Orbea Vibe (User Club)

[ngg]

I am the proud owner of that bike (H30 MID version) over 3 months, and so far I have covered over 1,000 km. The MID version is, among other things, interesting for people with slightly shorter legs (than the standard length), and yet they can ride a bike of the appropriate size.

Vibe looks and Vibe rides like a regular light bike. When I need help uphill, I start the motor. All commands are on the handlebar and within reach of the thumb and forefinger. There is no need to take your hand off the handlebar and watch the different lights and their flashing. Simply, you will feel every change as a vibration (like smartphones). Just relax and ride. Even the brakes work with one finger.

The front and rear lights (to be seen) are installed by default and are operated on the handlebar. The headlight is especially nicely built into the Headset.

A few more interesting observations:
- The battery is charged at 42 V, so the maximum power is almost 300 W. By monitoring through the application, I found that practically, a power greater than 250 W is maintained over 60% of the battery discharge.
- The motor maps can be customized to your own needs, via the app.
- Vibe has a built-in temperature gauge for battery and motor. The temperature can be monitored via the application, in order to keep the battery and the motor in good condition.
- The odometer monitors the total distance traveled, and can be approached via the application.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It is certainly an elegant, lightweight and exciting e-bike. Orbea knows how to make their e-bikes!

Congratulations! I hope there will be more Vibe users here to share their experiences.

 

[ngg]

Yesterday I ride 125km with a single battery charge. So far the most. As usual, I used the battery on the uphills.

Another curiosity from yesterday. The road radar showed a speed of 53 km / h. I’m not sure if for me or for the car that was driving behind me .

 

[Yayabike]

I just got mine, and it is a wonderful bike.

I replaced a super heavy Haibike Sduro by this light princess. It is very agile and it goes through the very bad and bumpy roads we have seamlessly. The carbon fork and the very large tires are great for that, and of course it is not as fast as a racing bike, but it is ok; i easily reach 35-40 on the flat and i don t have special pedal yet. I will probably move the pedal of my city bike on the orbea (mountain bike pedal not racing bike ones).

I don t get 120 km range for a simple reason i do 24 km with 380 meters of vertical climb and this uses 1/3 of the battery, which mean that you can do around 70km + about 1000 meter of climbing. Whenever i am on the flat the battery usage get close to zero or is indeed zero since i cut the assist.

Whenever i cut the assist i do not feel any resistance.

Before buying it tested a lapierre esensium , it was a race bike and was certainly faster.

But :

The assistance command was on the frame, and adjusting it was super dangerous since you would then look down instead of looking at the road traffic.
The esensium has no integrated light powered by the battery.

What is fantastic about the orbea vibe is that

- the assistance is near your breaking command on the handle bar, so it is safe and easy to use it.
- there are two integrated daily lights, but those are powerful enough to ride safely at night in cities or even on roads, of course the front light is not enough to go into a forest at night. You can still add extra light but the daily light are always there and you will never run out of battery since the lead can probably be powered on days with the 235 wh battery.


The second very good point is how agile and quick to react it is, the driving is super accurate and so dodging in the traffic feels very safe, the very low weight also help woth respect to that.

Another nice thing is that the charger is super small and light, it is probaly 3 time lighter than my haibike sduro was. This means that if you need you can carry it.


So i m super happy with it.

Now some inconveniences :

- The assistance command could be improved, it displayed the battery level that is of little use and you get the level of assitance blinking when you change it. It woudl be 10 time better
if by default the level of assistance was displayed, the battery level being displayed after a double click.

- the led intensity is a bit low and under the sun (even the dimer sun of autumn) it is hard to determine the led color and so the level of assistance. But this being saif after a few ride ui sort of know that level of assitance just riding, i feel it and in few weeks i will recognize it even more.

- Orbea is currently refusing to sell me directly the kit to install a rear carrier. This is bad policy, they only sell this kit to owners of the fully equiped version as replacement parts.
So i will see if my local Orbea retailer can do something and oitherwise i will find a universal read carrier, which won't be the best solution since Orbea vibe is equip[e with slots for a read carrier but hese slots are not universal and can apparently only be used with an Orbea kit.

- Orbea also refuses to sell me the additionnal front light, this is less annoying since i don t really need it.

Note that i would had gotten the equipped version but it was out of stock with no indication about whn the stock may be back.

Despite this i still recommend this bike, any bike using the X35 from ebikeinmotion would certainly be almost as good; but the orbea has 3 strong assets : command from the handle bar, integrated light (that are very good and also look suepr cool), a carbon front fork which really makes on difference on bumpy road.

 

[ngg]

My experiences and opinions after almost 5 months of riding this bike.

Commands

The assistance command can definitely be different. However, does that mean better? I'm not sure.
After a while I stopped looking at the colors. Also, I stopped using the double click. Simply, every time I press the upper key, the vibration warns me that the assistance has been increased by one step, or the lower key, that the assistance has been reduced by one level. When assistance can no longer be reduced or increased, the vibration is doubled. I know the remaining battery level from experience. And that's it. I don't need colors and double-click at all anymore.
I like commands like this, because in the 5 months I've been riding this bike, no one has yet recognized the electric bike. Some doubted, when I easily overtook them on the hill. I like commands like this, because the bike is not conspicuous at all, intrusive. And that should shield me from unwanted eyes.

Battery

Until a month ago, my battery lasted about 70 km. And then I started changing motor maps, so consumption was declining day by day.
I found that my first degree of assistance was unnecessarily strong, so I practically didn’t benefit from the second degree. I immediately splashed into an energy-wasted third-degree assist..
By changing the motor maps, I reduced the first to 75% and the third to 90%.
The effects were very positive. Now I use the second level of assistance more often, and I don’t have a waste of power in the first level. Finally, the power consumption is significantly reduced and the path of one charge is extended to 100-120 km, depending on the terrain.

Lifetime warranty & spare parts

I suggest you register your bike on the Orbea website. I think the application deadline is 30 days from the date of purchase, and you’ll get a lifetime warranty on the bike frame. After registration, below the registered number of the bicycle there is a list of all spare parts for that bicycle, such as lights, fender parts, etc.

 

[Yayabike]

I wrote too that i was looking less and less at the leds, so i certainly agree with you about the command, and i only got the bike for a week so like you after some months I will probably never look at the led again.
But still the leds are a bit weak. I don t know about the motor map but i will check about it, it seems interesting.
I registered my bike already but Orbea won't sell my spare parts of the equipped version (it was not available , indeed most bikes including regular ones are out of stock).

I don't know if other ebike makers using light motors (like the x25) offer both command from the driving bar and integrated battery powered light, for me this is the strongest selling point for orbea.
I saw similar bike around 13-15 kilos and with various frame but none had light and command on the handle bar.

 

[Stu14]

Hi all.

I am a new contributor to this site but have been reading it for many months.

I bought my Vibe H30 in July, but due to a mishap was unable to ride it for about 8 weeks. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying the bike. I like the fact that I can lift it up steps, that I can ride it like a bike when the power is completely off, and for many of the other reasons already mentioned above.

There are several great bikes around that use the Mahle motor - Specialized, Ribble, for example - but at the time that I bought the Vibe (a) there were very few ebikes available in my size, (b) most were either much heavier or much more expensive (or both) and then (c) most important factor - there is a great independent bike shop where I live that stocks the Orbea range, and who allowed me to try the bike, and then, having chosen the basic model (to stay within my budget) fitted a Madison rear rack and SKS mudguards (fenders). I did without the kickstand, and I already had a portable lightweight Catseye front light that gives me 200 lumens. So overall I saved around £200. The Orbea accessories might be better but they are also heavier.





I think the bike looks absolutely great in black - really good quality paintwork, and is great fun to ride. I can’t comment yet on its range, the most I have done is around 40 miles, and I tend to top up regularly. but I have taken it (slowly) on rough chalky tracks on the Sussex downs (hills) near where I live, and having the low crawler gear and the motor just to get that initial lift on a grassy slope is really helpful.

 

[Stu14]

On the discussion about resistance, I too wondered at first if there was a sort of braking effect when I lowered or turned off the power. I realised that this is a psychological effect simply due to the return of the normal pressure when the motor is off. I did a little experiment and with the bike upturned, gave the rear wheel a half a crank’s spin. I then timed how long it took for the wheel to stop spinning. The times were the same when the motor was switched off, and with all the different power settings. Of course, the power doesn’t really kick in until you start pedalling, but there was no obvious braking effect.

 

[BlackHand]

Hi all.

I am a new contributor to this site but have been reading it for many months.

I bought my Vibe H30 in July, but due to a mishap was unable to ride it for about 8 weeks. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying the bike. I like the fact that I can lift it up steps, that I can ride it like a bike when the power is completely off, and for many of the other reasons already mentioned above.

There are several great bikes around that use the Mahle motor - Specialized, Ribble, for example - but at the time that I bought the Vibe (a) there were very few ebikes available in my size, (b) most were either much heavier or much more expensive (or both) and then (c) most important factor - there is a great independent bike shop where I live that stocks the Orbea range, and who allowed me to try the bike, and then, having chosen the basic model (to stay within my budget) fitted a Madison rear rack and SKS mudguards (fenders). I did without the kickstand, and I already had a portable lightweight Catseye front light that gives me 200 lumens. So overall I saved around £200. The Orbea accessories might be better but they are also heavier.



View attachment 101968

I think the bike looks absolutely great in black - really good quality paintwork, and is great fun to ride. I can’t comment yet on its range, the most I have done is around 40 miles, and I tend to top up regularly. but I have taken it (slowly) on rough chalky tracks on the Sussex downs (hills) near where I live, and having the low crawler gear and the motor just to get that initial lift on a grassy slope is really helpful.

Nice looking bike!

 

[Yayabike]

Nice picture, i m super happy to learn that the rear carrier from madison and the SKS mudguards (fenders) fit on the bike. So if my local retailer cannot get Orbea part i will still get my rear carrier.

I m slighly jealous since i had to order the mid frame since everything was sold out and nobody had any ETA for bikes. Here in europe people have a hard time finding a bike, there are 3-4 reasons : the pandemic, the disruption of international trade, a grant given by the state or cities to be an Ebike, and the fact that now people understand that climate change is real.

I wanted it in red, but it is black.


btw the exact reference for the madison rear carrier would be welcome.

 

[ngg]

. . . here is mine (with greetings from the east side of the Adriatic). I like gravel ready wheels.

 

[Stu14]

looks beautiful scenery there (and the bike)

 

[Yayabike]

Crying i wanted it in red ;-) and since every thing was out of stock i could only order a black one.

It is really a very good bike, and it seems that i will be able to get a rear carrier.

I also probably need a stand, i tried to move the one from my city bike but it does not fit due to the power cable that go from the battery to the motor. So may be a central stand.

 

[ngg]

My last bike tour of the most beautiful part of the eastern Adriatic coast.

 

[Arunasbikes]

I am the proud owner of that bike (H30 MID version) over 3 months, and so far I have covered over 1,000 km. The MID version is, among other things, interesting for people with slightly shorter legs (than the standard length), and yet they can ride a bike of the appropriate size.

Vibe looks and Vibe rides like a regular light bike. When I need help uphill, I start the motor. All commands are on the handlebar and within reach of the thumb and forefinger. There is no need to take your hand off the handlebar and watch the different lights and their flashing. Simply, you will feel every change as a vibration (like smartphones). Just relax and ride. Even the brakes work with one finger.

The front and rear lights (to be seen) are installed by default and are operated on the handlebar. The headlight is especially nicely built into the Headset.

A few more interesting observations:
- The battery is charged at 42 V, so the maximum power is almost 300 W. By monitoring through the application, I found that practically, a power greater than 250 W is maintained over 60% of the battery discharge.
- The motor maps can be customized to your own needs, via the app.
- Vibe has a built-in temperature gauge for battery and motor. The temperature can be monitored via the application, in order to keep the battery and the motor in good condition.
- The odometer monitors the total distance traveled, and can be approached via the application.

Hi,I’m new here and long time looking to take ebike and wanna get orbea vibe h30 eq and anyone know how far can go like wanna go daily to work its like a 40miles a day,so is it worth it money or can any cheaper option thanks

 

[ngg]

Hello to you too. When I was looking for ebike I couldn't find a cheaper and better one. Somehow the ratio of quality (durability, performance, weight) and price was the best for me. The wheels are Gravel ready. The forks support tires up to 45 mm wide (ride comfort). The front fork is carbon (absorbs vibrations). . . The whole bike weighs about 15 kg (easy to bring in / take out).

40 miles a day is no problem to ride with Vibe. I can now ride more than 80 miles a day (128 km) on a single battery charge (of course using electricity when I need motor help, uphill or to achieve higher speeds on a no-climb road).

In my first 2000km (1250 miles) with Vibe I didn’t have a single problem. Just cleaning the bike and lubricating the chain. Unbelievable, but on the tires it is hardly noticeable that they have been used for 2000 km. The tires roll very well (especially once they start to roll), and without slipping. I will soon need to change the brake pad on the front wheel (due to the hilly terrain). I’m sure on a road without downhills a brake pad can last at least twice as long.

The Vibe is worth the money, no doubt. But you can also buy cheaper bikes, but of course less durable, lower performance and certainly much heavier. That's why I want to welcome you to the club.

 

[Arunasbikes]

Hello to you too. When I was looking for ebike I couldn't find a cheaper and better one. Somehow the ratio of quality (durability, performance, weight) and price was the best for me. The wheels are Gravel ready. The forks support tires up to 45 mm wide (ride comfort). The front fork is carbon (absorbs vibrations). . . The whole bike weighs about 15 kg (easy to bring in / take out).

40 miles a day is no problem to ride with Vibe. I can now ride more than 80 miles a day (128 km) on a single battery charge (of course using electricity when I need motor help, uphill or to achieve higher speeds on a no-climb road).

In my first 2000km (1250 miles) with Vibe I didn’t have a single problem. Just cleaning the bike and lubricating the chain. Unbelievable, but on the tires it is hardly noticeable that they have been used for 2000 km. The tires roll very well (especially once they start to roll), and without slipping. I will soon need to change the brake pad on the front wheel (due to the hilly terrain). I’m sure on a road without downhills a brake pad can last at least twice as long.

The Vibe is worth the money, no doubt. But you can also buy cheaper bikes, but of course less durable, lower performance and certainly much heavier. That's why I want to welcome you to the club.

I see your bike looks so pretty and color looks so nice now I’m confused because I’m looking sky blue or green but your red ir amazing ,and where is actually turn on assisted is a button on frame? Maybe you have some links or review about this bike like on youtube or something because is so hard to find any info.
I see price yep high but this is can be bike for life think so better to invest for the future

 

[ngg]

I liked the metallic red so much that I ordered the Vibe from Germany. It was in April last year when Vibe bikes were sporadically present in the market, and even less often in metallic red. As Vibe sales had just started at the time, I didn't even expect any reviews or tests at the time. Now I'm the best tester for myself.

I agree that buying Vibe should be seen as an investment. And then I remember the old saying that I am not rich enough to buy cheap things.

The assist button is shown in the pictures, below. Very practical, all commands are within reach of the left thumb.

 

[Arunasbikes]

I liked the metallic red so much that I ordered the Vibe from Germany. It was in April last year when Vibe bikes were sporadically present in the market, and even less often in metallic red. As Vibe sales had just started at the time, I didn't even expect any reviews or tests at the time. Now I'm the best tester for myself.

I agree that buying Vibe should be seen as an investment. And then I remember the old saying that I am not rich enough to buy cheap things.

The assist button is shown in the pictures, below. Very practical, all commands are within reach of the left thumb.

How about frame it’s comfortable when you sitting or doesn’t matter what frame? We’re are you from,because in Uk so difficult to get color and this frame like yours

 

[ngg]

The geometry of the frame suits me because it is suitable for a slightly sharper (faster) ride. The position of the bike rider is comfortable for city riding, and wide tires (45mm) with the recommended low pressure (30-60PSI) absorb bumps on the road very well with a sense of security due to extremely good grip.

I am from continental Europe, from the single market, so I easily found a retailer who had a color that suits me. I don’t know how the import of bicycles to the UK from continental Europe is regulated. I suggest you keep yourself informed. So if it’s duty free, look around and find a dealer who has a Vibe in a color that makes you happy.