It’s not something you want to risk, which is why Orbea’s choice of big-brand, non-proprietary components for ease of maintenance or replacement is smart and gives the rider peace of mind.
In August 2022, Orbea launched the new Oiz. It maintains its class and styling, but has been completely redesigned to deliver a new-school XC bike that’s ideal for XCO racing, marathons and stage-racing.
HERE’S WHAT’S NEW
- An all-new frame that’s slacker, longer and stiffer. The headtube angle has been reduced from 69-degrees to 67-degrees. The seattube angle has been increased from 75-degrees to 76.5-degrees and the reach has been increased by 15mm.
- Tube profiles have been updated to improve stiffness by 12% over its predecessor.
- The rear brake mount has been changed from post-mount to flat mount.
- There’s now 120mm travel front and rear to confidently tackle all modern race routes.
- The pivots now have larger or double roller bearings to aid reliability.
- Orbea redesigned the SIC System headset to clean up the cabling and ensure more efficient steering and to reduce cable stress.
- There also an internal Spin Block on the new version that prevents the bars rotating too far and damaging the toptube in the case of a fall.
- The lightweight single-pivot flex-stay suspension design remains but the Fibre-link linkage that drives the rear shock is lighter and stiffer than that on the previous version.
- The Oiz comes with Orbea’s own 30mm-wide OQUO light and strong rims with DT Swiss 350 hubs.
HERE’S WHAT’S BEEN RETAINED
- The super light weight – despite updating the design to accommodate increased suspension travel and longer reach, the Oiz is still super light. At 1740 grams, the new Oiz is the among the lightest XC bike frames available.
- The Squidlock remote lever that controls front and rear suspension modes enables the rider to select the three different suspension modes on the fly.
- The Oiz can still accommodate two bottles inside the frame on all four sizes S, M, L and XL
- The beautiful paint work and finish with standard and custom options.
The new Oiz is available in three frame material options: the premium OMC carbon fibre, the slightly heavier, more durable, OMR carbon fibre and the Hydro aluminium.
The increased suspension travel and slacker, longer frame give the new Oiz rider improved control and confidence on descents without compromising on the bike’s superb climbing and acceleration qualities. In summary, it’s a new-school XC bike that’s more capable, efficient and reliable than its predecessor. But it’s still playful and fun to ride.
There are five models ranging from R69000 to R170000 with different spec, that includes Shimano and SRAM drivetrains and brakeset. All models come with Fox front and rear suspension. Check out the range here.
In 2023 the Speed Company Racing team will be armed with the new Oiz as they attempt one of the most difficult challenges in mountain bike racing – defending the Absa Cape Epic title. The world’s highest profile mountain bike stage race starts on Sunday 19 March and ends on Sunday 26 March. It’s 658km with 15775 metres of ascent. You can follow the action live daily on the Absa Cape Epic Facebook page.
Also look out for the international Pump For Peace professional racing team that has strong Southern African ties and riders who are overcoming many social barriers simply to be able to race full time. They will be competing in the 2023 Absa Cape Epic and are also racing a series of international XCO races under the guidance of former pro racer, Arian Luthi and with the support of Velosolutions.
It’s Orbea Month and Orbea South Africa has formed a collaboration with I Love Boobies to support breast cancer awareness and screening. Anyone that donates to fund breast cancer screening until 14 April 2023 will go into the draw to win an Orbea MY23 Oiz custom frameset worth R85000. Full details here.
