2018 ORBEA GAIN

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
19,989
8,172
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West Sx RH
Don't get too hung up on voltages when paralleling, the closer the better but if you are within 0.5v you will have little or no issues with a balance flow of 0.25v if wiring is suitable.
 

Benjahmin

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 10, 2014
2,459
1,675
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West Wales
I agree, my baterries charge to 41.5 and 41.2, no problem connecting them. One caveat, I always check the voltages before connecting, rather do that than have a big blue flash or something worse. Do remember to disconnect them before charging.
 

Nev

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 1, 2018
1,507
2,520
North Wales
I was talking to a mechanic in my LBS this morning and he told me that the standard battery should be good for 50 miles in Eco mode. Those of you who have one of these bikes, would you agree with his estimate?
 

willcee

Pedelecer
Jan 23, 2018
33
7
62
ulster
hopefully YES. I started this thread.. my chum has one, now we've covered about 300 miles.. rides vary 30ish /40 and the longest was 43 miles in windy conditions, he varied his power from level one to the red on occasions on hills..ave speed was 14ish, so dependant on the weather, hill etcs and the outside temp i would guess 50 is attainable, he has now got the smart phone app which Orbea have pioneered, no trials yet, he's also bought a 2018 GIANT E ROAD 2 for summer cycling 80n/m... but that app should give him a more accurate power remaining indicator on the Orbea than a series of lights on the top tube, that was his biggest gripe..that and the fact that Orbea don't have any plans to uprate the motor for the USA, whereas GIANT double the speed limit for USA!! will
 
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asc99c

Pedelecer
May 1, 2015
78
25
43
I'm also thinking of getting one of those bikes - currently ride a Bosch CX mid-motor, on a 42 mile round trip commute. Very pleased with the motor performance but want something lighter and faster. I can do the round trip using under half the 500Wh battery when I want to, so the 250Wh should be fine, especially if wiping 10kg off the bike weight.

Got a couple of questions (and if you've got experience of the Bosch system would be very interested to hear any of your thoughts on the two compared!):
  • How does the assist vary in power - is it proportional to the power you put into the pedals like on the Bosch?
  • Does assist trail off nicely above the cutout speed? I tend to leave mine on, but ride most of the journey above the assist limit.
 

Pedr0

Just Joined
Jun 26, 2018
2
0
63
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.
I’d be very interested in buying a battery
 

robgul

Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2017
29
6
UK
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
 

Capt Sisko

Pedelecer
May 5, 2018
37
18
Shropshire
Hi Rob,

Yes my D20 does the same. It also does it when you power down from high to medium or mediun to low. It does feel a bit odd, but it's a minor glitch in an otherwise excelent system.
 

robgul

Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2017
29
6
UK
Hi Rob,

Yes my D20 does the same. It also does it when you power down from high to medium or mediun to low. It does feel a bit odd, but it's a minor glitch in an otherwise excelent system.
Ah - it's not just me then! I might try asking Orbea (or a dealer that I know) about it - as you say it's a minor issue in the scheme of things.

Rob
 

footpump

Esteemed Pedelecer
Mar 19, 2014
713
75
75
my local lbs sells orbea, and the mechanic said there are some orbea road ebikes coming out soon that would be fairly light weight and in the region of about 2k, this was about 4 months ago.

I went to the shop to see the orbea gain , but was told the shop had not even seen one in the flesh as they were all sold out
 

robgul

Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2017
29
6
UK
my local lbs sells orbea, and the mechanic said there are some orbea road ebikes coming out soon that would be fairly light weight and in the region of about 2k, this was about 4 months ago.

I went to the shop to see the orbea gain , but was told the shop had not even seen one in the flesh as they were all sold out
That's pretty much the story - I have a friend that's an Orbea dealer (he couldn't supply me - I had to pay full retail at Tredz despite the fact that I also manage another bike shop) - he's had 6 Gain machines on order for customers since the beginning of the year with delivery being pushed out from April to May to June to possibly July.

Another dealer I know had one machine "on approval" but it was snatched back very quickly by Orbea to sell elswhere

I bought mine in mid March and I think I may have had the very last one that Tredz had in stock.

The one I have is about 13kg and was just under £2,000 (it's the base model of, I think, 3 Gain road bike derivatives)

Rob
 

Capt Sisko

Pedelecer
May 5, 2018
37
18
Shropshire
Rob "...........I bought mine in mid March and I think I may have had the very last one that Tredz had in stock."

Second last one! I also ordered mine from Tredz, but I guess a week later than you over the Easter weekend at the begining of April.

Reading comments elsewhere it would appear you and I were lucky in finding our bikes. I'm certainly very pleased with mine and while it would be untrue to say that I've riden more miles in the last 3 months than I had the previous year put together, it ain't far off.

To me the Gain is just the right mix of personal huff & puff and electical assistance when needed. I've experimented with various settings (even using a heart rate monitor and using the automatic power option) but as Rob does I tend to use mine off or minimal power and primarily using the power modes for the hills or the last few miles home. My longest ride to date, and using the above method ended in doing a 55mile ride and returning home with 45% battery. I know some people want full electric bike with little peddling effort, if this is you look elsewhere. The Gain is a true power assisted machine, light enough to be enjoyable to be propelled by leg power alone, but with enough electrical power to assist where necessary.
 
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mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
3,012
1,627
Rob "...........I bought mine in mid March and I think I may have had the very last one that Tredz had in stock."
I know some people want full electric bike with little peddling effort, if this is you look elsewhere. .
So, that's another one off my possibles list!
 

robgul

Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2017
29
6
UK
Rob "...........I bought mine in mid March and I think I may have had the very last one that Tredz had in stock."

Second last one! I also ordered mine from Tredz, but I guess a week later than you over the Easter weekend at the begining of April.

Reading comments elsewhere it would appear you and I were lucky in finding our bikes. I'm certainly very pleased with mine and while it would be untrue to say that I've riden more miles in the last 3 months than I had the previous year put together, it ain't far off.

To me the Gain is just the right mix of personal huff & puff and electical assistance when needed. I've experimented with various settings (even using a heart rate monitor and using the automatic power option) but as Rob does I tend to use mine off or minimal power and primarily using the power modes for the hills or the last few miles home. My longest ride to date, and using the above method ended in doing a 55mile ride and returning home with 45% battery. I know some people want full electric bike with little peddling effort, if this is you look elsewhere. The Gain is a true power assisted machine, light enough to be enjoyable to be propelled by leg power alone, but with enough electrical power to assist where necessary.
Yes - that's about it - my additional personal concernwith the Gain is that I get out of the habit of riding my other bikes with just leg-power .... currently 8 conventional tourers/road-bikes + a Brompton!

Rob
 

robgul

Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2017
29
6
UK
There's me thinking I had too many toys, makes me feel much less guilty.
I did get to 16 at one time but sense prevailed ... past interests back in the 1980s were with Land Rovers when I managed to accumulate 5 at the same time, oh and a little grey Ferguson tractor too :)

Rob
 

Hightechpete

Pedelecer
Jan 20, 2018
151
33
72
west Wales
I'm relieved to know I'm not alone, there are 4 cars, 5 motorbikes (soon to be 6). 2 ebikes and 1 roadbike (soon to be converted) currently on the premises.
How does it happen?.