That's right, Toon Aerts riding the Orca Orca won the European Cyclocross Championship. Although there is no official confirmation from Orbea, the images speak for themselves. The Belgian Team Belgian Deschacht-Hens CX (some athletes of this team have a double membership and are linked to the Team Lotto for road racing) he triumphed on a road bike, a product with its classic, minimal lines, a bike with a lightweight frame-kit.
Most of the teammates use the gravel race Orbea Terra Race, a model developed by the Basque company for off-road competitions. Let's try to explain the technical choice ourselves.
The Orbea used by Toon Aerts
The shapes don't lie and the visual impact is clear. It is the Orca, a model used by many athletes, including Team Lotto, not only for large differences in altitude. It is difficult to categorize the bike in terms of carbon, but we could say that this is the top of the OMX range. Non-integrated OC Performance cockpit (also from Orbea) with aluminum stem and very classic (round) carbon handlebar. OC Performance 27,2mm diameter seatpost with zero retreatThe transmission is Shimano Dura Ace, with double front plateau (50-42) and rear cassette (it would seem) 11-30. Icon wheels for tubulars, the latter Dugast.
The doubt remains for the fork matched to the frameThe upper section of the head and the sheaths are comparable to those normally supplied with the “classic” Orca, but compared to the latter there is more light for the rubber to pass through and a sort of handkerchief added to the opposite side of the disc. We could swear that the fork mounted on Toon Aerts' Orbea Orca is the same one that equips the Terra Race gravel bike. This component also ensures a wider tire passage.
An eye on the geometries
The new European champion has a remarkable height, he is almost 1.90 meters tall, in addition to being slender. Despite this, it is noticeable for its very compact position once on the bike and with a centre of gravity perfectly in line with the seat tube. It is not a secondary factor that leads the athlete to prefer bikes with compact geometries, with a reduced wheelbase. Furthermore, Aerts has always been performing well on challenging, muddy and sandy tracks with differences in altitude, but at the same time he is an athlete not too agile in directing the front end of the vehicleA bike with a “straighter” front angle (conceptually) is more suited to an athlete with these characteristics.
Here we can explain (at least in part) the choice to focus on a road frame kit, certainly lighter, more direct and agile when entering tight trajectories, presumably an XL (57). La Orbea The Terra Race is almost 4 centimetres shorter and has a slacker steering angle of 73,2° instead of 71,5°. It means a shorter bike, but also a lot more direct across the entire front end. Obviously it changes the trail value between the head tube and the fork end, thanks to the adoption of the gravel fork. Furthermore, it should be considered that the Orbea Orca has a bottom bracket drop that is not compressed at all, on the contrary it is rather high, factor important for a cyclo-cross rider in order to avoid hitting obstacles.
