Orbea facts for kids
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| Co-operative | |
| Industry | Bicycles |
| Founded | 1840 |
| Headquarters | , |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Products | Bicycles and related components |
Orbea is a company from Spain that makes bicycles. It is based in Mallabia, a town in Spain. Orbea is part of a larger group called the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation. It is also one of the biggest bicycle makers in Spain!
Orbea builds and puts together many of its bikes at its factory in Mallabia. Other bike models and parts come from Portugal and China.
Contents
Orbea's Journey: From Guns to Bikes
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Orbea started a long time ago, in 1840! Three brothers, Juan Manuel, Mateo, and Casimiro Orbea, founded the company in Eibar, Basque Country, Spain.
At first, Orbea made rifles and guns. But in 1930, they changed their business. They stopped making guns and started designing and building bicycles instead. This is when Orbea Bicycles was born!
Soon after, Orbea bikes began to appear in big races. By 1934, Orbea was already part of the famous Tour de France cycling race. A well-known Spanish cyclist named Mariano Cañardo rode for the Orbea road cycling team.
A New Start as a Co-operative
In 1969, Orbea faced some tough financial times. To save the company, the employees decided to buy it from the Orbea family. They formed a special type of company called a co-operative. This meant the employees owned and ran the company together.
That same year, the new Orbea co-operative moved from Eibar to nearby Mallabia. There, they built their first factory especially for making bicycles. For many years, the company focused on making bikes for people to ride for fun in Spain and other parts of Europe.
Returning to Racing
In the 1980s, Orbea bikes returned to competitive road cycling. Their teams were known as Gin MG-Orbea and later SEAT-Orbea. Famous Spanish cyclists like Pedro Delgado, Jokin Mújika, and Pello Ruiz Cabestany rode for them. They competed in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.
Orbea also started making mountain bikes in 1989.
What Bikes Does Orbea Make?
Orbea designs and builds many different kinds of bikes. They make bikes for road cycling, mountain biking, triathlons, and even bikes for riding around the city.
Some of their most famous bikes seen in competitions include:
- The Orca and Avant for road racing.
- The Rallon and Occam for mountain biking.
- The Ordu for time trials and triathlons.
Orbea Bikes in Competitions
Orbea has supported and provided bikes to many professional cycling teams. These include the Euskaltel–Euskadi team from the Basque area of Spain and the Herring Gas team in the USA.
Orbea bikes have helped athletes win big awards:
- Samuel Sánchez won the gold medal in the road race at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He rode an Orbea Orca Carbon bike.
- Julien Absalon won the gold medal in mountain biking at the same Olympics. He rode an Orbea Alma.
- Craig Alexander, a three-time Ironman World Triathlon Champion, rode an Orbea Ordu for his first two wins in 2008 and 2009.
The UCI Professional Continental team Cofidis Solutions Crédits also raced on Orbea bikes in 2016 and 2017. Today, the Rio Grande Elite Cycling Team uses Orbea bikes for their races.
Electric Bikes (E-bikes)
Orbea also makes electric bikes, often called e-bikes.
- In late 2017, they launched the Orbea Gain e-bike. This model is available for both road riding and as a hybrid bike.
- In 2019, they introduced the Orbea Wild, which is an electric-assisted mountain bike.
Images for kids
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An Orbea city bike from the 1970s.
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An Orbea Ordu carbon fiber time trial bicycle from 2007.
See also
In Spanish: Orbea para niños
