PassoGavia
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Roswell, Georgia
I purchased my Orbea Gain M20i in May of 2019, and in 20 months and about 300 rides I’ve put just over 5000 miles on it. Some thoughts and comments:
Overall, I love this bike. I’m a 50+ year old guy who has been riding seriously for more than 30 years and without an assist bike, I don’t know if I would still be riding. After heart surgery I lost about 30% of my power, and some endurance as well. I went from a reasonably strong B rider who could ride all day to a C+ who was wiped out after a 35 mile group ride. I could no longer keep up with the friends I’ve been riding with for years. The Gain allowed me to stay with the pack and ride longer, to not be as exhausted after a ride, and yet to do so while still getting a good workout. And yes, all that on a bike that handled well, looked good, and didn’t overtly look or sound like an e-bike.
What I don’t like about the Gain
I don’t like the 20 mph assist cutoff. Yes, I know that’s the law for a Class 1 bike in the US, but it’s disruptive. Without assist I can pull 17-18mph on a flat road but I can only push over 20mph for short periods. When I’m solo on the bike that’s fine - I either turn the assist off on the flats or cruise at just under 20. But with a group going over 20 I get dropped. I would buy a new Gain tomorrow if they released one that was a Class 3 (28 mph cutoff).
That’s it, that’s the only thing I don’t like about this bike.
What I like about the Gain
Reliability: Boring, I know. But this is a fairly complicated machine, with a motor and gears and batteries and a control unit, and yet it has been 100% reliable for 5000 miles. I charge it, I ride it, and it works. It’s been in the shop once in 20 months, and that was just for regular maintenance (tune-up, chain replacement, etc.). I ride it 12 months per year, I’ve ridden it in the rain, in the heat and cold, never had a bit of trouble.
Smoothness: At one point in my career I programmed industrial robots. Getting a robot arm to move from point A to point B is pretty straightforward, but having it do so in a smooth way (start slow, accelerate, decelerate into position) is the tricky part. The assist in the Gain feels totally natural. Riding this bike you really feel that the eBikeMotion engineers spent a lot of time and really got it sorted.
Appearance, sound and “natural feel”: Most e-bikes look like e-bikes, even the purpose-designed road bikes that are supposed to be more sporting (I’m looking at you, Trek). The Gain looks like a regular road bike, handles like a regular road bike, and is surprisingly quiet. Sure, there is the hub motor, which is pretty conspicuous if you know what you are looking for, but other than that it’s not obvious you are riding an ebike.
Adjustability: The three speed toggle, one-button system works great. I also appreciate that you can adjust the power for each level (I adjusted my assist down so that Level 3, the max level, is at 60%). It’s simple, it works.
Battery resiliency: I charge the battery after every ride, back to 100%. I use a timer and never charge it more than 2 hours in a shot. After 5000 miles and 300 or so charge cycles I cannot detect any reduction in capacity. I’ve taken it down to below 5% fewer than five times (I do not have the supplemental bottle battery).
Overall, I love this bike. I’m a 50+ year old guy who has been riding seriously for more than 30 years and without an assist bike, I don’t know if I would still be riding. After heart surgery I lost about 30% of my power, and some endurance as well. I went from a reasonably strong B rider who could ride all day to a C+ who was wiped out after a 35 mile group ride. I could no longer keep up with the friends I’ve been riding with for years. The Gain allowed me to stay with the pack and ride longer, to not be as exhausted after a ride, and yet to do so while still getting a good workout. And yes, all that on a bike that handled well, looked good, and didn’t overtly look or sound like an e-bike.
What I don’t like about the Gain
I don’t like the 20 mph assist cutoff. Yes, I know that’s the law for a Class 1 bike in the US, but it’s disruptive. Without assist I can pull 17-18mph on a flat road but I can only push over 20mph for short periods. When I’m solo on the bike that’s fine - I either turn the assist off on the flats or cruise at just under 20. But with a group going over 20 I get dropped. I would buy a new Gain tomorrow if they released one that was a Class 3 (28 mph cutoff).
That’s it, that’s the only thing I don’t like about this bike.
What I like about the Gain
Reliability: Boring, I know. But this is a fairly complicated machine, with a motor and gears and batteries and a control unit, and yet it has been 100% reliable for 5000 miles. I charge it, I ride it, and it works. It’s been in the shop once in 20 months, and that was just for regular maintenance (tune-up, chain replacement, etc.). I ride it 12 months per year, I’ve ridden it in the rain, in the heat and cold, never had a bit of trouble.
Smoothness: At one point in my career I programmed industrial robots. Getting a robot arm to move from point A to point B is pretty straightforward, but having it do so in a smooth way (start slow, accelerate, decelerate into position) is the tricky part. The assist in the Gain feels totally natural. Riding this bike you really feel that the eBikeMotion engineers spent a lot of time and really got it sorted.
Appearance, sound and “natural feel”: Most e-bikes look like e-bikes, even the purpose-designed road bikes that are supposed to be more sporting (I’m looking at you, Trek). The Gain looks like a regular road bike, handles like a regular road bike, and is surprisingly quiet. Sure, there is the hub motor, which is pretty conspicuous if you know what you are looking for, but other than that it’s not obvious you are riding an ebike.
Adjustability: The three speed toggle, one-button system works great. I also appreciate that you can adjust the power for each level (I adjusted my assist down so that Level 3, the max level, is at 60%). It’s simple, it works.
Battery resiliency: I charge the battery after every ride, back to 100%. I use a timer and never charge it more than 2 hours in a shot. After 5000 miles and 300 or so charge cycles I cannot detect any reduction in capacity. I’ve taken it down to below 5% fewer than five times (I do not have the supplemental bottle battery).
. Orbea has declined to deliver a 25 KPH fix about ten times now. I live near a world class 25 mile multi-use bike trail, and like all multi-use trails it was designed with 15 MPH limit. 15 MPH or 25 KPH limit is a common civil engineering standard that crosses the pond.
