Orbea mountain bikes’ frames are known for their durability and strength. The frames even have a lifetime guarantee. It is this added value that keeps Orbea Mountain bikes a popular and respected choice amongst consumers. But isn’t offering a lifetime guarantee a bit risky from a business strategy point of view? Not so if like Orbea you can be certain that you’re making the very best product there is.

Quality controls at Orbea mountain bikes are renowned for being stringent. They really don’t just test for legal compliance to European Norms regulations, but have their own strict set of tests. Simply put, if a bike doesn’t meet the levels required, it goes back to the drawing board until it does. Only after passing the tests are the frames released with the Orbea mountain bikes guarantee.

First up of all the many tests that bike frames undergo at Orbea mountain bikes’ testing laboratories are static load and fatigue testing. During the static load testing, a large amount of weight is applied for a prolonged amount of time to one particular part of the frame. Fatigue testing involves applying a smaller amount of weight to a point hundreds of times. Such tests allow engineers to see just how durable and rigid the frames are.

Those tests are followed by frontal collision testing which resembles the crash tests performed on cars. Because mountain bikes are designed to tackle uneven terrain and sudden drops are frequent, Orbea Mountain bikes’ frames are tested for their resilience to sudden drops. Once again, a lateral hit simulation then tests the rigidity of the frame.

As well as being tested for durability, frames are tested for their ability to withstand the elements and are therefore subject to corrosion testing. In these most rigorous of tests, the frames are kept inside a chamber with a temperature of 35 °C with water vapour at 5% of salinity. Only after the frames have withstood 1000 hours in the chamber will they be declared corrosion resistant enough to pass the stringent tests. Finally, every new bike frame material used by Orbea Mountain bikes is subject to sun deterioration tests under infra-red light. Materials which deteriorate in the light are sent back to development.