The best modern trail bikes are used for an impressive variety of terrain and need to be adaptable. Orbea Occam is designed to work well with 140 mm or 150 mm front and rear travel and the progressive rear suspension works well with either an air or a coil shock.

Instead of using a less-efficient “shock tunnel,” the Occam offsets the shock to the left side of the frame, allowing the right-side support to be more central and more efficiently deal with the suspension forces acting on the front triangle. This solution enables us to tune the stiffness of this high-stress area without adding unnecessary weight.

We use aluminum manufacturing and material technologies that are every bit as advanced as our carbon processest. High-quality aluminum tubing undergoes processes to align the grain structure before undergoing an advanced hydroforming process giving precision control of the shape and wall thicknesses. These processes increase strength and allow us to fine-tune the rigidity while optimizing frame weights. Many tubes are double or triple-butted, saving weight in the areas away from the stress of the joints and the weld zones. Using aluminum technologies as advanced as our carbon manufacturing ensures our aluminum bikes are never second-best.

The biggest news for alloy is the addition of the new high-polished welds on our hydroformed frames. Each weld on the main frame is polished smooth, matching the aesthetics of a monocoque frame but also importantly the action of polishing the welds increases fatigue resistance at these high stress points. High Polish requires hours of hand work and bead blasting so only our most exclusive frames are manufactured this way.