I don't pretend to understand all the nuances of the industry or claim more than the most rudimentary cycling knowledge. I do know that I like to ride my bikes and that I prefer the SRAM Double Tap shifting system over that of Shimano. I also know that I've recently become enamored with the Orbea Orca.

So, can anyone tell me why Orbea completely abandoned SRAM (except for the M22) in their 2014 line-up?

Like most businesses Orbea is probably looking to save money if they can. May be they were get a better discount on shimano groupsets than SRAM. BMC is another brand that has mostly shimano spec'd bikes except for a few with SRAM red.

If you must have sram maybe buy a frame and build it up yourself. I usually go that route because I too prefer sram, and frames in my size usually come with smaller cranks and bars than I like. Instead of having to swap out parts on a complete bike I build it up how I want it. This could cost a little more if you don't find good deals on parts or have spare parts already, but to me its worth it.

https://www.backcountry.com/orbea-orc...E0MTEwMDAwMjEz

Hello Ian..............same thing I noticed! I if you have read on another bike forum have had a few issues with shifting after switching out my crankset and FD as well as RD.

All worked fine except the FD was not jiving! I upgraded from the stock to full Force but think I finally got the problem solved. Sorry I digressed here. But to say the least I wonder if Orbea has had issues with shifting for enough to warrant this. I know my LBS mechanic said SRAM FD's are less than to be desired as compared to a Shimano of equal grade.

Not sure unless like one poster stated they got such a great deal group wise from Shimano to save money. I will say this all bike companies are looking at the bottom dollar for sure.

Still I love my Orca which is just like yours.

Funny you mentioned this, because two of my bikes (Cannondale Bad Boy and Trek MTB) came with Sram, but both had Shimano front deraileurs.

Well funny you mentioned that because my LBS said if they can't get it dialed in just right I may want to consider a Shimano FD which is more forgiving in the tune department and would fix the issue. That is funny for sure. I bought a new Ultegra FD on E-Bay for next to nothing just in case this bad boy starts mucking up again!