Orbea Terra M41E Team Ix MyO | Gravel Bike of the Year contender

Orbea’s Terra is designed as a versatile all-round gravel bike that’s at home on fast princess gravel and capable on rowdy singletrack trails.

With in-frame storage, mudguard mounts, triple bottle bosses and generous tyre clearance, it has the props to be a gravel all-rounder.

On paper, the Terra hits all the right notes for a modern fast gravel bike for all conditions. Its progressive geometry, low weight and wide range of models priced from £3,499 to £6,499 means there’s a bike for most people.

The Terra can sport a mechanical or electronic drivetrain, in both 1x and 2x configurations, and can be run with 700c or 650b wheelsets (with 45mm clearance in 700c and a huge 50mm in 650b).

This model, customised using Orbea’s online MyO ordering system, could be just about all the gravel bike anyone will ever need.

Orbea Terra M41E Team Ix MyO frameset

Like the Santa Cruz Stigmata and Canyon Grail CF SLX, the Orbea Terra makes use of an oversized down tube to create a storage box. Here, it’s called the LOCKR, with a lockable door underneath the bottle bosses.

Inside, it has room to store an inner tube, multi-tool, pump or CO2 cartridge, secured with the included pouch and neoprene wrap that anchor inside the chamber.

The frame is suspension-fork corrected. This means the geometry won’t be affected by the fitting of a gravel suspension fork, but up front this model uses a long 390mm Terra carbon fork (measured from dropout to crown).

At the front, it gets Orbea’s internal routing standard: OC ICR. It combines an oversized 1.5-inch upper and lower headset bearings, yet the fork has a standard 1-⅛ inch round steerer. This provides the room to route the brake hoses down into the frame.

The design enables you to use any stem/bar combination you like, provided you employ Orbea’s headset-spacer adaptor, which is included.

A round 27.2mm-diameter seatpost standard means you’re not locked into a proprietary post, and the frame has internal routing to run a cable-operated gravel dropper post.

The frame features threaded bosses on the dropouts for full-length mudguards and has triple bottle cage mounts. With a removable front derailleur mount, it’s easy to run either a 2x or 1x drivetrain.

The bottom bracket shell has a port that’s designed to hold a Shimano EW-RS910 Di2 junction box and charge port (for GRX Di2 and 11-speed Di2 systems). That means you don’t have to route a cable to the bar end, as is usually the case for those electronic drivetrains.

The fork shape sees a crown that has been shifted forward. By moving the fork legs forward of the head tube, and through its long length, Orbea claims these combine to better dissipate vibrations and absorb impacts.

The compact frame design exposes lots of seatpost, which is usually good for compliance, and the seat tube design is claimed to allow for more flex just above the bottom bracket shell.

The rear end is short – the chainstays are 420mm long, the minimum Orbea could manage while keeping the 45mm tyre clearance for 700c wheels, or 50mm for 650b hoops.

The asymmetric chainstays, where the driveside stay is dropped vertically lower than the non-driveside, enbles the Terra to run a double chainset without compromising the chainline, according to Orbea.

Orbea Terra M41E Team Ix MyO geometry

The Terra’s gravel geometry is neither akin to a ‘race-ready’ gravel bike such as the BMC Kaius or Canyon Grail, or the more MTB-inspired GT Grade and Santa Cruz Stigmata.

My size-XL test bike has a reach of 402mm and a 614mm stack – both shorter and lower than the progressive (less racy) geometry of the GT and Santa Cruz. However, Orbea uses a standard-length stem (rather than the short option favoured by GT and Santa Cruz) to push out the reach to the hoods.

The head angle is 71.5 degrees – steeper than the previous Terra – and is combined with a 100mm stem to give the Terra road-bike like manners on tarmac.

That’s enhanced by the trail on the fork, too. This is optimised on every size (from XS to XXL) and Orbea publishes figures for both 30mm and 40mm tyres, so you can see the effect each will have.

The low-slung bottom bracket is designed to have a favourable impact on stability, but is raised relative to the ground when running bigger gravel tyres.

The same goes for the wheelbase (bigger tyres result in a longer, more stable wheelbase), though the short chainstays should help with the bike’s agility on technical terrain.

A road-steep seat angle of 73 degrees (on the XL), combined with a zero-offset seatpost, is set to pitch you over the cranks, which should equate to more efficient power transfer.

Orbea Terra M41E Team Ix MyO specifications

The Terra M41e Team 1x sits one rung above the entry-level model in the Terra carbon range.

Its base price of £3,899 (€3,632 / $3,899) offers plenty of value with SRAM’s wireless Apex XPLR groupset, Orbea’s own OC finishing components, Oquo alloy gravel wheels, Prologo Saddle and Pirelli tyres.

However, using Orbea’s MyO ordering system, I upgraded to Oquo RC25 Team carbon gravel wheels.

This 1,425g carbon tubeless-ready wheelset comes with a 25mm-deep rim with a 25mm internal width, built onto a Zipp ZR1 hubset.

With a retail price of £1,299 a pair, the £619 upcharge on MyO is a decent saving, if your budget can stretch (the ‘stock’ alloy wheels retail at £599).

They are wrapped with Pirelli’s Cinturato Gravel H tyres for dry conditions, in a 38c width.

The SRAM Apex XPLR groupset offers wireless shifting and the wide range of XPLR gearing (an 11-44 tooth cassette paired to a 40t chainring), but at a price much lower than the US brand’s other electronic options.

Essentially, it shares the same motors and electronics as the premium groups, but housed in more affordable materials.

Easton’s EC90ax gravel bar offers a subtle 16-degree flare to its compact drop and reach. At the rear, a carbon post is topped by Prologo’s gravel-specific Akero saddle.

Price-wise, the Orbea represents solid value. In comparison, Specialized’s similarly priced Diverge STR Comp at £4,500 / $4,200 comes with DT Swiss alloy wheels and mechanical Shimano GRX. Trek’s Checkpoint SL 6 AXS, at £4,300 / $3,999.99, gets SRAM Rival AXS and alloy Bontrager wheels.

Orbea Terra M41E Team Ix MyO ride impressions

The Terra’s ride doesn’t put it in either the race rig or rowdy gravel camps – it’s a well-balanced bike that’s more versatile than most.

En route to the trail, the Terra is lively on pace with swift handling. The frame's shape combines a low-slung top tube with plenty of exposed seatpost that nulls road buzz. Up front, the long, slender fork works in unison to create a brilliantly smooth bike.

I like the way the Terra gets down the road – the handling is both stable and quick to react, and the tightly spaced low-profile tyre tread is quick-rolling. If your gravel riding kicks come through dry-summer running and lots of tarmac sections mixed in, I can see the appeal.

The lightweight wheels contribute to its low overall weight (8.77kg), which helps the Terra feel rapid when ascending.

Off-road, the Terra is also a winner. Its frame compliance reduces chatter to a minimum and the long fork takes the edge off bigger hits well. Rail it across exposed roots and it tracks well, although the Pirelli tyres don’t offer much in the way of cushioning compared to larger volumes with a more pronounced tread.

The Pirelli Cinturato H is the Italian tyre brand’s design for harder conditions and I expected to suffer after the late-winter, early-spring wet days here in the UK. In fact, I came away impressed. The short shoulder knobs on the Cinturato’s tread pattern cut into soggy ground remarkably well.

It was only on sections where the trail was boggy that the grip fell away and the rear tyre was easy to spin free. Nevertheless, they shed cloying clay rapidly once you get to firmer ground.

For deep winter, I’d still want to be running larger tyres, and although the Terra’s 700 x 45c is generous, it’s not as girthy as GT’s Grade and Santa Cruz’s Stigmata (both 50mm).

The upgrade to the carbon wheels is also worth the investment. I tested fsa previous Terra with standard alloy wheels and the difference is marked (notwithstanding the improvements to the frame).

Oquo (Orbea’s in-house wheelset brand) was one of the first brands to use Zipp’s slick, smooth and snappy ZR1 hubs, with a freehub with 66-point engagement for a rapid 5.5-degree engagement angle. I found it proved excellent for slow technical manoeuvres, where you need that instant push of the pedals. They feel light and stiff to boot.

The SRAM Apex XPLR AXS groupset is also excellent. You get precise gear shifts, wireless technology (and the connection to the brilliant AXS app), plus a clutch-equipped rear derailleur that keeps the chain in check when bouncing across rougher surfaces.

Orbea Terra M41E Team Ix MyO bottom line

The Orbea Terra M41E team 1x MyO, with the addition of the new Oquo wheels and gravel-specific carbon finishing kit, is a winner.

It’s a joy to ride on-road and off, and the build with SRAM’s most cost-conscious wireless groupset results in a very light gravel bike. It’s not as light as the Canyon Grail, but it’s a lot more forgiving when the ride gets rough and the terrain technical.

It’s not quite the rival of the GT Grade or Santa Cruz Stigmata on technical tracks, but it’s a good match for the Merida Silex – a similarly good all-rounder.

In all, the Orbea Terra M41e Team 1x MyO is as good as its name is long, and all the gravel bike most of us would ever need.