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Much has been made about The new S3 from Cervelo, and Fabian Cancellara's come-from- behind ride to bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but how about the bike that held off Fabian's effort and actually took the Gold? Spanish bike maker Orbea handed Samuel Sánchez a stunning 2009 Orca and watched with glee as he took a six-man sprint to claim gold. The Orca is now in it's third iteration since being redesigned in 2007, and yes, as you would expect, this is the most impressive Orca yet.

We were impressed by the sculpted, flowing look of the Orca when the new shape debuted, and soon were blown away once we got to ride one. Part of that was the Orca's weight, or lack thereof. An Orca built up with Dura-Ace and a high- end wheelset weighed in at just about fifteen pounds, a bit over or under depending on which pedals and bottle cages you preferred. For 2009, Orbea's engineers have shaved over 80 grams (10%) off the already svelte frame. Of course, weight really isn't everything, even though it's close. The ride quality of the Orca made a huge impression on us as well.

Creating a world-class Grand Tour type bike takes quite a bit of engineering; the bike must be light, but stiff for sprints. Compliant enough to be ridden for three weeks, but tough enough to endure the full spectrum of conditions. Orbea's SSN, or Size Specific Nerve technology, is one of the reasons the Orca is such a desirable machine. SSN simply refers to the specific carbon lay-up, wall profile, and reinforcement unique to each Orca's frame size. In addition, a "nerve" of carbon runs all the way around the bike, starting at the seat post, to the top tube, head tube, down tube, chain stays, and back up the seat stays to the seat tube. Each frame size's "nerve" is also tweaked to provide optimum stiffness and ride quality. Orbea also adjusted their carbon recipe for 2009, increasing the amount of high-modulus carbon in the frame. The HM carbon is lighter and stiffer, and is carefully blended in to preserve the Orca's structural integrity. Other weight cuts include replacing the aluminum seat post insert with carbon fiber, a carbon head tube badge/cable housing support, a magnesium seat post collar (which is a work of art in itself), and lighter aluminum drop-outs. The artful engineering of weight reduction and carbon lay-up has resulted in a bike that is lighter than, stiffer than, yet just as comfortable as last year's Orca.