Orbea's new Laufey is an all-new full-aggro hardtail mountain bike
New Laufey gets 140mm of travel, a short seat tube and a rad geometry
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Orbea has today released an all-new mountain bike in the form of a pretty aggressive-looking hardtail. It's built with all-out fun in mind while remaining durable and versatile. Orbea claims that it'll be capable through cross-country loops and catching air on your local trails and make for a great first step into mountain biking.
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Orbea's new Laufey is equipped with a 140mm travel fork which the brand says allows the rider to push hard, even when the trail gets a little mental, matching the bike's fun-loving nature.
2023 orbea laufey hero.jpg, by Liam Mercer
But the magic is found nestled within the Laufey's geometry, as it gets an uninterrupted, short and straight seat tube. That means that riders can equip long travel dropper posts on all sizes. It's also built with a low-slung top tube, resulting in a low standover and loads of space to move over the bike.
As for numbers, Orbea's new hardtail benefits from a 77-degree seat tube angle, a 64.5-degree head tube angle and a 440mm chainstay – this is standard on all sizes. A large frame gets a 475mm reach.
2023 orbea laufey head tube.jpg, by Liam Mercer
The Laufey's frame is kitted with what Orbea calls the Powerspine and it's designed to add stiffness around the downtube and headtube whereas the top tube and whole rear triangle gets a touch of compliance to boost comfort during big hits and to reduce vibrations.
Other frame features include internal cable routing with built-in guides that should fend off rattling and there's also an ISCG01 mount.
2023 orbea laufey dt stor.jpg, by Liam Mercer
A very neat addition is Orbea's Lockr downtube storage system we recently saw on the Rallon. Inside it can fit two sealed bags, offering ample space for tools, gels and even a tube. Along with bottle cage mounts in the front triangle, this should be plenty for short rides and enduro races.
Finally, there's tyre clearance for up to 2.6in tyres and the frame is covered by Orbea's lifetime warranty.
2023 orbea laufey tt.jpg, by Liam Mercer
There are three builds on offer with the base model H30 rocking a RockShox Recon RL fork, a Shimano Deore mech and shifter, paired with a Sun Race 11-51T 12-speed cassette. This bike rolls on a pair of alloy wheels that are shod with Maxxis Dissector tyres. Stopping power comes from a pair of Shimano MT201 brakes
The H10 ups the money and gets an upgraded spec including a Marzocchi Bomber Z2 fork and Shimano SLX shifting (with a Deore shifter). This bike uses Shimano's M1600 brakes. Sitting atop the range is the H-LTD model which comes with a Fox 34 Performance fork, Shimano XT shifting (with an SLX shifter) and M6120 brakes. Both the H10 and H-LTD get Maxxis Dissector tyres.
Prices start at £1,600 and go up to £2,700.
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