Bikes Fit for Champions

The European Mountain Bike championships of today are unrecognizable from the humble beginnings in the late eighties. More coverage and worldwide diffusion has grown both popularity and scope. The stakes are higher, too. The riders put it all on the line in their bid to dominate the European stage. In such a competitive scenario, only the best bike will take you to the top.

All of the hard work it takes to earn that top spot on the podium merits a unique reward.

When Lukas Baum won his European champion title in 2024, it presented our design team with the exciting opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind bike. Once Simon Andreassen joined the OFT, bringing his title with him, they had double the chance to show off their skills.

Our in-house design and manufacturing opens up a world of possibilities. The sky is the limit for testing, development and new ideas. The design team is able to flex their creative muscles, elaborating colors, palette combinations and distinctive graphic cuts until reaching the final product.

With limited colors on the European flag, it’s no small feat to make a design that represents the European champion title and is still unique. The team got to work.

Firstly, taking advantage of the capacities of our paint facilities, our team played around with mixing colors, finally settling on a Cobalt Blue combined with a Metallic White Chic.

Drawing inspiration from the concept of Anamorphic Art and Anamorphic graffiti, several early drafts of the unique graphic cuts were applied to express the ideas perfectly.

To celebrate the crowning victories and the individuals who achieved them, the team wanted to put a special focus on the riders. Their standout bikes were the perfect vehicle to spell it out. Literally. The designs honor them with both their name and info commemorating their victorious race.

It’s not as easy as it looks. Mixing new colors in our factory is a science- it takes a lot of effort and testing to assure the quality of the final product. When it comes to new graphic designs and vinyl masks, it also requires a meticulous process to reach perfection. Getting it wrong could mean imperfections like bubbling or peeling, which don’t meet our high standards. Special projects for customized colors and bikes like this are extremely useful; they often are carried over later into our industry-leading MyO configurator and even range color designs.

As part of two different Orbea-sponsored teams, we also need to be sensitive to the sponsorship promises of each rider, not to mention their personal ergonomics and build preferences. Making the bikes at our facilities in Mallabia, Basque Country allows us to take care of every detail.

Check out the bikes of your reigning European champions:

We wish the very best to our European champions this season as they represent the jersey with pride astride their Oiz.

As the year rolls on, we will be watching closely to see what else they can do. And, just in case, our design team will be ready for anything!