First Look: Orro Venturi Evo

The Orro Venturi Evo has just arrived here at road.cc: an aero road bike that comes out of the same mould as highly impressive original Orro Venturi, but priced a lot lower.

We reviewed the Orro Venturi here on road.cc just a few weeks ago.

"Orro has quite simply nailed it with the Venturi Ultegra Di2 Wind 400," said reviewer Stu Kerton – and he's a picky so-and-so.

"Comfort, speed, handling, feedback and stiffness – you can have it all. And the icing on the cake? It's a looker too!"

The original Venturi remains in the range, but it's now joined by the Venturi Evo that we have here, which uses the same in-house design, differing only in the type of carbon used.

The original Venturi is made from spread tow carbon (STC) – thin ribbons of material that are arranged in a latticework to create an ultra-lightweight finished product with virtually no crimping – from UK company Sigmatex. 

The only issue with STC is that it isn't cheap, so a Venturi frameset (frame, fork, headset, seatpost, and bottom bracket) is £1,999.99. The complete Orro Venturi Ultegra Di2 Wind 400 that we reviewed was £4,199.99; a great bike, but out of the price range of most of us.

The Venturi Evo is the same but different. Rather than using STC, it is made up of three different types of unidirectional (UD) carbon fibre. As the name suggests, this is where all the fibres are lined up in the same direction. It's far more common than STC and considerably cheaper. This means that the Venturi Evo's stiffness-to-weight ratio is a little lower than that of the Venturi STC.

The Venturi Evo isn't available as a frameset, but the complete bike we have here, built up with a Shimano 105 groupset, is £2,099.99 – just £100 more than the original Venturi frameset.

Putting materials to one side,  the Venturi Evo is exactly the same as the Venturi. That means you get aero features like a seat tube that's cut away around the leading edge of the rear wheel, a down tube that drops in very closely behind the front wheel, and a fork crown that's integrated into the head tube.

The seat post is also shaped to reduce drag and the clamp is hidden away inside the frame, tightened by a bolt that you access via the underside of the top tube.

Both the Venturi and the Venturi Evo are designed to work with 28mm tyres. Orro was one of the first brands to embrace the idea of using wider rubber on an aero road bike, the idea being that you can run lower pressures, improve grip and reduce rolling resistance. Orro also says that although wider tyres present a larger frontal area, they make for a smoother transition between the frame and the wheels, improving the airflow and reducing drag.

Like the original, the Venturi Evo is available with disc brakes only (there is no rim brake versions), using 12mm thru axles and Orro's own switch lever – a little device that allows you to remove the wheels without the need for a multi-tool. 

As you'd expect, the geometry is race-orientated. We have the medium size herewith a 540.4mm top tube, 510mm seat tube and142.8mm head tube. The stack is 542mm and the reach is 385mm. Aggressive, then.

Orro has always gone for high-quality finishes and the Venturi Evo is no exception in this respect. This silver/black paint job isn't as in yer face as some in the range, but it still has a classy look to it.

The Venturi Evo is currently available in just one build and, as mentioned, that's based on Shimano's mid-level 105 groupset. The shifters, brakes, derailleurs, and11-30-tooth cassette are all 105 although the 52/36-tooth chainset is Shimano's non-series RS510, which doesn't have the same Hollowtech crankarm as the 105 option, and weighs getting on for 200g more.

All of the remaining components come from well-respected brands. The wheels are Vision Team 30 Disc alloy clinchers with 30mm-deep rims and cup and cone bearings, the 28mm tyres are Continental's Grand Sport Races, and the handlebar and stem come from Deda. The saddle is a Prologo Kappa RS.

The Venturi Evo that we have here hit the road.cc Scales of Truth at 8.98kg (19.8lb).

Get more info from www.orrobikes.com.