David is British (we can’t all be perfect) and a lifelong road cyclist. After several close calls on the road, David decided it was time to explore the other side of the fence. He also spends long summers on the East Coast, and the variety of dirt roads, unpaved paths, and the multitude of valleys combined to call him out of the door to give gravel riding a chance.

Since riding off-road was a new direction for David, we spent many afternoons sipping espressos and working through his build piece by piece here at Regroup. Our chats led us to center the project around one of our favorite gravel bikes, the Orbea Terra, the Basque brand’s ‘from the ground up’ all-terrain machine.

One thing that helped David transition to the trail was the inclusion of a dropper post. It’s still a leftfield addition, but one that makes a lot of sense for tall riders who may dislike descending on poor surfaces for fear of going OTB. The build’s hyper-reliable SRAM Force Unicorn group and steadfast Zipp 101 XPLR wheels only amplify the confidence the dropper provides, helping this newbie gravel grinder get to grips with the new terrain at his own pace.

Referrals are always fun. After seeing another of our Orbea Terra builds, a friend of a long-time Regroup client decided it was time to build his own. 

We’re obsessed with Orbea’s “Carbon View Blue” paint scheme with “titanium” accents. The Carbon View colors from Orbea over the last couple of years are absolute stunners. The finish allows you to see the carbon weave underneath, each color as visually interesting and impressive as the last. 

We’ve done a lot of MyO (My Orbea) builds with shiny titanium accent colors, and here, the Orbea logo matches the fork detailing and pops with the SRAM Force Unicorn XPLR gruppo. Add in Zipp’s 101 XPLR wheels (note the single-wall rims and how they almost seem to disappear) and a Quarq power meter, and you have yourself a gorgeous, infinitely capable gravel bike, ready to take you to the edge of adhesion, beyond the alpine or even just around town. 

A final note: you may notice Ritchey bar—some love it; others do not. We’d love to hear what you think. And while you’re mulling that over, if you’re tempted to take a Terra for a spin, drop us a line. We’d love to walk you through your options and scope out a dream bike that gets your heart pumping, whichever surface you want to explore.

There are many reasons to love this build, not the least of which is the frame’s Ten Gallon Purple, in all its blueberry juice glory. 

At the heart of the build is a handmade, custom-tuned titanium GT-1 frameset from Mosaic Cycles – the Colorado brand’s flagship gravel chassis. In any configuration, it’s a heartbreaker. But in its new i45 iteration, it cleans up its act and leads with a streamlined, integrated cockpit that points towards the future and space for up to 45mm tires, measured.

Below the fold, the bike digs into the dirt courtesy of SRAM’s newest 13-speed Red XPLR group, an engineering sensation designed to lessen the jumps between gears without sacrificing a wide gear range, further expanding on SRAM’s UDH technology for crisper shifting under load.