Orbea Gain variants question

[grouper]

Hi all,

I 'm reposting the question in this part since I got no reply in the general section. Already own a hybrid e-bike and planning to transition to a road bike. After some research, I have ended up with the Orbea Gain. Not sure however which variant to get.
I 'm looking into the D50, the D30, D31 and the M30. As far as I understand, the D50 is the cheapest, having mechanical disk brakes (instead of hydraulic) and having a different gear system. The M30 has a carbon skeleton, being about 1kg lighter and the D31 is the gravel/cyclocross version. So my questions are the following:

1. Do you think that the extra features of the 30 variants are worth the additional cost?
2. Since the roads close to my area of residence are super bumpy and I occasionally ride on gravel/off road, I was thinking about going for the D31, but I see that it only has 11 gears. Do you think I could get around this by getting the 30/50 variants and putting in 40mm tyres (the same ones that are used on the D31). Would I have an issue on the bike performance wise?
3. Does the app that come with the Gain allow switching assistance modes through the mobile phone directly?
4. Is the battery easy to remove? Asking because I am considering to use the bike as a conventional, non-electric bike occasionally, without the extra weight of the battery.
5. Can I charge the battery inside my house or does it have to be on the bike?

thanks

 

[Jaxx]

Hi all,

I 'm reposting the question in this part since I got no reply in the general section. Already own a hybrid e-bike and planning to transition to a road bike. After some research, I have ended up with the Orbea Gain. Not sure however which variant to get.
I 'm looking into the D50, the D30, D31 and the M30. As far as I understand, the D50 is the cheapest, having mechanical disk brakes (instead of hydraulic) and having a different gear system. The M30 has a carbon skeleton, being about 1kg lighter and the D31 is the gravel/cyclocross version. So my questions are the following:

1. Do you think that the extra features of the 30 variants are worth the additional cost?
2. Since the roads close to my area of residence are super bumpy and I occasionally ride on gravel/off road, I was thinking about going for the D31, but I see that it only has 11 gears. Do you think I could get around this by getting the 30/50 variants and putting in 400mm tyres (the same ones that are used on the D31). Would I have an issue on the bike performance wise?
3. Does the app that come with the Gain allow switching assistance modes through the mobile phone directly?
4. Is the battery easy to remove? Asking because I am considering to use the bike as a conventional, non-electric bike occasionally, without the extra weight of the battery.
5. Can I charge the battery inside my house or does it have to be on the bike?

thanks

1) Yes

2)Yes

3)No (Switching levels of assist is via top tube button) Via app on mobile each assist level can be altered.

4)No

5)Via bike only.

 

[Solom01]

Hi Grouper. I own a F30. At least last year the gravel bikes included a control on the handlebar which is nice to have. Their geometry is also a bit more upright. The battery isn't meant to be removed by the user. As you spend more you'll get a lighter bike and better components. I live in a flat area so weight and shifting aren't a big issue, but I'd I were going to ride in a hilly area that would be important. Also if you want to add a rack or fenders the aluminum models have bosses for them, the carbon fiber models don't.

 

[grouper]

Thanks for your replies Jaxx and Solom01.

I live at the base of a 1000m high mountain, so most of my rides are steep uphills, around 6-10%. That's why I originally got an e-bike, specifically the Cube acid hybrid one 400. It has the Bosch active line plus motor (250w) which is more than enough for the climbs, so I presume the Gain will perform at least as good with its motor since it is lighter. But it is a very heavy bike (22-23kgs) which makes flat rides above 25kms pretty hard (motor turns off at that speed, I live in europe).

So, do you think that I would be fine with the M30 and 40mm tyres (the D31s)? I think that the standard, 28mm ones will make my rides very uncomfortable in bumpy terrain. Also, I wasn't aware of the handlebar additional control in the F30. Does it work like the standard button (only switches modes upwards and have to wait 2 secs?).

 

[Solom01]

No, the iwoc 5 that comes on the flatbar Gains along with (not in place of) the iwoc 1 is a bit different. It let's you go up or down without cycling through, so if you're in level two you press the top botton to go to 3 or the down button to go to 1 with no waiting, and it also makes it easier to engage the walk mode (if you think that's something you'll be using). You can also use it to turn power on or off. Grouper, have you considered adding a suspension seatpost if you want a bit more comfort? I haven't added one to mine because the 38mm tires it comes with are comfortable enough for me, but it's a standard seatpost tube so it should be easy to add one if you want.

 

[grouper]

Never knew there was such a thing as a suspension seatpost , I 've only joined the cycling world 6 months ago. It sounds like a great idea, I 'll check it out. I think I 'll probably go for the M30 or D30 with 40mm tyres and use a suspension seatpost if the bike is not comfortable enough. My only issue right now is the mode switching (iwoc one is the name for the button?) which only goes up and you have to wait 2 secs. I 'd love to use something like the iwoc 5 on the bars, it's just more comfortable when you ride in constantly changing slopes. Do you think I might be able to obtain it independently and install it? Many thanks for your reply, you 've been a lot of help!

 

[ZJarvis]

Never knew there was such a thing as a suspension seatpost , I 've only joined the cycling world 6 months ago. It sounds like a great idea, I 'll check it out. I think I 'll probably go for the M30 or D30 with 40mm tyres and use a suspension seatpost if the bike is not comfortable enough. My only issue right now is the mode switching (iwoc one is the name for the button?) which only goes up and you have to wait 2 secs. I 'd love to use something like the iwoc 5 on the bars, it's just more comfortable when you ride in constantly changing slopes. Do you think I might be able to obtain it independently and install it? Many thanks for your reply, you 've been a lot of help!

I've been looking into putting an iwoc 5 on my Gain D40.

Based on the specs, the interior diameter of the controller is too small to fit onto any drop-bar style handlebars I've seen, and it's a fixed ring -- meaning the controller is an unbroken piece that has to be slid onto the bars rather than clamped on.

However, it's a cheap part to get ($50 usd), and I've been considering ordering one and seeing if it can be modified to go onto the bars, or failing that, just 3d-printing an adapter that can go onto the plug in the stem.

When you ask if you can remove the battery, it suggests you'd be keeping the bike outside. Much as I love this bike, if you can't keep it indoors I'd recommend not getting it if you live in a place where the temperature drops below 10°C. Low temperatures can damage the cells in the battery.

 

[Jaxx]

I've been looking into putting an iwoc 5 on my Gain D40.

Based on the specs, the interior diameter of the controller is too small to fit onto any drop-bar style handlebars I've seen, and it's a fixed ring -- meaning the controller is an unbroken piece that has to be slid onto the bars rather than clamped on.

However, it's a cheap part to get ($50 usd), and I've been considering ordering one and seeing if it can be modified to go onto the bars, or failing that, just 3d-printing an adapter that can go onto the plug in the stem.

When you ask if you can remove the battery, it suggests you'd be keeping the bike outside. Much as I love this bike, if you can't keep it indoors I'd recommend not getting it if you live in a place where the temperature drops below 10°C. Low temperatures can damage the cells in the battery.

Good luck with the retro (keep us updated) Absolutely right in keeping the battery warmish for winter storage. For that reason my Gains sit along side the snooker table in a converted barn kept at a constant 18-20c for the benifit of the table.

 

[grouper]

Thanks Zjarvis. Where can one get the iwoc 5 from? I didn't find it at the Orbea website.

I just saw that the new 2020 models come with a computer display on the bars/stem (OC monochrome ANT+ LEV). Anyone know if this offers the option of switching assist modes?

 

[ZJarvis]

Thanks Zjarvis. Where can one get the iwoc 5 from? I didn't find it at the Orbea website.

Turns out, it's called iWoc Trio rather than iWoc 5. Link here. I was going to order it through the bike shop where I got my Gain.

I just saw that the new 2020 models come with a computer display on the bars/stem (OC monochrome ANT+ LEV). Anyone know if this offers the option of switching assist modes?

I don't believe those give you any control, they just display status. It's also a shame they made them ANT+ instead of BTLE, since the x35 setup in the original Gains have bluetooth, but not ANT+. (x35 is the name of the motor / battery / controller system used -- it's also used in Orbea's eMX mountain-bikes as well as bikes from other manufacturers now.)

I suppose it's not out of the question that the controller could be replaced with a newer model, since the whole thing is very modular. The problem is that all this information is scattered around in various PDF files and out-of-date business plans probably converted from a Powerpoint presentation.

 

[ZJarvis]

Good luck with the retro (keep us updated) Absolutely right in keeping the battery warmish for winter storage. For that reason my Gains sit along side the snooker table in a converted barn kept at a constant 18-20c for the benifit of the table.

The more I've thought about this, the more I think the way to do it is with a 3d printed adapter that mounts on the stem plug. If I get it working, I'll make the plans available for anyone to use.

 

[Solom01]

Sorry folks, my bad. It is the 3, not 5. I really do like having it since being able to select the assistance level without cycling is nice. Hope you all can modify it to fit. However I did have a mechanic accidently turn on the motor at my lbs yesterday because he grabbed it by mistake... Scared the heck out of him.

 

[Pete D]

... My only issue right now is the mode switching (iwoc one is the name for the button?) which only goes up and you have to wait 2 secs ...

I read comments such as this somewhere else here and was fully expecting to hate the iwoc one but when I test rode a 2019 at my LBS (in US) the 2 second thing was not between levels but rather to turn the entire thing on or off. The assist level is changed by a single quick push on the button. It is as you point out up only 0-1-2-3-0-1-2-3-0... and for me I'd like to have a down button. I know yours is an old post but I wanted to just correct the 2 second wait thing.

 

[Solom01]

You know it's a shame they don't just add the ability to go from one level to the other instantly to the ebikemotion app. It would be easy to do and although it doesn't bother some people too much it seems to really get other people upset, so why not just update the app and make up/down and direct access to levels to the app.?

 

[Pete D]

You know it's a shame they don't just add the ability to go from one level to the other instantly to the ebikemotion app. It would be easy to do and although it doesn't bother some people too much it seems to really get other people upset, so why not just update the app and make up/down and direct access to levels to the app.?

Yeah! Or add a button to the iWoc

 

[Wacky rider]

You know it's a shame they don't just add the ability to go from one level to the other instantly to the ebikemotion app. It would be easy to do and although it doesn't bother some people too much it seems to really get other people upset, so why not just update the app and make up/down and direct access to levels to the app.?

I wish they would as I am about to get the 4th iWok trio fitted to my 2020 Gain Urban! they just keep failing. Does anyone know if assist levels can be changed using the top tube mounted iWok 1 on flatbar bikes? I have tried and failed to do this.