Originally Posted by lordoftherings
I saw another Orca at the shop with the SRAM Force Gruppo, Look Keo super dooper titaniam pedals, a saddle and Bontrager Race XXX carbon tubulars and it weighed 15.4 pounds on the digital scale.
Also, the bike pictured is 48 cm and set up for a woman (wife). Seat is wider, handlebars are Bontrager Carbon short reach. She was custom fitted and the Orbea Orca had the best match for frame geometry. She road an Orbea for a couple of hours as well as other bikes before making a selection. Then we built up the bike.
This is the point for the OP. For a first road bike, this is going to cost a lot of dough no matter how good you shop so get the fit right, ride the bike and make sure you like the ride. The Orca is a very cool bike and looks better in person and according to my wife rides and climbs like a dream.
First off, bikes are usually weighed without pedals...nevertheless. that is still a damned light bike...
I saw the saddle and frame size and stem length and knew it was for a woman already. One of my three road bikes has a triple and it has never been a handicap shifting, accelerating, etc.
Your wife must be loving it. As far as saddles go, I am not a woman (I SWEAR!) but I will tell you this...if you spent that much on a road bike for a woman, buy saddles as though they are free, until she finds the one that is right. The saddle is the biggest hindrance for a woman to keep riding, in my experience with women...but once they find the right one, they are good to go...