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Stun Cyclists With a $4,500 Carbon Fiber Aora Frame. Double That for a Complete Build

In light of Limited Edition Month here at autoevolution, I've decided to shed light on a machine that only 50 people a year have the pleasure of owning. Maybe you'll find a hardtail Aora MTB as a secondhand piece. So let's take a journey into why you should track one of these beasts down.
Aora XC MTB 20 photos
Photo: Unno SL
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Folks, the trinket we have before us is the Aora, a carbon fiber hardtail MTB that brings the best Unno offers. If you've never heard of Unno, they're a little-known bicycle manufacturer from Barcelona, Spain, with a drive to do things differently from other manufacturers. If you keep in mind that most cycling giants started with a similar goal, you can be sure to see more of this team in the future. Their game? Downhill MTB, except for Aora, which is tuned for XC riding.

To make things easier to understand, I invite you to follow along with a story of how seemingly useless sheets of carbon fiber can be molded into the ravishing creature we see today. Well, it all starts with the minds behind the design, and in Aora's case, Unno likes to boast that it took them four years to finally perfect their notion of the perfect hardtail, if there is such a thing.

To create an entirely new bike, and one to their own standards, Unno chose to create everything from scratch and to their liking; even the machinery used to mold and shape each frame is proprietary tech. The result of creating bikes in this fashion? Just look at the Aora, for God's sake; if that's not one of the tastiest forbidden fruits I've ever seen, I don't know what is.

Aora XC MTB Carbon Sheets
Photo: Unno SL
To understand a bit about the hours craftsmen need to put into creating this trinket, I've added an image to the gallery that reveals every single sheet of carbon fiber used to create the frame. You know what goes on in those molds if you're familiar with carbon layup procedures. Once the hours are put in, the result is a frame that weighs no more than 790 gr (1.74 lbs) with dropout, rear axle, and chainstay protector. Bare, with nothing but a matt clearcoat, 725 gr (1.59 lbs), results from four years of R&D. Did I mention it's an XC MTB? Yeah, and it's even lighter than some road bikes on the market.

Now, a full build doesn't seem to be something that Unno offers. Instead, for around $4,500 (€4,166 at current exchange rates), depending on the dealership used for the transaction, you'll receive nothing more than a frame, rear axle, and all the little knick-knacks you need to put the zero-stack head tube into functioning order. Yet that frame is home to a few aspects meant to create a rather capable MTB.

For example, the entire design is based around 29 in tires with a 2.4 in cross-section, but a few touches such as the headset I mentioned, integrated caliper mount, and proprietary dropout system are there for an optimized ride every time.

Aora XC MTB Frame
Photo: Unno SL
But, the ultimate question here is how this bike feels under you. Well, until you dish out the asking price for a frame and then drop a few thousand more on a fork, drivetrain, and the rest, all we have are some geometry specs to keep us busy. Riders can look forward to a 441 mm (17.4 in) reach, a 594 mm (23.4 in) stack, and a wheelbase of 1,133 mm (44.6 in). But what about handling? This is what a 67-degree head tube angle is for, but the seat tube angle ranges between 74.3 degrees and 73.4 degrees, depending on how high you like to keep your saddle.

Now that you have some idea of what you'll be riding someday, take it out for a spin in your mind; it's time to see what other magic Unno may have included in the Aora. As you're riding along on a slightly more demanding trail than you're used to, you happen to wipe out. One common occurrence that carbon fiber frames are exposed to is having your fork legs or brake levers smash into your tubes. A damn shame, I tell ya!

Aora XC MTB Race build
Photo: Unno SL
Well, to counteract this unfortunate event, the bike's top tube is angled downward for clearance, and a spacer can be used to raise the levers just a tad further. To save your down tube from your fork, a slight curvature can be seen coming off the head tube, allowing for just enough space to avoid damage. Then again, if you end up using the fork Unno drops on the Aora in the gallery, you really won't have to worry.

At the end of the day, if you purchase one of the 50 frames built each year, you should really splurge on the secondary components. After all, if you told your friends that you're using microSHIFT on a $4,500 bike, you just may get kicked out of the cycling club you started, and with good reason, that's blasphemous.
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About the author: Cristian Curmei
Cristian Curmei profile photo

A bit of a nomad at heart (being born in Europe and raised in several places in the USA), Cristian is enamored with travel trailers, campers and bikes. He also tests and writes about urban means of transportation like scooters, mopeds and e-bikes (when he's not busy hosting our video stories and guides).
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