Orbea Gain M20i Mahle X35+ observations/performance - is it a 20mph bike?

[bcarlson11]

I have been riding a 2022 Orbea M20i USA spec bike in the mostly flat Midwest for 4 months now with the Mahle range Extender battery. Love the bike! My observations on the Mahle X35+ system are interesting in that you have to work hard besides increased wind resistance to go much faster than 20-21 mph IMHO. See my comments below along with a general review of riding the Orbea Gain M20i on a daily basis in good weather:

1. Pushing the motor past 20-21 mph creates noticeable drag on the motor, making it much more difficult to sustain beyond that pace for a long period of time. I do know that beyond the 20-21 mph assist limit I could just turn off the system, but that is annoying to constantly turn the system on and off, especially as I would not sustain a higher speed on flat road for very long.
2. I had read that the motor does not like to be grinding in a high gear, and I do notice that even at 19-20 mph, the drag increases while not quite at the assist limit, yet backing off to 17-18 mph allows the motor to seem to recover and resume providing assist,
3. Although the Orbea M20i is a relatively light bike, I frequently notice the parasitic drag when coasting that I wish would not exist. I just have to deal with it, but on downhills where gravity and momentum offset this parasitic drag it is not a problem.
4. I find that if I charge the bike through the range extender, the status light on the range extender will eventually go out and just the IWOC light on the bike will stay white, indicating the extender battery is at full charge. As a note, I at least once a week I only use the internal battery even with a full extender to cycle the main internal battery off 100% charge to protect the main battery from being at a constant 100% charge.
5. With riding gently at the green IOWC light setting (= 15% assist), I can get 40 miles before the range extender is done and now relying on the internal battery. Thus I believe a range of 75-80 miles is possible with sticking to 15% assist. However, I find myself further into the ride switching to the orange (60% assist) level, thus consuming 80-90% (red light) of the extender battery by 25-30 miles. With this hybrid setting, I believe but not yet fully tested that a 60 mile range using the orange (60%) assist level is reasonable.
6. This bike and the 60% assist level make riding against a headwind really enjoyable, something that would just gas me on my previous bike, but admittedly consuming more battery life (as much as a 25% penalty on battery life!
7. Ultimately, I find myself most comfortable given the design and limitations of the X35+ motor riding closely to the 20 mph but not much faster when on level surfaces. I am not unhappy with this, as my average speed is now significantly higher than my previous road bike, getting a good workout, but not feeling gassed at the end of the ride.
8. Outside of prudent chain and gear cleaning/relubrication after riding in crushed gravel, the bike is very low maintenance. The standard spec Schwalbe One 30mm tires with standard butyl tubes running 65-70 psi are great for riding in my area of mixed asphalt and crushed gravel, provide a very plush ride compared to my previous road bike with 25mm rims and tires, and hold pressure well.
9. The 12 speed Di2 system and shifter paddles (now using syncro shift exclusively) are a joy to use, and with nearly daily riding, need recharging every 2 months. Likewise the hydraulic brakes are a joy compared to rim brakes, with only one time thus far needing to pump the brake levels to work air bubbles out of the front brake and resume normal braking function.
10. Overall, I am extremely happen with my Orbea Gain, that now encourages everyday 25-40 mile rides that I would not have frequently done before, especially for a senior rider like me. Congratulations Orbea on a great design, pricey but well worth it.

 

[Deleted member 46571]

I have been riding a 2022 Orbea M20i USA spec bike in the mostly flat Midwest for 4 months now with the Mahle range Extender battery. Love the bike! My observations on the Mahle X35+ system are interesting in that you have to work hard besides increased wind resistance to go much faster than 20-21 mph IMHO. See my comments below along with a general review of riding the Orbea Gain M20i on a daily basis in good weather:

1. Pushing the motor past 20-21 mph creates noticeable drag on the motor, making it much more difficult to sustain beyond that pace for a long period of time. I do know that beyond the 20-21 mph assist limit I could just turn off the system, but that is annoying to constantly turn the system on and off, especially as I would not sustain a higher speed on flat road for very long.
2. I had read that the motor does not like to be grinding in a high gear, and I do notice that even at 19-20 mph, the drag increases while not quite at the assist limit, yet backing off to 17-18 mph allows the motor to seem to recover and resume providing assist,
3. Although the Orbea M20i is a relatively light bike, I frequently notice the parasitic drag when coasting that I wish would not exist. I just have to deal with it, but on downhills where gravity and momentum offset this parasitic drag it is not a problem.
4. I find that if I charge the bike through the range extender, the status light on the range extender will eventually go out and just the IWOC light on the bike will stay white, indicating the extender battery is at full charge. As a note, I at least once a week I only use the internal battery even with a full extender to cycle the main internal battery off 100% charge to protect the main battery from being at a constant 100% charge.
5. With riding gently at the green IOWC light setting (= 15% assist), I can get 40 miles before the range extender is done and now relying on the internal battery. Thus I believe a range of 75-80 miles is possible with sticking to 15% assist. However, I find myself further into the ride switching to the orange (60% assist) level, thus consuming 80-90% (red light) of the extender battery by 25-30 miles. With this hybrid setting, I believe but not yet fully tested that a 60 mile range using the orange (60%) assist level is reasonable.
6. This bike and the 60% assist level make riding against a headwind really enjoyable, something that would just gas me on my previous bike, but admittedly consuming more battery life (as much as a 25% penalty on battery life!
7. Ultimately, I find myself most comfortable given the design and limitations of the X35+ motor riding closely to the 20 mph but not much faster when on level surfaces. I am not unhappy with this, as my average speed is now significantly higher than my previous road bike, getting a good workout, but not feeling gassed at the end of the ride.
8. Outside of prudent chain and gear cleaning/relubrication after riding in crushed gravel, the bike is very low maintenance. The standard spec Schwalbe One 30mm tires with standard butyl tubes running 65-70 psi are great for riding in my area of mixed asphalt and crushed gravel, provide a very plush ride compared to my previous road bike with 25mm rims and tires, and hold pressure well.
9. The 12 speed Di2 system and shifter paddles (now using syncro shift exclusively) are a joy to use, and with nearly daily riding, need recharging every 2 months. Likewise the hydraulic brakes are a joy compared to rim brakes, with only one time thus far needing to pump the brake levels to work air bubbles out of the front brake and resume normal braking function.
10. Overall, I am extremely happen with my Orbea Gain, that now encourages everyday 25-40 mile rides that I would not have frequently done before, especially for a senior rider like me. Congratulations Orbea on a great design, pricey but well worth it.

hi
i orginally has a oebea D50 did 5200 miles in a year 25 miles a day every day, and yes dragging wheel after 15.5 mph yes its uk limit, went to M20 ultegra mech gears 2019 what a difference 4 kg lighter and yes dragging wheel did 7200 miles in 16 months on this bike, it is a great bike i now have a scott eadict x20 motor much less drag on on this bike if any, the drag on the x35 adds about 1kg in comparrison weight and i wish we had the same cut of point as the USA 20mph , as i said at 15.5 mph motor is off this realy sucks

 

[J Mc M]

hi
i orginally has a oebea D50 did 5200 miles in a year 25 miles a day every day, and yes dragging wheel after 15.5 mph yes its uk limit, went to M20 ultegra mech gears 2019 what a difference 4 kg lighter and yes dragging wheel did 7200 miles in 16 months on this bike, it is a great bike i now have a scott eadict x20 motor much less drag on on this bike if any, the drag on the x35 adds about 1kg in comparrison weight and i wish we had the same cut of point as the USA 20mph , as i said at 15.5 mph motor is off this realy sucks

Hello...

I'm brand new to the group, and joined to find out about the wheel drag that is mentioned in this thread.. I've just bought a new Orbea Gain with the x35+ motor..

I've only had maybe a dozen spins on it so far, but the drag is awful!!! When I power up the head unit, it's already on assistance No.1... is that normal?? Even if I'm only going along at maybe 20kph, it's cut out is 25kph, if I turn off the assistance, it almost stops immediately on the road!!! I'm finding myself having to keep it at level 1 or 2 the whole time....

I have the proper range extender so I'm grand, I've got loads of juice, but is there nothing I can do to fix it?? It's not faulty is it??

Thanks for any help..

 

[Yako]

I’m really sorry, but the ‘drag’ you are experiencing isn’t drag. At least, not much of it. It is, sadly, a widely reported sensation that occurs when the assist goes off with ebikes. With the X35, particularly in level 3, and at 25.2 ish km/h, this cut off is instant, and you feel you have hit a wall. With the X20 system, the assist phases out from 25kmh up to around 27kmh, so you feel the lack of assist gradually. Do a simple test. Spin the rear wheel on a stand, in level 0 and level 3 (don’t turn the pedals). It’s not the least draggy system there is, but it’s not bad. Now imagine the momentum of you and bike together doing 25kmh. Is that motor drag you’ve just seen likely to be felt? It’s possible, but doesn’t account for what you are feeling - a 12 - 15kg bike that had been happily assisting you at 25kmh, the motor purring at it’s most efficient and powerful, stopping. Read around on this forum and Pedelecs forum, this question is asked and answered regularly. I’ve had a Gain D10 for around 12k kms, 14 months.

 

[fooferdoggie]

the easy way to test drag is put the bike on a stand and peddle it and see. some of it is in your head as the bike without power feels so much different. I hate the feel of the how sluggish the bike is with no power. only out e tandem fills fine without power. we often are on the edge of the motor cutting off anyway.

 

[MikeDee]

You are only going to get drag (if there is any) by coasting, not pedaling. I can coast downhill as fast as everyone else on unpowered bikes, so if there's drag, there isn't much. You can see some drag by spinning the rear wheel in a workstand and the wheel stops spinning much sooner than an unpowered bike with good bearings/adjustment, but that really translates to a small amount of drag.

 

[bcarlson11]

Just an update on my original post on my USA spec Orbea M20i talking more about X35 motor drag beyond 20 mph (again USA spec), range, and tips on what do do if your Di2 electronic shifting system is out of battery life from experience.
1) regarding the X35 parasitic drag I commented about in my original post, more experience is that now that I am more aware of it, I would agree the experience is part the motor fighting you beyond 20-21 mph (which I call parasitic drag), and hitting the wall where the reality of wind resistance beyond 20 mph is no longer being offset by the motor, so it becomes "comfortable" to just stay at 19-21 mph. I can certainly work harder and get up to 23-25 mph on flat terrain, but at my age, I just don't want to be gassed. Again, not really a bad thing!
2) Regarding battery range, I have now clocked 65 miles on one trip with the range extender where I kept the iWOC setting in the green 15% mode for the 30 miles along a route that did not allow for riding at more than a 14-15 mph speed at times, and then switching to the orange 60% assist later in the ride. I believe I could have gotten to 75 miles of assist, which makes for a fun time!
3) and now for Di2 tip #1 if your Shimano battery is dying/dead. First, if your shifting is sluggish and you are convinced the Di2 battery is almost exhausted, make your last shift to the 11 or 12 tooth cog on the back and large chainring on the front. The incredible torque of the X35 (and I would assume the newer X20)) motor will allow you (albeit somewhat leisurely from a dead stop) to slowly get you moving up to the max speed the motor supports as long as you are on more or less level terrain until you can recharge the Di2 system. O could say on level terrain you could leave the bike in top gear and never shift and still have loads of time, but at relatively show pedaling RPM's.
4) For Di2 tip #2 with a dead Shimano battery, you can manually lift up your chain and position it on the 11 or 12 tooth cog on the back and then manually reposition the inside/oustide position of the derailleur so that the chain runs clean with no chatter. Then follow Tip #1 to leisurely pedal at low RPM's but with full battery support to get home or to your destination.
5) for Di2 top #3 (and this is directly tied to top #2), if your Di2 battery died when you were in lower/lowest gear and you manually reset the cog the chain/derailleur was running in, don't forget that after the Di2 battery is charged up to manually reset the chain position back to cog the bike was running in when the battery died. The Di2 controller remembers the position the derailleur was in even after the battery died. If your derailleur was running in the largest cog and your repositioned the chain to the higher gear (smallest cog), the Di2 system will refuse to shift, as it thinks it is at the limit for shifting to any lower gear (larger back cog).
6) for Di2 tip #4, carry in your tool bag a pair of nitrile gloves and a few sheets of kitchen towels to avoid getting chain oil on your hands when performing Di2 Tip #27)
7) as a high temperature warning, don't let your e-bike battery or Shimano Di2 battery "cook" in a hot garage over 100 degrees Fahrenheit while idle. Protect those batteries from overheating by taking the bike inside an air-conditioned building or room. Your expensive lithium-ion batteries will thank you with longer life.