2013 specialized amira SL4 expert vs 2012 Orbea Orca Dama SLT...???

[nuliajuk]

Orbea is a Spanish company, not common in North America, but quite common in Europe. We rented Orbeas to ride in France a couple of years ago and liked them. Above a certain price point, you aren't going to get a horrible bike, so it really boils down to what feels best and has the best components for the price. I bought my Look 566 as a last year's model on sale and got a great price as a result.

[Dedot]

Thank you ladies for responding. I went back to both dealers and tested both of them back to back. I leaned towards Orbea at the moment but I just found out that the Orbea frame has a scraped mark at the bottom of the seat stay. It looked like someone leaned the bike frame against the wall or something and scraped it. I didnt have any picture of it but I think it may expose the carbon itself. The bike color is white with the mark becomes black. The LBS assures me that it's only cosmetic and they are willing to give about $300 off (on top of the discount) for that mark. Now the question is, should I be worried about the mark or I can wait for another week for a new frame to arrive? I have read that if the scraped exposes the carbon itself it may result to problem in the future??

[Seajay]

The LBS assures me that it's only cosmetic and they are willing to give about $300 off (on top of the discount) for that mark. Now the question is, should I be worried about the mark or I can wait for another week for a new frame to arrive? I have read that if the scraped exposes the carbon itself it may result to problem in the future??

Unless you see multiple layers of carbon damaged and delamination around the area...it's fine. On balance people are WAY too scared about carbon frame damage. Any reputable framebuilder is going to allow for things like that in the build. I'd take the $300 discount if the cosmetics don't bother you.

[Laguna]

Unless you see multiple layers of carbon damaged and delamination around the area...it's fine. On balance people are WAY too scared about carbon frame damage. Any reputable framebuilder is going to allow for things like that in the build. I'd take the $300 discount if the cosmetics don't bother you.

Agree. If the cosmetics of the mark bother you, don't buy it. But if you can overlook the scratch, very much doubt it is a problem. Doubtful the dealer would sell you a frame they thought really had a structural problem due to law suit concerns. You could also ask them to note it on the receipt in case there is a future problem in that area.