Nat Bromhead
To celebrate participation in the Paris Olympics, Orbea have designed limited release ‘City of Light. Paris’ edition bikes for the brand’s athletes.
Given the moniker ‘The City of Light’ in the early 19th century, Paris was the first European city to use gas lamps for street lighting during the great global gas race of the early 1800s.
Now Orbea has applied this concept to the design of the Orca, Oiz, Orca Aero and Ordu models that will take part in the Olympic Games.
Orbea say through the design, the cyclist becomes the fuel and the light. ‘All this energy that has been generated is spread throughout the bicycle, starting from the seat and moving towards the front, filling the entire frame with energy and speed,’ says a rep from the Spanish bike brand
The result of this concept is a distinctive colour combination with Metallic Gold representing the energy generated by the cyclist, Cotton Pink expanding down the frame and Tanzanite Carbon View finishing off the front of each bike. This design is 100% developed and painted at Orbea’s facilities in the Basque Country.
The bad news, the bikes are currently only available for Orbea athletes competing in the Paris Olympics, so it will only be possible to see the bikes in action in the road race, time trial and the Olympic distance Cross Country MTB race.
Gallery: The City of Light Orca Aero & Orca
