THERE are few better feelings in cycling than getting back home and realising you have gone a lot further than you thought you had.

Out for a quick ten-mile ride and return to find you’ve done 20 and feel you could do 20 more – that’s the kind of cycling I like.

The Orbea Orca is the ideal partner for just that kind of ride.

The lightweight Spanish bike just eats up the miles, making you want to just keep on going.

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The Orca in the hands of a slightly more professional rider

Take my most recent ride.

A day away from the official start of winter, I headed off into the North Yorkshire countryside, the weather crisp and bright.

Like its namesake in pursuit of a humpback, the Orca slipped quietly and efficiently through the gears as we headed out towards Great Ayton and Stokesley.

Positively flat for the first few miles, it was easy to build up a decent speed, the rigid nature of the Orca’s frame meaning you needed minimal effort to get the wheels turning.

That was evident when I was forced to slow at a roundabout.

Often you can wonder whether there’s enough kinetic energy to propel you out and across before the traffic catches up.

With the Orca there was no such self-doubt. Foot down, off and away. And you don’t need to be out of the saddle either, you can just sit right where you are and the Ultegra groupset will do the rest.

Stokesley town centre safely negotiated, it was back out into the country and heading towards Seamer and the first real incline – though all things are relative. This time I did remove my posterior from the comfort of the Prologo Kappa Evo – not half as severe as it at first looks – and pushed hard down on the pedals. You can generate some real motion, but the Orca’s frame stays true, the stiff front forks doing an admirable job.

The Northern Echo:

Matt on the cycle track at Middlesbrough Sports Village

A couple of miles further along and after turning a precise right off a downhill stretch onto Seamer Road, potholes became an ever present danger.

On some bikes I’ve been on you can feel every undulation and imperfection and the fun soon goes out of the ride.

But the Orca positively soaked them up, with very little transference back into my ageing frame.

Some have criticised the Vision Team 30 Comp wheels and Vittoria Rubino tyres. Admittedly, they are not at the top end of the scale, but for someone like me for whom cycling is a leisure pursuit rather than a route to the podium they proved more than adequate.

At this point I could have turned off and started the journey home, but I was far from finished.

I headed back towards town where reactions need to be faster due to the increase in traffic. Like a well engineered two-seater, the Orca reacted almost instantly to changes in direction, be it pulling around a parked car or taking evasive action to miss a drain cover.

Through Acklam and towards Stewart Park, there’s a stretch of road with a long and deceptive incline. I’ve felt the burn on my chest here before, but aboard the Orbea I felt as a fresh as a 46-year-old daisy.

Back up Marton Road, I glanced at the watch, 17 miles and counting, not only was I not out of breath but those parts of me which normally suffer at the end of a decent ride had yet to send any signals upstairs, proving that not only is the Orca good for short bursts of speed, it can also go the distance.

Just shy of 20 miles completed, I arrived back home knowing I could easily do it all again. For me, there's no better endorsement.

  • Cestria Cycles sell the Orbea Orca OME frame for £1,499 and the M20 Team for £2,899. They can be found at 11 Ashfield Terrace, Chester-le-Street, DH3 3PD. For more information call 0191-3887535.