Orbea Gain Rear Axle

[riding29]

I'm looking at the Orbea Gain for my wife. Probably the lower end carbon model. I think they hit the mark with the assist concept.

What I'm wondering about is the rear axle. Sure hoping they were smart about it and used a dropout for a 12x142 thru axle in the rear??? That way we could easily swap the rear wheel for shorter rides where assist is not needed. Yeah I know it my be an Ebike Motion question but again I sure hope they were smart about it.

 

[JRA]

It appears they are nutted axles. I only know of two thru axle hub motors, one rear and one front. It is not popular as of yet with hub motors as well as many are still 36h drilling patterns.

 

[riding29]

Hmm. Wonder if that dropout would support a 135x9 QR hub? Yeah I know it is an option to just not activate the assist but some are talking about additional drag and there is the weight of the motor. It would be nice if this really nice carbon bike could be used as a regular bike too. That would have been my design point.

 

[JRA]

It is a standard 10mm dropout so I am sure it would.

The reason I use a front hub motor on my road bikes is because it is really easy to swap out to the stock wheel and leave the battery at home. Plus I like the weight distribution better overall. No stock bikes that come that way however.

 

[MikeDee]

The bike is really not designed to be used that way. If that's what you really want, get one with the Fazua motor (Focus Paralane2, for example). The Fazua powered bikes are not yet sold in the US, awaiting government approval.

 

[JRA]

The bike is really not designed to be used that way. If that's what you really want, get one with the Fazua motor (Focus Paralane2, for example). The Fazua powered bikes are not yet sold in the US, awaiting government approval.

The bike is designed to have a 135mm hub mounted in it and it makes no difference if it is a hub motor or a standard QR hub. If it was a 130mm rear standard hub then that would make a difference as to how it was designed. In fact it caused some issues back 6 years ago or so when road bikes started to adopt 135mm axle spacing over the long standard 130mm in regards to chainline that went through a transitional stage.

It would cost Fazua about $8k to get UL Approval for their electronics that are no more stringent than the homologation requirements they have attained for sales in the EU. In the end they will go where the money is and their production will allow.

 

[MikeDee]

The bike is designed to have a 135mm hub mounted in it and it makes no difference if it is a hub motor or a standard QR hub. If it was a 130mm rear standard hub then that would make a difference as to how it was designed. In fact it caused some issues back 6 years ago or so when road bikes started to adopt 135mm axle spacing over the long standard 130mm in regards to chainline that went through a transitional stage.

It would cost Fazua about $8k to get UL Approval for their electronics that are no more stringent than the homologation requirements they have attained for sales in the EU. In the end they will go where the money is and their production will allow.

I would not assume that a round axle would fit in the dropouts. The motor axle has two flats on it. Someday I'll take off my wheel to check the fit. I had my wheel out once, and it seemed it slotted in, but I could be wrong.

Articles I've read on the Fazua bikes is they are awaiting US government approval. That's not UL (UL is not part of the government), but I don't know what government agency approves these things. The Fazua bikes are designed to easily remove the motor and battery and use conventional wheels and thus be converted to an unpowered bike. Removing the Gain battery is much harder and comprises much of the weight of the e system.

 

[riding29]

I would not assume that a round axle would fit in the dropouts. The motor axle has two flats on it. Someday I'll take off my wheel to check the fit. I had my wheel out once, and it seemed it slotted in, but I could be wrong.

Mike, I'm interested in what you find. I have a set of Easton Wheels and can switch the rear between 142 thru axles and 135 QR with an end cap swap. Ideally this bike would have built to a current standard. The QR wheel option would still be nice though. Thanks.

 

[firstbuell]

I also am interested in knowing if a std disc rear wheel of proper width can be mounted, whether with QR or thru axle (what diameter?)

 

[joaven]

Hmm. Wonder if that dropout would support a 135x9 QR hub? Yeah I know it is an option to just not activate the assist but some are talking about additional drag and there is the weight of the motor. It would be nice if this really nice carbon bike could be used as a regular bike too. That would have been my design point.

When I ride it on flat I’m easily above 30 kmh, I don’t feel any drag !(european:stops assisting at 25kmh). In fact, I don’t feel the motor, it just feels like I became stronger climbing, i.e. it’s easier but I don’t feel pushed.
The extra weight is not at all felt on flat.

 

[Stewmca]

Has anyone done this switch yet to a regular rear wheel? Sure looks like it could work as the rear dropout is 9mm. The threaded thru axle on the hub wheel is 12mm with two flat sides and rotates to fit into the dropout. So it seems like a 135x9 QR wheel should work. I love the bike but find I’m not using the motor much so dropping 4.5 pounds of motor weight occasionally is an attractive option.

 

[Kostas]

Is anyone swap the rear wheel with conventional wheel? I want to buy this one. https://www.bike24.de/p1297678.html
Is it going to pass?

 

[Stewmca]

Yes, I just did it and it works great. I switched to a Mavic Aksium Disc with a 105 cassette and Gatorskin clinchers, with the same disc (Shimano SM-RT54). The hardest part was that the wheel comes with 12mm through axle caps that I had to take to the LBS for replacement with the included 9mm quick release adapter. The caps were impossible for me to get off. Make sure that Mavic Cosmic Pro also converts to QR. The weight of the wheel with motor on my M20 is 3.55kg vs 1.95kg for the conventional wheel, so it's about 3.5 pounds lighter.