In the world of mountain biking, Orbea mountain bikes are well renowned. This company has its home in a town called Mallavia in the Basque Country, which is in the North of Spain.Today the company makes Orbea mountain bikes, Orbea road bikes and Orbea touring bikes.

An interesting fact about the company is that Orbea actually started out as an arms company.In its infancy, the business made rifles and pistols as well as cartridges. Throughout Spain, Orbea was renowned for the weapons it made. Certianly, by the 1870s, Orbea was one of the most influential and successful companies in the area.

The business carried on manufacturing weapons right up until the end of the Spanish Civil War, when demand for weapons sharply decreased. In 1926 tensions in the family business led to the company splitting into two separate enterprises.One of the businesses created by the split of the arms company moved into the mountain bike industry and Orbea mountain bikes were born.

As one would expect from a big and famous name in cycling, Orbea has always sponsored and worked closely with high profile cycling teams. Euskaltel-Euskadi and Xacobeo-Galicia are two of the high profile cycling teams with which Orbea has close ties.But since 2005 Orbea mountain bikes has also had its very own team.

Today the brand also sponsors an array of biking events Europe-wide and Orbea products can often be found being given as prizes in such events. Of the company’s current designs, a large proportion are made from carbon fibre which is a modern bike material. They also manufacture several designs made from 100% aluminium which are popular due to their light weight.

With more and more publicity from event sponsorship under its belt, Orbea mountain bikes have a very bright future. Orbea sponsors some of Spain’s biggest events in the field of mountain bikes which welcome participation from professionals and members of the public. More evidence of their quality, if it were needed is the fact that the bikes are sold in many countries worldwide.