Just In: Orro Gold Limited Edition

This £2,999.99 Gold Limited Edition road bike is the first Orro we’ve had in for review here at road.cc, built up with a Campagnolo Chorus groupset and Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels.

We first told you about new British brand Orro back in April. They launched with two bikes, the Gold and the Oxygen, both built around carbon-fibre frames. The brand developed the frames and owns the designs and moulds, so you won’t see them badged up and sold by anyone else.

What we have here is the new Limited Edition version of the Gold. What’s limited about it? It gets new paintwork and it’s available in two different limited editions specs: the Campag Chorus version that we have, and a Shimano Dura-Ace version, both priced at a penny under £3,000.

We’d better start at the beginning, though, and tell you about the Gold frame that’s at the heart of things.

Well, Orro see this as a gran fondo or sportive frame, designed for getting in the big miles quickly and in comfort.

It’s a monocoque made from 20, 40 and 60-ton carbon fibre – 20T used in the areas where flexibility is an asset, like the seat tube and the seatstays, and the higher numbered material adding rigidity in areas like the down tube, bottom bracket, chainstays and head tube. 

That head tube, like most you’ll find on performance-orientated frames these days, is tapered (1 1/8in to 1 1/2in) for some extra front end stiffness. The BB30 bottom bracket and the oversized chainstays are also designed for extra rigidity, the idea being to maximise efficiency when you put the power down.

The geometry is more relaxed than you’ll find on a race bike. We have the medium model in for review with a 554mm top tube, and the head tube is 174mm. That’s not crazy tall but it’ll put you into a slightly more upright riding position than you’ll find on a traditional race machine.

The head angle is relaxed too – just 71.4° on our test model – and the wheelbase is long at 1,005mm. The idea is to add stability to the ride which you might appreciate over the course of a long day in the saddle.

Orro have their frames made in the Far East but they bring them back to the UK for painting and building up. Unlike the standard version, the Limited Edition Gold frame comes with tiny gold flecks in the paintwork that look pretty cool when they catch the light.

The Gold is available in two standard versions: a Shimano Ultegra mechanical build for £1,999.99, and a Shimano Ultegra Di2 build for £2,599.

As mentioned above, the Gold Limited Edition is available in a Dura-Ace spec, Dura-Ace being Shimano’s top-level road groupset, but the version we have is equipped with Campagnolo Chorus components.

Chorus is Campag’s third tier but, like Super Record and Record (and lower level Athena, for that matter), it is 11-speed.

Chorus has been updated for 2015 and it’s the brand new equipment that makes an appearance here: the four-arm carbon spider on the chainset, a longer arm to increase the front mech’s leverage, and modifications to the shifters and rear mech too. We’re looking forward to trying all that out for the first time.

Campag have gone to a single bolt circle diameter (BCD) for the chainsets now rather than using different BCDs for different options, so swapping from a standard setup to compact has become easier and cheaper. We have the 52/36T chainset on our review bike so we’re hoping for the best of all worlds.

The wheels are Racing 3s from Fulcrum (which is Campagnolo by another name) and they come fitted with Continental Gran Prix tyres. Orro spec 25mm rubber rather than 23s to improve the ride quality.

The handlebar, stem and seatpost are all 3T Ergonova while the saddle is a Prologo Kappa.

Our Gold Limited Edition hit the road.cc Scales of Truth at 7.48kg which is a highly respectable 16.5lb. Orro claim that the frame, fully painted, weighs just 955g.

We’ve reviewed several road bikes at around the three grand mark this year. The Orbea Orca B M10, exactly the same price as the Orro, comes with the Ultegra Di2 groupset that is an option with the Gold Limited Edition. It’s a very different bike, though, with a short head tube and wheelbase.

The women’s specific Trek Silque SLX (£3,000), similar to the Trek Domane in having a seat tube that can move independently of the top tube, also comes with an Ultegra Di2 groupset. 

NeilPryde’s Zephyr, priced at £2,899, is similar to the Orro in having a fairly relaxed geometry although we considered it to be a reponsive performance/race bike with some added comfort. It comes with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical build.

The Campagnolo Chorus groupset is quite an unusual feature which we hope adds extra interest to the Orro’s ride. We’ll let you know how the bike performs as soon as we’ve got the miles in.

For more info go to www.orrobikes.com.