ChrisBike

Right, well I'm pleased to report that I collected my M20 yesterday. First impressions? It looks cracking, just like a road bike should. Weighs in at 12 kg on the suitcase scales. Rides like a road bike too. The balance between the down-tube battery and rear hub motor is spot on and handling is, therefore, excellent. Only one short ride so far as the effective air temperature was 0 degrees! I took in a couple of savage hills and needed to up the assist level above the lowest. I need to regain some lost fitness! I'll post more when I've given it a proper go, but I have to find a spare day! If you like the Orbea, do also look at Ribble's new offering. It's essentially the same bike on a Ribble frame. About £500 cheaper for a similar spec. I prefer the more traditional look of the Orbea, but £500 is £500!

Had an email from Epic Cycles. It's thought to be a battery problem and they're apparently in short supply. I did suggest, in a separate email to Orbea customer services that they might like to consider financial compensation, but they chose to ignore that part of my email!

Irritating news Nev. The bike got to my lbs last week but had a defunct electrical system. Not the bike shops fault. Now waiting for Orbea to put right. They promise next week - we'll see. I hope Orbea read this thread!

I've just noticed that shops are advertising the Orbea Gain F40 19, 2019 model for £1699 available now. It's the Al framed version, flat bar and not great spec with Shimano Altus. But it does have the battery and wiring completely hidden and exactly the same drive mechanism and App compatibility as the expensive Carbon versions. I'd guess the weight will be 14/15 kg. At £700 more than the Cytronex kit, it looks like very good value to me!

My Orbea Gain M20 19 left the factory yesterday and is on its way to my lbs. 2 weeks delay from original delivery estimate, but the Orbea website shows them as available for immediate delivery in some colour/size options now.

Hi Nev, Orbea are now saying it'll be dispatched this week. Oddly, on their website, my choice of size colour says it is available immediately! I wonder if my delay is due to specifying 172.5 cranks? I'm going to ask my lbs to get on to Orbea to see what answer they get. Here's hoping. Chris

After a few messages to the Orbea on-line shop, I'm assured my M20 19 will be available for me to collect next week (just 1week late) - we'll see..... My advice to anyone else nagging them is to send them all messages through the on-line portal. Replies to their emails don't always get a response!

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?

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

Hi Nev. No, still shown as 3rd! I've emailed Orbea without reply so far. I'll keep you posted.

Filing dropouts could be an issue (depending on how beefy they are to begin with), but I wouldn't worry about carbon forks per se. I suspect the torque applied during disc braking on modern machines will be condsiderably more than that generated by the hub motor.

I'm hoping you're right Nev. I posted this in the hope I would find someone who had already had one delivered, but I'm the earliest hope at Sept 3 so far

Impressive!

I think the shops are used to dates for the 2918 models slipping back (they certainly have). Suspect Orbea are prioritising the new models. Friends in the trade tell me there a shortage of 105 groupset (105 would have been my choice if the dates were the same). But if it's come forward on the website, that's encouraging. Fingers crossed for both of us!