Orbea’s third-generation Terra is here, and it’s a far more defined gravel bike than its predecessors. It now has more of everything: mounts, tyre clearance, storage, and stability. And while it’s not a drop-bar mountain bike, nor a punchy race rocket, it’s clearly the Spanish brand's first proper take on what a modern gravel bike should be, or at least, what one version of it can be.
I travelled to the Basque Country to ride it on home soil, and came back with one to keep testing. A full verdict will take more time, but here’s what’s new and how the first few rides have been.
What’s new
The new Terra is a stark change from its predecessor, which launched in 2021, and quite a few of the updates are obvious at first glance. First off, the frame has a new silhouette, with a slimmer top tube and compact rear triangle with dropped seatstays. You might notice in most of the pictures here that the seat stays are not dropped, though, and that's because of the frame size.
In contrast, the downtube is chunky, and I'll explain why in a bit.
Did we do a good job with this story?
