Sussex based bike brand, Orro have just announced the release of their new full carbon gravel bike, the Terra C. Following on from their alloy Terra Gravel, the Terra C has brand new geometry and features a special carbon layup involving Innegra^TM carbon.

Last week the distributors, i-Ride, invited us down to the launch of this much-anticipated new carbon gravel adventure bike. Orro are the in-house brand from UK distributor i-Ride and have rapidly been making gains into the more traditional road market. They have used their considerable expertise garnered from years distributing high-end road bike brands to design, prototype, paint and assemble their bikes in the UK, all from their Ditchling base.

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They have worked with carbon specialist Sigmatex from Runcorn to give their frames unique properties over the whole range, be they road bikes or this new Terra C model. You can check out the road.cc review of Orro Gold STC here. 

Orro Terra C , by Orro

For the Terra C Orro have used the Sigmatex’s Innegra fibre to give the frame a low weight and impact resistance and damage tolerance. Talking to Tom, the main development rider for the new bike, he explains that they have used Innegra Fibre where they think the most impacts will occur, such as the underside of the downtube and inside the forks where the tyre on a muddy day may chuck stones at the frame at high speed. There is even a little window on the underside of the downtube to show the owner what is looks like, which is an unusual and neat touch.

Orro Terra C, by Orro

Orro told us more about the new bike and its carbon properties:

“Working with composites specialists Sigmatex, we pinpointed the need for frame protection to cater for the kind of riding the Terra C would be subjected to, and as an industry first, Sigmatex Innegra^TM fabrics have been used in the manufacture of the frame.  Sigmatex Innegra^TM is a tough, flexible fibre with great endurance. Its properties make it naturally good at vibration damping and give it great impact resistance. The Terra C has selective Innegra^TM shielding in critical areas of the bike, namely under the BB and inside the chainstays and fork blades to ward off rock strikes and other impacts. In the event of impact, Innegra^TM minimises the chance of failure.

Using the South Downs as our testing ground, we developed a new geometry that delivers an inspiring ride for the terrain that many of us have on our doorsteps.  There is a 72mm bottom bracket drop and 71 degree head angle across all sizes for confident handling, which we combined with a 50mm fork rake to maintain steering responsiveness. We also incorporated frame-size-specific chainstay lengths to minimise heel rub and balance the weight distribution of larger riders. At Orro we believe that gravel bikes must be fast on the road and Terra C delivers; the Terra C has the speed of a road bike across a multitude of surfaces, from country lanes, to bridleways and light singletrack, with exceptional traction and stability across rougher terrain.”

Although Tom at Orro couldn’t give us an exact weight at the show we reckon you can put your money on the frame not weighing more than 1050g in a size medium which is pretty impressive considering the extra toughness a gravel frame requires and at an attractive price of £1,399.99.

Orro Terra C, by Orro

The Orro Terra C is not just a carbon version of the existing Terra model which is why it has been such a long time in development. Orro wanted a bike that performed excellently on Gravel, Adventure and Road surfaces not just okay or average on all of them, that’s a big ask from any designer and why there have been so many adjustments to the prototype that we first saw before Christmas in flesh coloured rapid prototype plastic. Tom also explained that the bike is designed solely around 700c and is not compatible with 650b sized wheels and fatter tyres. Orro felt 700c was better suited to their racier background and their idea that this is a bike to push on with, not to dawdle. It also comes with the added advantage of wider tyre choice for the consumer. The frame features 12mm thru axle’s front and rear, a very conservative 42mm tyre clearance and mudguard mounts. Orro also include their incorporated seat clamp and rear light so that you can always be seen when you’re out and about. 

Orro Terra C rear light feature, by Orro

Orro Terra C in green colour option, by Orro

There are 3 paint finishes to choose from, Orange, Army Green and Stealth Black and at the moment there are three differently specced models to choose from: an Adventure model, a full Shimano 105 spec with Shimano RS505 hydraulic discs or a Shimano 105 spec bike with TRP Spyre cable disc brakes. Pricing is £2099.99 for the first two and £1799.99 for the mechanical disc version. The Adventure model differs from the full 105 disc spec by having a Sub Compact FSA chainset FSA stem, Adventure Bars and Hutchinson 38mm Override Tyres compared to 32mm Conti Grand Sport and 3T bars and stem.

Orro Terra C, by Orro

Orro Terra C Geometry, by Orro

The Terra C will be available from July 2017 in medium with other sizes following over the next few months.  We will be bringing you a full review as soon as we can get our hands on one! For more information check out Orro's website.

Words and pictures - Patrick Joscelyne