Orbea Gain E-Road Bike

[taylorpetie]

Would the new Vado SL be an option if the stand over height of the Creo is too high?

Or a regular Vado. That would certainly do it.

Thanks both the suggestions. She test road some of the e-bikes and she did like the bottom bracket motor e-bikes... thanks again. The Vado did well, but she wanted a road-looking e-bike and therefore passed on the Vado. I wish we had a chance to demo the Orbea Gain M20 but none available in XS size. So, she went the other model -- the standover height was borderline where she was comfortable with it.

 

[taylorpetie]

So what did she end up getting?

The wife went with the CREO Comp SL. Seems the standover height was tolerable with her mountain bike clip on shoes ... plus, my measurement of her inseam was just a tad off

 

[Pete D]

The motor is in the rear wheel hub. It is not affected by gearing. Increasing cadence won’t help the motor, only speed. Higher speed would help “bogging” and overheating, if that’s a problem.

Higher cadence can help the rider produce power more efficiently. Rider power + motor power = total power.

 

[abn1000]

Hello everyone
I have an Orbea Gain m30 and I am very happy with my bike I have read that there are people that use home trainer.


Anyone use a home trainer?
what kind of home trainer?
I have a tacx flow smart and I don't know to put in the trainer.

Thanks

 

[abn1000]

Thank you
But we have a problem because axle is fix (axle is the motor) and the nuts ares so big.

 

[abn1000]

I want a trainer only for bike in home when I cant go to the street and I have only one bike. I don't want to buy another I live in a flat in Barcelona "space is strategic"

Tacks sells axle and nuts but are metric (until 10mm) and my nuts are 12mm whitworh ( i think, I'm not mechanic).
I have some solution: to buy a wheel only for the tacx flow(i dont need the motor for home) or to buy two nuts orbea (1 euro ) and I will file them until can put in the support.

Im looking for a solution until the market become "normal" because now is "total crazy" about bike, training...i don't kno in USA but Europe is....
Tacx Neo is a good home trainer and you don't have to change the tire o wheel but it is impossible to find in Europe, it's impossible to find any training.
Thank you

 

[MikeC89]

Hello everyone
I have an Orbea Gain m30 and I am very happy with my bike I have read that there are people that use home trainer.


Anyone use a home trainer?
what kind of home trainer?
I have a tacx flow smart and I don't know to put in the trainer.

Thanks

I have an M30 and use a Wahoo Kickr Core, which is a direct drive trainer. Since I have to remove the rear wheel my rides are all "non-assisted", but that's how I want it on a trainer anyway. Fit is not a problem on this trainer for the M30, and I would highly recommend it, it transmits power, speed, cadence.

 

[Pemberton]

I bought an M30 a few days ago and have a couple of rides on it. I rode 38 miles today and averaged 2 mph faster over the same ride I did last week on my road bike. Most of the ride was in the eco mode. Some of the hills were in the mid power mode, and the system was in no assist mode for a few miles too. At the end I was at 43% battery life; not too bad over a ride with rolling hills. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the bottle battery when it becomes available.

The speed at which the power assist cuts off is 20 mph; not 15 as reported above. This is in the US. In the EU it's 25 kph (15.5 mph). The power cutoff is not abrupt and it's difficult to tell at what speed above 20 mph it's actually occurring.

The bike is tubeless ready, but comes with tubes installed. It has room for 40mm wide tires and comes with 28mm wide tubeless tires. I'm thinking of getting wider tires to ride gravel and soften the ride. The wheels and tires are Mavic tubeless ready UST. This is about the best engineered tubeless system as the tires can be mounted and removed without tools and can be aired up without an air compressor.

The groupset is Shimano 105 11 speed mechanical with 105 disc brakes with 160mm rotors front and rear. It shifts and stops nicely. Gearing is 50x34 front and 11-32 rear. There's plenty of gearing over a wide range, even when you run out of electric power.

One thing I don't like is the chainstays are wide at the back. I'm duck footed so my heels hit the chainstays now and then. I'm going to have to adjust my cleats to prevent that. I can hear a little brake rotor rub on occasion when pedaling out of the saddle.

The motor is seamlessly integrated and very quiet. I could only hear it on climbs. I can detect no motor drag when power assistance is off, however the rear wheel doesn't spin as freely as an unpowered bike if you pick up the back of the bike and give the wheel a spin by hand. I haven't used the iPhone app much, other than to check the power level at the end of the ride. I'm thinking of getting a bar mount for my phone but I have a Garmin and it would probably drain my phone battery pretty quickly if there's a lot of screen time. From reading the information on the EVmotion website, the battery is supposed to have a USB output. It would be nice if Orbea would provide a way to tap into that to power a cell phone. The iOS app is impressive and sophisticated, but unfortunately currently not useful while riding without an external power source and holder for the phone.

I didn't have much problem with the power button out on the road changing power modes. It's not something that I need to do often. I'm sure I'll get more adept at it. I think I fumbled with it once when I was trying to cycle through several modes to go from moderate back to eco mode.

The bike has a thru axle at the front and nuts at the rear wheels. Make sure you carry a multi tool and it fits these fasteners so you can repair a flat out on the road.

The bike weighs about 25 pounds which means it pedals easily when the power assist is off or you run out of battery. It also handles like a regular road bike as it's not too heavy. It has endurance geometry and rides and handles nicely and has no toe overlap (I have the large sized frame).

As Greg LeMond once said, "It doesn't get any easier, you just go faster." That about sums up my experience. If you're looking for an easy ride, maybe a Class 3 bike would be better. But if you're looking for an ebike that's similar in weight and handling to your current road bike and that makes the climbs a lot easier, then this bike is a good choice.

Update 1/29/19. I've ridden the bike on a number of rides. I love it. Looking forward to getting the bottle battery so I can do longer rides. I find I'm using powered assistance on the flats as well as climbs; great for headwinds.

I’ve read all the reports on the Orbea Gain. The negative ones are clearly from those cyclists who do not wish to keep themselves active. Preferring to use battery power than pedal assist.
I have had an Orbea Gain M1 for a year. I also use the range extender battery. It is absolutely brilliant. I hardly use the L2 and L3 control buttons, preferring to keep myself an active 79 year old and former racing cyclist. It’s fit is perfect and with Ultegra drive train is ideal. Those who criticise the IWOC controls clearly are not proficient in its use.

 

[Pemberton]

I am new to this group but would like to respectfully disagree with the above review and offer another view of the Orbeo Gain. I am a new owner of an Orbea Gain M20i and have ridden it about 300 miles in the past 3 weeks. I love, love, love the bike. There is a learning curve and it takes about 2 rides to become comfortable with its functions, but it is a dream. My favorite things about the bike: 1) It is very swift (without the motor) and nimble. I am 80, and not a strong rider, just enjoy bicycling recreationally. That having been said, I use the motor only about 10-20% of the time because of the nimbleness of the bike. I rarely need to use the smaller front chain ring; only if there is a greater than 4% grade. 2) the motor is a pleasant and unobtrusive assist, as it should be. I have done up to 7%, brief, grade without ever using more than the lowest level of assist. With a longer 7% or more grade I would use a higher level of assist and it would be more than adequate. 3) using the motor as described (only 10-20% of the time and on lowest level of assist) I easily bicycle 50 miles and the battery remaining will be 25-50%. 4) the Shimano electric gear shift, hydraulic disc brakes, tubeless tires, light weight (for an e-bike -- 28#), and overall efficiency of the bike make for an outstanding experience. 5) I never look down to turn the electric assist on and off, though of course I do need to briefly (2 seconds), reach slight with one hand to turn the motor on or off. Because the motor/assist is automatically activated when turning on, there is no necessity to cycle through the levels of assist to get back to no assist. Simply turn on the assist when you need it, and off when you don't. Now for the not so wonderful: 1) the charge cord is a nuisance to plug in properly. 2) the manufacturer's literature says to not charge for more than 5 hours and hence I need to set my alarm to remind me to unplug the charger; I don't know the reason for this but suspect this is unnecessary. 3) If you want a powerful assist from lowest level, you will not be able to get it; you will need to go to a higher level of assist and of course a shorter range. However, who is going to want to use a higher level of assist constantly on an efficient road bike. Such a person should be purchasing a heavy hybrid with a large motor, not this clearly advanced road bike. That's all for now, but if you want the alternative of a more powerful, but yet lightweight road e-bike, look for my review of a Cytronex e-bike kit added onto an existing Trek carbon road bike.

Well said.

 

[Pete D]

Turning it off as a way to go from level 1 to 0 rather than stepping through 2 and 3 is one way to do it though a connected device (smartphone, GPS) would complain about the loss of signal. I’d rather they had just used an up and down button. I’ve ridden my 2020 D30 now over 500 miles and I tend to just leave it at level 1 all the time (set to 80%) and that works well for me. Also the GPS screen has a down level button and I use that.

I wondered about what seemed like a “no more than 5 hour charge warning” but the charger knows when it’s done (green light) and ended up thinking the image was saying it could take up to 5 hours to fully charge.

 

[TouchingCloth]

My average speed on a ride when i classed my self as fit, but not an athlete by any means was 14mph give or take dependin on route, time of year, weather and number of rides in the past few days etc.
Now I have it I can surpass this average on a uk 15.5mph version reletivly easily.

However my aim is to increase my fitness and strength in my legs. My health condition is called peripheral claudication, which in a nutshell is blocked arteries to the legs, causing severe cramp in the muscles when they need more oxygen than the blood flow can supply. So the assistance when I hit an incline of any description is absolutely necessary or even working very hard on the flat.
The gain is perfect of course, allowing me to add power assistance as necessary.
As my fitness improves, I can tackle most mildly undulating terrain unassisted until my legs are begining to generally tire due to lack of endurance. I did a 65mile ride last week and battery level was an impressive 61% on my return.

Recently while out alone and wanting to ride for longer, I have been happy to cruise at a steady 13mph under my own steam to conserve my own energy, however as the miles rack up and the inevetable climbs and fatigue take there toll, I switch on the assistance where I would normally go solo. The problem is the motor wants to take me up to 15.5mph while I'm more than happy to stay around the 13 mark and conserve battery. I adjusted the power setting to around 65% on level one and this seemed to have the desired effect as i didn't feel the motor pushing me beyond my desired speed. I also reduced level 2 to 80%
However when out with my daughter, she rides at a average of 16 plus. Momentum and drafting allows me to achieve this, and as a result I conserve battery too due to the motor cutting out. Downside is, I tire a lot quicker and need to adjust the power setting back to 100% to keep up at present. Hopefully as my fitness improves, I will continue to need less assistance and not need to purchase the range extender.

Its a marvelous machine for those of us who still want a work out, with the added ability to adjust the power setting to suit the ride ahead if necessary.
Its given my my cycling pastime back, and the feeling of achievement from completing a ride at a certain pace or distance is still there.

 

[Ed B]

The bike is tubeless ready, but comes with tubes installed. It has room for 40mm wide tires and comes with 28mm wide tubeless tires.

What 700x28 tires are forum members finding success with?

I'm riding a Gain M20i which came in the USA with Mavic Aksium Elite Disc UST tubeless ready wheels and Mavic Yksion Pro tires. I am riding with a tube around 100PSI in the rear. The rear only lasted like 1,000 miles so I tried a Schwalbe 11600810 Pro One but that wore out quickly too. Most other tires wont fit the Mavic rims (despite the UST part!) And, even the Yksion and Schwalbe are extremely hard to mount by hand.

Just wondering if there are other options I havent yet discovered. I'm looking for durability over weight. I dont mind the hard ride of a 28 at the higher end of the recommended pressure range.

-E

 

[yungleen]

What 700x28 tires are forum members finding success with?

I'm riding a Gain M20i which came in the USA with Mavic Aksium Elite Disc UST tubeless ready wheels and Mavic Yksion Pro tires. I am riding with a tube around 100PSI in the rear. The rear only lasted like 1,000 miles so I tried a Schwalbe 11600810 Pro One but that wore out quickly too. Most other tires wont fit the Mavic rims (despite the UST part!) And, even the Yksion and Schwalbe are extremely hard to mount by hand.

Just wondering if there are other options I havent yet discovered. I'm looking for durability over weight. I dont mind the hard ride of a 28 at the higher end of the recommended pressure range.

-E

I was surprised when I saw the recommended pressure on the 28 tires on my M20i. It is something like 67-87. I have been doing it around 80 and being more relaxed about topping off before each ride like I normally do. It gives a nice, smooth ride at the lower pressure.

 

[Pete D]

I was surprised when I saw the recommended pressure on the 28 tires on my M20i. It is something like 67-87. I have been doing it around 80 and being more relaxed about topping off before each ride like I normally do. It gives a nice, smooth ride at the lower pressure.

Me too ... I have been riding bikes for exercise for 15 years and 14-3/4 of them were spent on skinny 23mm tires pumped up to 110 PSI the 28mm at 75-80 is much more comfortable and the tires still seem efficient. Wish I knew this years ago.
However the other day I hit a pothole and the rear tire flatted. That was an experience ... the tubeless ready rims and tires were locked together and were nearly impossible to separate by hand, in fact a buddy had to do it. The lower pressure may increase the number of these kind of flats. Going to explore going tubeless.

 

[ChrisH]

What 700x28 tires are forum members finding success with?

I'm riding a Gain M20i which came in the USA with Mavic Aksium Elite Disc UST tubeless ready wheels and Mavic Yksion Pro tires. I am riding with a tube around 100PSI in the rear. The rear only lasted like 1,000 miles so I tried a Schwalbe 11600810 Pro One but that wore out quickly too. Most other tires wont fit the Mavic rims (despite the UST part!) And, even the Yksion and Schwalbe are extremely hard to mount by hand.

Just wondering if there are other options I havent yet discovered. I'm looking for durability over weight. I dont mind the hard ride of a 28 at the higher end of the recommended pressure range.

-E

My M20i (Australia) also came with Mavic Aksium Elite Disc UST tubeless ready wheels and Mavic Yksion Pro tires. Currently done 1800 km (1100 miles). FYI I weigh about 77 kg (170 lbs)There is only limited wear. Currently I am running them tubeless and with pressure 65 psi in the front and 75 psi in the back. (see https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/tubeless-tyres.34765/) The ride is comfortable and from all information the bike is probably faster at these pressures rather than 100 psi. When I took the Mavic Yksion Pro tyres off and on again, I found then very easy. I did not need to use a lever to put them on ; only used a lever to get the tyres off

In the link provided another rider suggests that he installed 28 mm Continental GP 5000 TL tyres on those rimes and it was very easy.

Chris

 

[TouchingCloth]

My M30 uk 2019 model came with mavic aksium ust rims, yuksion tubless tyres, but had innertubes fitted. I had several early punctures and had great difficulty removing the tyres, even greater difficulty getting them back on. The use of tyre levers and brute force broke several levers on trapped numerous inertubes, meaning the painful process often needed to be repeated.
My first puncture was a rusty tack that found its way in side the tyre, it was at this point I discovered I also had tubes fitted. The severe difficulty in removing and replacing the tubless tyres frightened me from actually going down this route properly. I damaged the rims quite badly and didn't fancy this out on the road if I got a flat the sealant wouldn't patch.
Decided to opt for 28mm GP5000 clincher version with tube.
Fitting was much easier, other than getting the bead to sit in the groove in the rim correctly. Lots of initial pressure and massaging to get it to pop into place.
Tyres are significantly more comfortable than the tubless they replaced, with a noticable drop in rolling resistance despite the much improved grip.
I'm not convince the wear rate will be great, but so far so good.

 

[Ed B]

Decided to opt for 28mm GP5000 clincher version with tube.

Let us know how the GP5000s hold up. I'm still running higher pressure (around 100-105) but have now switched to tubeless with a Bontrager AW2 Hard-Case Lite in the rear (still have the Yksion Pro in the front).

I dont notice a huge difference over having tubes inside, but the tires seems to hold pressure better.

Will report back on wear.

 

[TouchingCloth]

Done 500 miles so far in them, work well at low pressure about 80psi but have them 90 to 95 just in an effort to help me keep up with daughter who forgets its all me over 15.5mph.
I will let everyone know how they hold up, but they actually feel tacky to touch so not expecting miracles. That said rolling resistance was noticeably better despite the feel.

 

[pinarider]

I recently purchased a Pinarello Dyodo an on my third ride I decided to bring along a water bottle. Well believe it or not, with a water bottle installed, and my iphone in my back jersey pocket, the bluetooth would disconnect. On the two previous rides, I didn't have a problem with bluetooth disconnecting. And I was able to confirm that if I removed the water bottle from the down tube, the bluetooth connection would resume. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

 

[Carlos L]

Orbea Gain, love it!
I have been riding for 12 years, started late at 56 through racing triathlons. For the last 5 years my ride has been a Fuji gran fondo 1.3, carbon, ultegra Di2. I ride every week once or twice, sometimes more. The problemis that my wife is a stronger rider, 9 years younger, super athletic and 40lbs lighter than me, therefore when we climb she is much faster, I suffer to keep un and end up not enjoying the climbs. After a lot or research just bought the Orbea Gain, carbon Di2. We live in the SM Mountains, and we are surrounded by iconic rides, Piuma, Latigo, Stunt, Rockstore, to get out and ride you need to climb something. Of the bat, the first day I rode, badly fit and with the saddle that came with the bike we went on a 22 miles ride, part of it was going up Stunt which is a steady hard climb of 4 miles. Normally I do it in about 45 minutes, this time it took me 33. I was able to keep with my wife and pass her if I wanted to. I am using ONLY the lowest assist power, green level. My interest is range rather than power, I do not want to power up the mountain, for that I have a motorcycle, I want a road bike that looks like a road bike and helps me climb. After a couple of rides took it to a bike store and got fitted. I shortened the stem and changed the saddle to an ISM I am comfortable on. Yesterday we went on our long ride so far (with the Gain). Using only the green level we did 42 miles with an elevation gain of 3,300’. When we got back my phone app showed still 53% of battery left, which means that I can go on an 80 miles ride, climb over 6,000 feet, and still get home with some juice left.

The gain is just like a nice regular road bike, sleek and pretty. I love the disk brakes and going downhill handles exceptionally well, the rear tire does not bounce, and the bike feels quick and responsive. The humming g of the motor is very low, when you hear it is because it is helping you climb, and I do not mind the help at all. I love the fact that does not come with a cockpit of lights and switches, one button controls everything and you cycle between the levels of assistance, I have my phone holder on my handlebar and the app tells me speed, level of assistance and power being generated and more.

My only problem is that the motor shuts off at 15 miles and not at 20 as advertised. I have contacted Orbea and it seems that I need to take it to an Orbea dealer for a firmware upgrade. I will follow up with how that goes, but otherwise, my challenging rides have become much more fun.