The Story Behind Orbea Mountain Bikes
Posted in Fly Fishing Gear on the March 23, 2010
In the world of mountain biking, Orbea mountain bikes are well renowned. The business is based in the North of Spain in the Basque country, in a town called Mallavia. These days their range includes Orbea mountain bikes, touring bikes and road bikes.
Not everybody realises that Orbea actually started life as a company which manufactured weapons. At first, Obrea made pistols, rifles and the cartridges to go in them. All through Spain, Orbea was renowned for the weapons it made. Certianly, by the 1870s, Orbea was one of the most influential and successful companies in the area.
The company’s history of making weapons continued up until the end of the Spanish Civil War when demand waned. Things also changed in 1926 when the business split into two seprate companies following family problems.One of the businesses created by the split of the arms company moved into the mountain bike industry and Orbea mountain bikes were born.
As is normal for well known and highly respected biking brands, Orbea has always supported and maintained close links with high profile biking teams. Two of the teams with which it has strong ties are Euskaltel-Euskadi and Xacobeo-Galicia. However, Orbea mountain bikes has had its own team since 2005.
Nowadays, the company sponsors many biking events throughout Europe and its products are often given as prizes in mountain biking events on the continent. Modern, carbon fibre frames are common on their current designs.And the company also makes several bikes with frames made entirely of aluminium, which are incredibly lightweight and popular.
The future of Orbea mountain bikes seems very stable, especially considering the publicity obtained from sponsorship of high profile events. The events which Orbea sponsors in Spain are high profile and very well known, with participants at all levels.The fact that their bikes are now supplied all over the world serves to demonstrate their quality.