2018 ORBEA GAIN

[Pedr0]

Could be interested in one of these if development is going ahead.
What's the approx cost to add the phone charging function?

Can I purchase one please ?

 

[boyabouttown]

Does the gain feel sluggish after assist cuts out on the flat or does the lighter weight mean it's still possible to ride for non cyclists.

 

[David Kilpatrick]

I've now ridden a few hundred miles on my Gain and it's great ... one question for other users.

I pretty much ride it as a road bike with the electric switched off .... just switching on when I want some help on a hill or am flagging a bit.

When I switch off the power (long press) there seems to be a bit of a lag before the motor disengages and I'm back on my own leg-power. Is that how it is or am I imagining it?

Rob

Rob was just about to buy a Giant Fast Road e+ from ebay, previously had a Road e+2 but hated the mechanical brakes. Liked the power from it, the range was great and on the flats I could comfortably sit at about 18-20 mph would probably average about 16-17 mph on my rides.
Went into my local bike shop and seen the Orbea its a stunning bike and I like the fact it doesn't look like an ebike, and the weight is unbelievable. The Giant looks decidedly old fashioned now. I plan on using it on a mix of commuting and social riding. I commute about 13 miles each way and the Giant saved me 10 minutes each way, the commute home is more uphill. So basically the question how good is on the hills!!

thanks David

 

[robgul]

Rob was just about to buy a Giant Fast Road e+ from ebay, previously had a Road e+2 but hated the mechanical brakes. Liked the power from it, the range was great and on the flats I could comfortably sit at about 18-20 mph would probably average about 16-17 mph on my rides.
Went into my local bike shop and seen the Orbea its a stunning bike and I like the fact it doesn't look like an ebike, and the weight is unbelievable. The Giant looks decidedly old fashioned now. I plan on using it on a mix of commuting and social riding. I commute about 13 miles each way and the Giant saved me 10 minutes each way, the commute home is more uphill. So basically the question how good is on the hills!!

thanks David

First off I'd worry about buying a secondhand ebike on ebay! - and also thought the Giant was ugly ( a friend's wife has one - it's also very, very heavy)

As for hills - using the full power (button on red) and just fairly gentle pedaling gets up a 1 in 7 hill very easily (and I'm pulling along about 15 stone) - what I'm still experimenting with is the optimum relationship between gear selection and power levels to suit my cadence.

Having looked at loads of ebikes (and selling them in the bike shop I manage) I've yet to see anything that's a patch on the Orbeas at the price range.

Rob

 

[David Kilpatrick]

First off I'd worry about buying a secondhand ebike on ebay! - and also thought the Giant was ugly ( a friend's wife has one - it's also very, very heavy)

As for hills - using the full power (button on red) and just fairly gentle pedaling gets up a 1 in 7 hill very easily (and I'm pulling along about 15 stone) - what I'm still experimenting with is the optimum relationship between gear selection and power levels to suit my cadence.

Having looked at loads of ebikes (and selling them in the bike shop I manage) I've yet to see anything that's a patch on the Orbeas at the price range.

Rob

Rob the Giant is brand new, and I totally agree ugly and old fashioned in comparison to the Orbea.
Will get a test ride in it.
Thinking the F20 is the one for me

 

[robgul]

Rob the Giant is brand new, and I totally agree ugly and old fashioned in comparison to the Orbea.
Will get a test ride in it.
Thinking the F20 is the one for me

At the moment it seems like the Orbeas are like rocking horse droppings . . . a friend who is a dealer keeps getting his delivery date for an order of about 6 put back and put back.

Rob

 

[grazie]

Does anyone have more info or an opinion on the Airline Corsa wheels? I've not seen them anywhere other than on the Orbea Gain.

 

[grazie]

At the moment it seems like the Orbeas are like rocking horse droppings . . .

My experience too. Seems like the 2018 models haven't been made in a while. The 2019 models are all that's offered on new orders. Whether this is just another fob off or not, I don't know.

 

[robgul]

My experience too. Seems like the 2018 models haven't been made in a while. The 2019 models are all that's offered on new orders. Whether this is just another fob off or not, I don't know.

I bought mine in late March 2018 and was told I had pretty much the last one in the UK (it certainly disappeared from being offered on the dealer's website shop the next day) Even working in the trade I was forced to pay retail from Tredz which is part of the Halfords empire That said I'm delighted with it.

Rob

 

[ChrisBike]

Hi Otas, Off subject for this thread, but are you able to refurb the original Cytronex bottle battery?
I've opened one up. They are 36v Nimh, 5 x 6 AA cells in stacks of 2x3. From memory about 4.5 AH.
I have a couple to do.
Chris

I am the guy mentioned above. Willcee, lot of praise, I am blushing, thank you very much. I wish you many happy rides on your new battery. But to the point. I can make the bottle type battery, I am looking into it. It's a bit tricky, but I can make 6.9Ah in a PVC tube 68mm dia x 210mm long including BMS and charging port. That could fit nicely into the bottle holder. Would there be interest in phone charging socket??? The only question is connection to the bike's proprietary connector and interface. I believe they use CANbus, and connecting two batteries to power the bike is not that simple. They can be connected in parallel, if they are very similar, same voltage, age, cycles etc. Or they can be used as main and spare. The benefit of using them in parallel is running them at lower C which means getting more capacity out of them. I am going to use two batteries on my bike with a switch, which has got two positions. Run and charge. In "run" position they are connected in parallelel, in "charge" they are separated and charged from one charger via Schottky diodes. If there is someone, who could shed some light on the Orbea barttery management, please raise your voice.

 

[Capt Sisko]

.......my additional personal concern with the Gain is that I get out of the habit of riding my other bikes with just leg-power ....!
Rob

I did an interesting experiment with my Gain over the weekend. Via the engine management part of the Ebikemotion app, reduced the power of the lowest assist level to 50% to see what difference it would make over the 55k Audax I booked myself in for on Sunday (I left power levels 2 and 3 at their default settings). The Audax course wasn’t a hilly route, more an undulating one with a couple of short steep climb chucked in for good measure, but a good enough test to see what effect it would have. In truth I did really notice that much difference!

The rolling hills part I just rode as normal (with level 1 - Green assist). On the steeper climbs I used level 2 (Amber) and interestingly the only time I put it into level 3 (Red) was after a tractor forced me to stop then restart half way up the steepest part of the steepest hill of the day. All in, it still felt more of a natural ride than when set at 100% and I didn’t miss the extra power at all. The other thing that was interesting was the battery range. 55k equates to near enough 34miles and by the end I’d used 31% of the battery. Rough maths says that’s a 90mile range but there is a bit more to it than just reducing the power setting.

As I said this wasn’t a hilly route, but the group I rode with was a fast paced (for me) group. Taking the time out for the obligatory café stop, I averaged 14.2mph. To average that speed means that there was a fair bit of riding done above the 15.5mph assistance cut of point which is bound to have help with the range, but equally there was a fair bit done using the assist. It also proves that the Gain can be ridden like a ‘normal’ road bike.

Lastly, and going back to Robs point, I’ve not ridden any of my ‘leg only’ powered bikes since I got my Gain four months ago and given the above I’m not expecting any problems when I do. In fact I’d go so far as to say that extra miles and saddle time I’ve put in since getting the Gain (compared to say the same period last year) has improved my fitness level considerably.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, there was another Gain doing the Audax.

 

[robgul]

I did an interesting experiment with my Gain over the weekend. Via the engine management part of the Ebikemotion app, reduced the power of the lowest assist level to 50% to see what difference it would make over the 55k Audax I booked myself in for on Sunday (I left power levels 2 and 3 at their default settings). The Audax course wasn’t a hilly route, more an undulating one with a couple of short steep climb chucked in for good measure, but a good enough test to see what effect it would have. In truth I did really notice that much difference!

The rolling hills part I just rode as normal (with level 1 - Green assist). On the steeper climbs I used level 2 (Amber) and interestingly the only time I put it into level 3 (Red) was after a tractor forced me to stop then restart half way up the steepest part of the steepest hill of the day. All in, it still felt more of a natural ride than when set at 100% and I didn’t miss the extra power at all. The other thing that was interesting was the battery range. 55k equates to near enough 34miles and by the end I’d used 31% of the battery. Rough maths says that’s a 90mile range but there is a bit more to it than just reducing the power setting.

As I said this wasn’t a hilly route, but the group I rode with was a fast paced (for me) group. Taking the time out for the obligatory café stop, I averaged 14.2mph. To average that speed means that there was a fair bit of riding done above the 15.5mph assistance cut of point which is bound to have help with the range, but equally there was a fair bit done using the assist. It also proves that the Gain can be ridden like a ‘normal’ road bike.

Lastly, and going back to Robs point, I’ve not ridden any of my ‘leg only’ powered bikes since I got my Gain four months ago and given the above I’m not expecting any problems when I do. In fact I’d go so far as to say that extra miles and saddle time I’ve put in since getting the Gain (compared to say the same period last year) has improved my fitness level considerably.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, there was another Gain doing the Audax.

Was that by any chance the Audax at Honeybourne/Evesham? - I was entered to ride (planning to use my Gain) but didn't as it was too hot for comfort. If I had, I'd have ridden there from home and back again after the ride adding about another 20 miles or so.

Some interesting facts there on engine use and battery - I'm consciously mixing and matching my bike usage, out on the Van Nic Yukon for 40 miles or so of self-powered riding tomorrow!

Rob

 

[Capt Sisko]

Was that by any chance the Audax at Honeybourne/Evesham? - I was entered to ride (planning to use my Gain) but didn't as it was too hot for comfort. If I had, I'd have ridden there from home and back again after the ride adding about another 20 miles or so.

Some interesting facts there on engine use and battery - I'm consciously mixing and matching my bike usage, out on the Van Nic Yukon for 40 miles or so of self-powered riding tomorrow!

Rob

Yes it was, and yes, it was hot. I got through 2x water bottles, a cold can of pop at the Glider Club cafe and 1x bottle of water bought enroute. First job back at the control, a large glass of Orange juice! Oh, and plenty of suncream!

I'm going to leave the level 1 setting at 50% or the moment, maybe even reduce it a bit more, level 2, maybe reduce that a little as well, but level 3, I'm going to leave that as is, as in bugger it, I'm using riding an ebike for goodness sake option!

Next Audax is in Cheshire followed by a couple in Leicester.

 

[JeffR]

Ordered my Gain D20 ( now called D31) in May, and it’s supposed to be delivered this week.has anyone ventured forth with an external bottle battery as discussed earlier in the thread? The Ebikemotion website now describes a 200 wH bottle battery that is limited to 2 amps; in other words it trickle charges the main battery when you are riding above 25 kph or coasting; this would suggest that the circuitry is more sophisticated than a simple parallel connection

 

[robgul]

Ordered my Gain D20 ( now called D31) in May, and it’s supposed to be delivered this week.has anyone ventured forth with an external bottle battery as discussed earlier in the thread? The Ebikemotion website now describes a 200 wH bottle battery that is limited to 2 amps; in other words it trickle charges the main battery when you are riding above 25 kph or coasting; this would suggest that the circuitry is more sophisticated than a simple parallel connection

Any indication of price/availability for the bottle battery?- couldn't see anything on the Ebikemotion site - it's aimed at OEMs

Rob

 

[ChrisBike]

Any indication of price/availability for the bottle battery?- couldn't see anything on the Ebikemotion site - it's aimed at OEMs

Rob

That's an interesting concept. Increasing on- board capacity to nearly 9Ahr without too much extra weight? Good luck with imminent delivery.

 

[ChrisBike]

Ordered my Gain D20 ( now called D31) in May, and it’s supposed to be delivered this week.has anyone ventured forth with an external bottle battery as discussed earlier in the thread? The Ebikemotion website now describes a 200 wH bottle battery that is limited to 2 amps; in other words it trickle charges the main battery when you are riding above 25 kph or coasting; this would suggest that the circuitry is more sophisticated than a simple parallel connection

I've just looked at the Ebikemotion website and the bottle battery that I can see is 250W (another 6.9Ahr). Any news on your delivery yet?

 

[JeffR]

Orbea Gain D20 First Ride Report

I received my new Gain D20 (now called a D31) yesterday, assembled it and took it for its maiden voyage today. I'm not allowed to start new posts since I don't have 25 posts yet so here it is.

I am in the USA where the Gain is not yet available, so I purchased from E-bikeshop.uk which claims to be the best ebike shop on the island.

I pre-paid in Full in May and received at the end of August. Apparently Orbea is a little bit behind on filling its orders! It was packed to survive a tactical nuclear strike, which fortunately it didn't have to. I was told that Orbea makes its bikes large and was strongly advised to order a size smaller. Turns out this isn't true; I am 186cm and 100 kgs, normally a large, and ordered a medium 55 cm. Top Tube measures 55.5 cm, which is 1% oversize. Oh well, a trip to the bike store for a new stem and seat post, made it fit. Handlebars are still too narrow, but that is a bigger job than I wanted to do.

For its maiden Voyage I took it on a very familiar loop that is 22 miles and 2200 vertical feet, with several climbs 12% grade and the gran finale at 16% grade. The bike is absolutely rock solid downhill and frisky on grades less than 10%; above 12% the motor really struggles and at 16% it just gives up and I walked the last hill. The stock cassette is 11-36 and I have ordered an 11-42 which it should have been fit with in the first place. I came home with the IWOC blinking red meaning I had less than 10% power left.

The carbon fork with the 40 mm tyres really tame the rough stuff, and I took a little detour through pea gravel to prove the point. This is a great all-road bike. While not unique to Orbea, the SRAM Rival X1 kit is absolutely brilliant, especially the brakes with those huge handhold hoods - beats Shimano hands down.

Orbea promotes the Gain as Just enough Power, just enough energy; I would describe it as not quite enough power, almost enough energy. If I were 25 kilos smaller, it might be just enough. Definitely going to need an external battery.

The mid drive has a unique advantage over the hub drive on very steep hills; it uses the gears on the bike to keep the motor RPM optimal. The Hub Drive is geared for its sweet spot at 10-15 MPH road speed, so on very steep hills where the speed drops to under 5 MPH, it just cannot put out enough power. On rolling hill terrain, it works fabulously.

 

[Bargie]

Hey guys. I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I am actually selling my Orbea Gain D40. I've had this bike since April 2018, and it is awesome. Got it mainly for commuting, but it got me into road cycling. Now that I've got into road cycling, I've bought a skinny road bike and want to add to the collection with a fat gravel bike. Sadly this means selling something from the stable. Hence parting with the Gain.

Here is the link to my ebay page for it. I hope I'm not breaking any forum etiquette here. I'm selling it for £1,400, and starting bidding at £1,000. It was £1,800 new. Absolutely loved the bike, and owe it for getting me into long rides. But not enough room in the house.

Happy to reply to questions about Orbea Gains in general, and write about what my take is on the whole road e-bike thing. I previously owned a big Moustache Lundi Bosch powered e-bike. It was 25 kg of awesomeness, which unfortunately was stolen. I've also tried the Brompton Electric, and a few other e-bikes.

 

[Nev]

Hi Bargie, there is a classifieds section on this forum click this link.
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/forums/electric-bike-classifieds.3/