Orbea Orca Aero 2020 - lack of Orbea reviews?

[ike2112]

I've been considering a new bike for over a year, and whilst I'd originally looked over Cervelo after hiring one for a day previously, am now drawn to the Orbea Orca Aero. The electronic SRAM spec looks great value, amazing looking bike, good spec of carbon wheels and custom paint included.

However I've noticed there's a dearth of Orbea reviews online. There's almost none that I could find - yet you often see reviewers (such as GCN) riding them whilst reviewing other products.
Now I'm presuming that's because Orbea are paying for some product placement, instead of paid reviews - or is it? Are they actually just a convenient bike of choice with excellent spec if you're heading to Spain?

Would really like to tick off knowing the bike has been reviewed well, even seeing other owners feedback, before taking the pluge close to the £5k category.
I did see there's one from 2018, but the spec has changed since then, and where they're critical of the wheels, its entirely different ones on them now.

[Ugly]

Some here Review: Orbea Orca Aero M20 Team | road.cc

[ike2112]

Some here Review: Orbea Orca Aero M20 Team | road.cc

Funny I was just editing my post as I knew someone would point out that one from 2018. Its the only review I found, and is critical of the wheels largely, which aren't the same spec now, and is rim brakes whereas I'd definitely look for disc brakes.
I just thought it strange overall that there's so little reviews for a such a long-established brand; considering there's constant reviews of Trek, Cannondale, Focus etc even with minimal differences in the bikes year on year or between models.

[mattsccm]

Big name get most reviews. Orbea is a relatively unknown brand in the UK compared to the biggest names such as Giant, Cannodale and Specialized.
Most parts don't needbike reviews in that they are done by themselves. Frames are the exception I guess.

[ike2112]

Big name get most reviews. Orbea is a relatively unknown brand in the UK compared to the biggest names such as Giant, Cannodale and Specialized.
Most parts don't needbike reviews in that they are done by themselves. Frames are the exception I guess.

And yet ironically, Giant, Trek, Cannondale are so mundanely predictable, textbook frames from their asian factories... you don't need them reviewed.
You can tell the spec just from a quick look at the price tag, and know exactly what's on the bike. Oh and its 2% stiffer than last year, and saves an extra 4 watts p/h (if going at the speed of a pro, which you won't). Otherwise spec is the same as last year, and it "feels fast". If there's room for 28mm on it then it'll feel smoother/help on rough roads - just like every other bike. blah blah.
I even watched 2 Cannandale video reviews from 2018 and 2019 a few weeks ago when narrowing down choices, and it was almost comical how repetitive they were!

[scottg]

[snip] I even watched 2 Cannandale video reviews from 2018 and 2019 just a few weeks ago when narrowing down choices, and it was almost comical how repetitive they were!

Bike Snob NYC does wonderful bike reviews, much better than the hacks on commercial sites.

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2007/08 ... otout.html