Inveral

I have a Volt hybrid with a Bosch motor which handles the steepest hills with ease but is very heavy on the long flats. My average ride is 45 miles in a hilly region in Scotland. I bought the Orbea Gain D30 and it manages this with a bit of effort put in on the steeper hills but have only required the top power level on the very steepest sections. The most battery I have used was on a 42 mile ride with 4200ft ascent. There was also a strong headwind for 8 miles of this trip. I was left with 35% battery. the bike handles like a normal slightly heavier road bike and does not need the motor on the flat or small hills. The app works quite well but does use up phone battery.

I ended up buying the Orbea Gain D30 and am very impressed with the performance. I have only managed four runs due to the weather but have averaged 45 miles and 2500 feet of ascent. The most battery usage has been 52% and the other three runs averaged 30% so I don’t think I will need the auxiliary battery. The bike performs really well and you don’t need the battery except for the steeper hills. The bike weighs approx. 13.5kg. And the gears are excellent. Overall the bike is a game changer.

I ended up buying the Gain D30 and have done four decent runs average length 45 miles with 2,500 feet ascent. The most battery usage was 52% so I don’t think I will need the auxiliary battery. I don’ use the battery on the flat or gentle slopes as the bike is really light for an e bike and the gears can handle gentle hills. The bike is certainly a game changer and I can now keep up with my fitter friends.

I saw a review quoting 10.5 kg but can’t remember where I saw it. I ended up buying the medium Orbea Gain and it fitted my 5’11” perfectly. Thanks everybody for the info.

I saw the battery advertised £549 on a website in June.

I noticed on the e bike forum that somebody said that they had purchased the e bike motion auxiliary battery in France. I have still not seen a release announcement on either Orbea's website or e bike motion's website but the contribution seemed certain.

The Ribble Endurance uses the same motor and battery supplier as the Orbea Gain so I don’t think that they will have a spare battery available but I would be interested if there was one available.

The bike shop is Dales Glasgow.

I tried an Orbea Gain F20 at our local dealer as they didn’t have a drop bar that I wanted to buy. I wasn’t sure if the power would meet my needs. I tried the bike on several steep hills near the shop and it gave a really good level of assistance. On the flat or gentle slopes it handled like a normal bike. I’m 70 with dodgy knees so I’m sure it will meet your needs. I’ve ordered the drop bar and my average rides are 45 to 50 miles with several quite steep hills on most routes.

I am going to buy an Orbea Gain D30. I am 5ft 11inches tall. The size chart shows me as requiring a 55cm medium. I thought I would need a large size. I read somewhere that Orbea tends to come in a bit bigger than other makes. There are no models available locally to try for size. Does anybody have any knowledge of Orbea sizing or any advice.

There is no firm release date for the auxiliary battery. It was promised for early 2019 but on contacting both e bike motion and Orbea they have vaguely mentioned sometime over the summer. They must be having development problems. I have been holding off buying the Gain until I’m certain they can design the auxiliary battery.

Dales cycles address Debbie’s Loan, glasgow

I am thinking of the Orbea d30 but am a bit worried if it will manage steeper hills. I have a Volt Pulse with a Bosch motor which is great for the really steep long hills in my area but is very heavy which makes it difficult to keep up on the flat. The Volt Pulse has 5 power levels and I can manage most hills on power level 2. I know it is difficult to compare but I was wondering if you can make a comparison.

Has anybody tried out the c62 Cube e bike, not the SL model at £4500, the one priced £3500 or any other bike with the Fazua motor. £3500 would be my limit. I’m looking for info on how the Fazua motor copes with long steep hills.

Interesting that they can quote a price for something that doesn’t even have a release date yet. It does seem very expensive.

I e mailed Orbea and they have no firm outlook for a release date for the auxiliary battery. They told me to watch their website for information for a release later this year.

The reviews that I was referring to were the manufacturers reviews, Orbea and Ribble and the retailers sites. Both of these reviews were not free as they would come from the manufacturers advertising budget which is built into the price of the bike. The other reviews from retailers sites and like manufacturers sites are not free as advertising is paid for by the consumer. There are some independent reviewers that might be free but a lot of them are also paid for by the number of hits they get. Even if a review appears to be free it should still be done reasonably well and not be misleading e.g not just lifting blurbs from the manufacturers review.

The auxiliary battery has not yet been released and there is no outlook for availability. I contacted them April 2019.

I have e mailed Ribble asking about availability of the auxiliary battery. There is no outlook for availability and the have an estimated price. They use the same motor as the Orbea so I suspect they are waiting for Orbea to release the battery. Both manufacturers have misleading promotions and any reviews are suspect as a good reviewer would have asked about availability and price of the auxiliary battery. It makes me wonder what the reviewers actually do and do they even ride the bikes or just plagiarise the promotional blurb..

Glad to see that I am not the only one to have noticed this issue with the auxiliary battery. Another issue that I have with the reviewers is that the people who are buying e bikes are not super fit road cyclists but tend to be cyclists who might not be able to cycle like they used to do when they were a bit fitter. On the subject of the Orbea Gain I know that it does not provide the same power as some other e bikes but is more of an assist. I have a Volt Pulse e bike and it is really good on very steep hills and has a great range. I cycle with fitter cyclists and have difficulty keeping up on the flat where the 23kg weight can be a problem. This is the reason that I am looking at the Orbea. The Volt has 5 settings but I never use above the number 3 so I was hoping that the Orbea would fit the bill but am still wary due to the constant pushing out of the date for the auxiliary battery. It does make me wonder if Orbea might not be a reliable supplier.