[Closed] Orbea Rallon questions

Talk to Doug at BasqueMTB

Biketart has one - he seems to like it. Its also made him ride in a more adventurous manner; he's already fallen off and broken a bone in his foot - so it must be good.

As for the rest of his riding mates, it hurts our eyes !

His is bright yellow with custard coloured wheel rims. Such a clash my missus actually asked him if he was colour blind 🙂

I have one.
I ordered the base model that came with standard 135mm QR axel. I bought the parts to change to 142 x 12. This involved replacing the dropouts and mech hanger.
I ran a 36 tooth ring in the alps for a week. So you can easily fit bigger than 32.
Bearing life is now fine, think there was paint overspray in the main pivot bearing race causing the bearing to feel rough even when newly installed. I cleaned this out and the bearing is smooth and seems to be lasting well.

I went for the BOS upgrade. Not sure if its worth the extra cash. Would probably have went with the FOX and bought Pikes instead. The Kirk on the rear seems good.

The headset that comes with it its total crap gritty and rusty in minutes, worth replacing asap. Overall I am very happy with the bike. Descends very well and climbs well for what it is.

I have one and like it .
Base model and poss next one up come with qr rear .
You would nead a 142 12 axle kit from them which changes both rear drop outs and comes with the axle and new bearings also . It's very easy to change the bearings in this so would also be easy with rest I would say .

Doug would be the man to ask about bearing life .

As for 32t is this the front ring . I have run a 32 and now 30 with I think 42 rear ( no reason why you could not run 34 or up but don't know why you would ) !

I bought one frame only - it comes with QR dropout installed and the 142x12 dropouts separately. I swapped to the 142x12 but had to file a burr off to get everything to fit snuggly. Bearings have been fine as has the headset, although I have only had mine a couple of months. I would recommend the BOS Kirk shock - the reviews with the BOS shock have been very good whereas the What Mountain Bike Review with the Fox was so so.

Read Doug @ Basque MTB's review on his site which is very helpful. Read quite a few reviews and all seem to give glowing comments of it.

Would be going with BOS Kirk equipped frame-only from my LBS, with some Hope wheels and either a Pike or Marzocchi 350 NCR. Currently running a 34t on my Five...the Rallon is a bit heavier so might drop back to a 32t although quite fancy Shimano XT 11 spd when it comes out so a 34t would be perfect with the lower range cassette. Good to know it'll take a >32t chainring 🙂

Just to clarify, are the 142x12 dropouts included or do they need to be bought separately (or are they a free option when ordering)? How much if bought separately?

If you buy full bike they are around £60 area I think ( but you will need them as the one part of the frame that is crap is the qr .
I'am on the boss rear and pike combo and very happy so fair with this set up
but think I would of gone with arch instead of flows if I was starting afresh .
If you are around midlands you are more than welcome to try it

The frame only option includes both QR and 142x12 dropouts and a headset.

I bought one as a frame only back in december, it came with both the 135 and 142 dropouts.

I have a 32 tooth chainring on mine, cant see any reason why you couldnt use a bigger one, but I havent tried it.

I went for the bos kirk option and its very good. The complete bikes weighs in just under 30lb, spec as follows:-

Rockshox pike
reverb seat post
renthal carbon bars
shimano xt/slx 1 x 10 gears
shimano xt brakes (203mm front rotor, 180mm rear rotor)
superstar tesla evo hubs with dt swiss am442 rims and 2.35 hans dampf tyres

It rides very well.

No, you buy dropouts desperately. Mine came with the 142x12 but if you want different when you buy it then you get that. Agreed on the QR, not worth it. If you mean to have different dropouts to swap different wheel systems in and out then you would need to buy a kit. As I said, don't get QR.

Don't know. Mine is 1x11 and has a 28 I think but there's loads of clearance. You must have bigger legs than me 😉

Good choice. I love mine. I've done a whole season and bearings are brand new. I think they should be fairly easy to change, I've done it on other Orbeas just not this one. Can't say for sure. A year is a whole load of riding out here but summer is dry compared to the UK. Winter is wet though and I don't stop riding!
I think I explain my reasoning in my review but the BOS Kirk really helps the bike. I have full BOS and really can't rate it highly enough.

I hope that helps. Happy to answer anything else.

Thanks folks, really helpful information.

I'd be looking to get new wheels at the same time so would go 12x142 at the back, so as long as it comes with that option then that's good.

Thanks for the offer llfauntleroy, but I'm down in Cornwall so a bit too far away for a spin!

My Five weighs in at around 30lbs so the Rallon at a similar weight would be ideal. 34t with 11-36 isn't too bad for short, punchy Cornish climbs but I'll drop back to 32t for some of the longer, hillier UKGE events this year either way no doubt!

Well, Trimix knows me as Biketart but it's Macgyver on here (since the Christmas site hack of about 6 years ago)
Yes, I have a neon Rallon. It came with the through axle but when I asked for a spare gear hanger, was told that they normally only do complete through axle sets including the hanger for about 50 or 60 quid . Managed to get just the hanger however.

Running a double with a MRP guide and bash so can't comment with certainty on the size of a single ring set up but have a 36 outer and can run it onto the biggest sprocket so I'd be surprised if a 32 was the largest it could take if that was your only ring even with it mounted inboard a tad.

Lower head set sounds rough after 9 months of use but I put that down to washing it upside down at times and feeding dirty water into it so not completely a bike fault. Suspension bearings still good so can't comment on replacing them yet. Did need to torque them up a bit as things bedded in.

loving the bike tho. Test rides cover Santa Cruz, orange alpine etc. decided the rallon had the best compromise of weight, downhill ability and ride ability up hill so it could be ridden all day. And boy does it go downhill well.

And technically I never fell off when I bust my foot. I did fold it back with an unplanned foot plant in desperation but managed to ride it out 😉

Does the rallon come with a good stack of headset spacers fitted ? I want the steerer as long as possible.

Dan, they come with something like two 5mm spacers. Want me to send you a photo?

It's ok thanks. I'm going to try and put a couple of specific requests in when I order, 30-40m spacers and a fitted 142x12 axle.

I've been looking at one and coincidentally my brother has just bought a 2nd hand one. He lent it to me today, really is an awesome bike.

We did however note a lot of play in the rear end and several of the bearings are shot. He's now replaced them which was easy enough. Not great on 14 month old bike but I wouldn't let that put you off. Think I will probably buy a rallon myself

Not great on 14 month old bike

How long would you expect bearings to last?

Still got this at the top of my list, just waiting for house move to complete in a couple of weeks then it's all go. 😀

Gonna go full bike now rather than frame only...fancy the X-Team but keep reading several scare stories of the faff involved in getting BOS suspension fixed under warranty if it goes wrong. It almost persuades me to go with the X10 with the Fox suspension and upgrade the wheels and transmission instead 😕

Would expect bearings to last a couple of years...who knows maybe I'm expecting too much

I'm going BOS shock and using my own Pike forks... just not convinced Fox make anything good enough for a bike of this callibre on a budget to suit a member of the public (i.e. without a race mechanic to tune to perfection after each ride!).

I just wish Orbea would offer more shock options, Monarch Plus, CCDB etc.

BOS Kirk - will Orbea provide the volume o rings in a bag with the bike? 🙂 I know I should be asking the shop but communications take a bit of time going via him, via the UK Orbea Rep, via Orbea and back!

[url= http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2016-orbea-rallon-evolution-not-revolution/ ]Updated Rallon announced[/url]

Glad to see 11spd Shimano XT on the new X-Team and X10 🙂

Look nice. Shame about the canyon-esque difference between euro and UK pricing though. £600 odd is not a small amount of money.

Even slacker...no thanks. Boost 148, no thanks.

like the new colour, not sure the slightly slacker head angle is required , would need a ride to see if it was a noticable difference.

Not sure if the bottom bracket height quoted in the article is an error though, the jpg of the geometry figures embedded in the article states the bottom bracket drop is either 0 or 7mm, where as the article states either 14mm or 21mm. The previous bike was either 7mm or 14mm. Not sure many people would like a 21mm BB drop, 14mm is about as low as I'd want to go.

The article also states that the chainstays are 420mm thanks to the adoption of boost 148 rear spacing, but the chainstays on the previous bike are also 420mm and that doesnt use boost 148.

Even slacker...no thanks. Boost 148, no thanks.

It's only a matter of time.

Finally picked up my X-Team Rallon at the weekend and took out for a shakedown yesterday... so fast and so much fun! Can't wait til I've got the suspension properly dialled.

Quick question - I'm sure it's obvious but I can't quite figure it out (or I'm just being to precious with my new toy), but how do you shift the shock position into the lower setting? I've unscrewed the shock bolt and tried budging it but it doesn't easily move. Do I just need to push the shock forward with a bit more force?

Apologies for the thread hijack but to all you Rallon owners, how are you finding the sizing in relation to your previous bikes. Does the sizing run true?

I'm 183cm (6') with 84cm leg (33") and sit between the medium and large. My last two bikes (Whyte 901 27.5 and Nukeproof Mega AM 26) have both been large and the were fine but from what I can gather the Rallons run long and low and feel on the big side. The website just about puts me on a medium (1-2cm short on my inside leg for a large). However, the large rallon states the same effective top tube length as my Whyte and has a shorter stand over so on paper, the large seems like the better fit.

What are your experiences?

I haven't got one but I'd get the large in your situation for sure.

Did you factor in a possibly shorter stem BTW?

Thanks for the reply chakaping. I haven't considered stem length tbh. What makes you say large?

Where abouts are you ?
If you want to try mine for size / or ride i'am in derby so can't be to far away from you !!

What makes you say large?

Rode with a 6ft guy on a large at the weekend and he was very happy with it.

Also I'd definitely go medium and I'm just a lowly 5ft 8in.

Quick question - I'm sure it's obvious but I can't quite figure it out (or I'm just being to precious with my new toy), but how do you shift the shock position into the lower setting? I've unscrewed the shock bolt and tried budging it but it doesn't easily move. Do I just need to push the shock forward with a bit more force?

you also need to remove the 'washers' that the bolt goes through and turn them round the other way.

Apologies for the thread hijack but to all you Rallon owners, how are you finding the sizing in relation to your previous bikes. Does the sizing run true?

I'm 5 foot 10 and on a medium, Its noticably longer than my previous bike (a large ibis mojo hd), but fits me fine. At 6 foot I'd go for a large.