Orbea Rise – real world experience?

Yeah – a month for the warranty. Battery just stopped working and for whatever reason orbea only ship batteries overland and not by air.

Wow – coming from where, to take a month?  If they have no batteries in Europe, that’s pretty telling

I just assumed spain but now you mention it I dont know.

lead time is “about 3 weeks from acknowledging fault to delivery”. Plus a few days diagnostic and test to confirm at the outset followed by a few days at the end to fit it in and test its all working.

I actually really enjoyed it even if it did highlight just how lazy and unfit I’ve become from riding the e bike. Pretty shameful really as it always feels like I’m getting a really good work out on the Rise. I’m definitely not

You forget just how much you have to work without a battery!!

Two slightly concerning posts there… i know it comes up a lot in Ebike threads and i’m trying my hardest not to end up in the same place and losing any fitness i have/had. I think it just kinda sneaks up though, a few Eeb rides here, a few BPM less and less and next thing you’ve lost 20%.

Two slightly concerning posts there… i know it comes up a lot in Ebike threads and i’m trying my hardest not to end up in the same place and losing any fitness i have/had. I think it just kinda sneaks up though, a few Eeb rides here, a few BPM less and less and next thing you’ve lost 20%.

The thing is, it’s always felt like I’ve been giving myself a good workout on the Rose. When I got it, I was fairly fit. More endurance that sprinting kind of fit. I prefer longer rides to flat out fast ones for an hour.

When I got it I was heavily reliant on the assistance and rode basically everywhere in trail (at 42nm). Everything else felt like waaay to much effort. The more I’ve ridden it, the less I feel dependant on the assistance. I always ride with it off for as much as possible and tend to keep it in eco (22nM) for the majority of the ride (usually 30+ miles and usually 1000′ per 10 miles) Onlyi only really use Trail towards the end of steeper, sustained climbs and very occasionally Boost if I want a bit of overrun for clearing something technical or stupid steep. 

Then, as the ride goes on and my legs get tired, I use more and more assistance.

I’ve felt like I was constantly improving and could ride further using less battery every time I went out. It really felt like I was keeping fit and seeing improvements. 

Sundays jaunt around Surrey Hills on the hardtail showed me that while I’ve still got power in my legs, the rest of me can’t keep up any more. I could tell just by the amount I was sweating and how heavy my breathing was that I was working far, far harder. Even though on the Rise, it feels like I’m working hard, it’s not even close! 

When (if) I get it back, I’m going to drop the power in Eco and Trail by a few nM to make life a bit more difficult for myself. I only really get to ride once a week but I’m going to split the days up between the Rise and the hardtail to try and keep a bit of fitness going. 

H30. Coming up to two years.

-Brakes are terrible- replaced with 4 pot

-Fork is cheap, but just put up with it and took some air out

-put some invisiframe over the power button to protect it from water.

Apart from the fault less lovely nearly 2 years of joyous cycling. Have loved it. If you can afford it, or can get it on C2W then recommend it highly

If anyone is looking for a Speedbox I’ve put one up for sale on here. I won’t need it

Latest experiences

got my new charger and battery under warranty. All good there.

got the new linkage under warranty and fitted by bike shop….all still sh1te there 🤬🤬

Linkage bolts came lose after 10mls.

75 miles and bearings creaking like mad. Stripped it down to find frame bearing grinding on the drive side. Despite the seals the bearing was full of brown crud. Cleaned and relubed and smooth but not yet ridden because…and put the besring seals on THE CORRECT way round as they were back to front.

whilst its was stripped i found one of the new shock yoke bearings also grinding. Seals are so small and being double row I need to pop this out and will most likely just replace.

i also found the yoke bearings have been installed the wrong way round. According to new blue prints the protruding inner bearing race should face outwards but mine were facing inwards. Probably means the bolts wont seal yhe bearings as well as they should.

and whilst it was strip I also found the end of the bolts that fix the seat stays onto the home looked might knackered. Almkst lime cross threaded and non-drive side seemed to have the final portion of thread missing!

seriously p’d off and just had to order a load of new bits for it.

should i take it back, probably but it’d be off the trails for another 6 weeks vs. 2-3 for parts from orbea and DIY and I know it’ll be done right.

🤬🤬🤬🤬

A lot of that sounds like the person fitting the parts perhaps didn’t quite do it right.

I know the linkage bolts are very soft and it’s easy to damage the threads trying to force them into alignment (learned the hard way). There’s a certain order to connect the linkage up that minimises the chance of ballsing it up.

I’d say you should speak to the shop, I do t see that you should be having to pay out for new parts that they’ve (seemingly) damaged or fitted incorrectly.

The seals you mention, are those the external things that sit between the rocker link and the upper pivot bearing? I know they were introduced on the carbon frame last year and wondered if they were worth adding.

The seals are external do sit between the rocker and bearings. From the blue print they’re directional and probably do offer slightly more protection from the elements. But given our swampish environment ATM they seem to have made naff all difference.

Well maybe I was a little harsh about the bike shop & bearings.

orbea blueprints are a little misleading!  DR10177 bearings are none existent. Could only find 1017 bearings in UK so ordered from orbea.

Seems like No difference between 1017 and 10177 bearings!  And where the blue prints imply the inner lip is inly on one side of the bearing its actually on both sides so the bearing is NOT uni directional as the blue prints imply.

hats off the bearing pro tools too. Their press and drifts are superb. Postage really quick and helpfulness top notch.

New bearings in. Hardwear to fit tomorrow then its back and running. For a couple of rides at least…then I’ll be doing it all again no doubt!! 🤬🤬🤬

DR10177 are real. And the same.

DR10177 are real.

whats the difference?  I ordered some 1017 from UK a d the 10177 from orbea. Writing on the seal is too small for my aging eyes but i cant see any real world difference!  Dimensions are the same.

This website is so broken.

Which UK bearings did you get? Both should have inside and outsides seals, I expect. Different colour each side?

Website is so slow!  Just seen your amendment.

i got the DR 1017 2RS from Kinetic Bearings. Air Velo sells DR 10177 2Rs but they’re the only place with 10177’s listed and piccy has black seals. whereas everywhere else lists 1017 and shows red seals which is whats in the bike and what orbea sent.
red seals both sides and visually identical. Unless its something to do with the race inside i think as you say, both are real and both are the same!

just seriously annoying that they’re the smallest bearing on the bike and twice the price of all the others!  Hope they last longer than main pivot and linkage bearings.

Orbea currently teasing an update to the Rise – any of you “users” know anything about that ?

In terms of geometry I’d guess it will mirror the new Occam – probably the LT – so 160/150 travel.  Slightly slacker geo. Headset cable routing (ugh)

It will still be the Shimano motor and I don’t think there are any announced upgrades to that.

My dealer said it will mirror the Occam in geometry (so choice of trail or LT versions). Supposedly getting slightly bigger battery and full 85 NM power from the motor but still coming in a lower weights than previous similar numbered models. Shots released by mistake showed it to also have the lower BB diagonal brace of the Occam/Wild. Also confirmed headset routing which is a major turn off for me and many others I reckon.

Still pinch myself that mine hasn’t got that headset routing 👍and if it comes with that brace like the Wild 🤢🤢🤢

Also hope they’ve put the on/off button in a more sensible place 🙄all their marketing bull about extensive lab testing and they’ve missed the obvious 😔

On / off button is on the Shimano remote no?

I’m genuinely interested in the cable thing. I’ve got it on my Wild and Occam LT. The only thing that is harder is changing the brakes over from UK to EU the first time, (after that you leave some extra length so you don’t have to change the sides of the cable exit). After that most things are easier. Changing an outer is much, much easier since you only need it to poke out through the head tube, rather that the horrible old system of finding the hole in the side tube. Also it’s so much quieter without cables rattling. I’m sure there are genuine reasons people hate them but I personally don’t see it.

There is some info about the new bike on the mailing list. New Rise?

Edit: just clicked and you need to sign up to see.

hi Doug (Simon S – see you in a week or so).  I’ve not got a headset routed bike but internal routing is shit for everything except aesthetics. Pretty much every job is longer (ie more expensive if you’re paying someone) and more faff.  Changing the inner cable on a road bike this week took two of us with Katie lying on the floor under the bike with a pair of tweezers.  Fully routed internals (like my Mega and I think most Spec now) are a bit different – anything else is objectively worse than external.

Removing the dropper on the Rise requires dropping the motor.  The loops over the motor  to get to the main pivot bearing make that job difficult.

Headset routing (as I understand it) means replacing a headset bearing requires disconnecting all your cables (time/hassle/workshop labour).  There are videos online showing serious scoring of carbon steerers on Road bikes from the split race (or spacer) needed by headset routed cables.

I’ve no issues with the original power button position on the Rise.  It’s close to the motor so short run!

Basically internal routing looks good in photos and catalogues and everyone needs to do it or their bikes won’t looks as slick.  But anyone who works on a bike hates it and it’s bad for customers as it makes simple jobs expensive.

As internally routed bikes get older, or lower end models get fitted with internal cabling, there are going to be loads of bikes that aren’t economic to repair because of the labour cost of dealing with internal routing.  That’s not good for customers or the bike industry.

Not many years ago you could fit a new, pre-bled, rear brake to a bike in a car park if you needed to (accepting a big loop of hose out front). I think on my old Nicolai I needed to remove the shock briefly (two bolts).

How long does that take on a Rise or a Rallon? (rant over – nothing against Orbea specifically)

But here you are talking about internal routing. Totally agree, it’s a PITA for many things. What I’m questioning are the “Headset Routing” rants. I think that Headset Routing actually gets rid of, or minimises, some of the pains of internal routing by giving more space to fish the cables. External routing is definitely simpler but has it’s own issues… it’s also not something I see very often anymore. The steerer scoring I’ve heard people saying, but I have never seen it on any of our bikes and we ride a lot!

And for a non-internally routed dropper… who would go back to the external cables for the dropper? We saw so many of those damaged on our trips back in the day. Even with fully-routed internal cables, the dropper is a PITA because of the forced curves, especially with the motors and batteries on emtbs.

Headset bearing is true. Usually only the upper, change requires disconnecting all the cables. I’d estimate that job would take me two to three times as long as with non-headset routing. The stainless steel upper bearings on my bikes means that I hopefully won’t have to do it though.

I was just genuinely curious about the hate for headset routing. Internally routing I can understand, but when I see people on pinkbike complaining about headset routing but saying nothing about internally routed it makes me wonder.

Fitting a brake? I would remove caliper and lever from the hose, fit new ones, and bleed. I’d be riding again in 15 minutes. (Done it loads!) If the cable was damaged it would take longer. On my Occam and Rise I think that it is fully routed front to rear, in theory I should be able to push the hose through from back to front, drop the fork a bit and pass it through. I only have to get it to the headtube and it’s easy to reach. I´d definitely do that on my Occam, but probably wouldn’t try with the Rise at the trailhead, I’d just ziptie a brake on the outside of the bike until I got to the garage.

But my question is, how long would it take with a standard “out the side” internal routing? AGES! I have done it a couple of times, using the correct parktool magnetic routing kit, and it is a nightmare.

Internal routing is a doddle with the right kit. I uses to dread it but now wouldnt be phased at all by it.

Built up my Dolan Commuter expecting internal routing to be a PITA. But bought a magneic kit off Amazon for less than £10 It actually took less than 10mins to route cables and hoses.  Was amazed how simple it actual was .  However, had i tried to do it without the kit theres no way i’ have been able to do it.

internal routing isn’t going to render old bikes obsolete.  Plenty of other things like 26” wheels or rim brakes will do that way before internal routing does.

what i do wonder about internal headset routing is damage if its not done right.  I’ve seen bodged internal routing cut theough a cank axle as the outer was resting on whilst axle was spinning.

The Rise is a pig though as the cables outers are trapped under little carbon ‘hoops’ in the downtube, so nothing slides through easily.  I got the dropper cable out by tugging and wiggling, but feeding new brake lines through required a motor drop and battery removal.

You’re not dropping your motor with your Dolan though, are you? Or having to bleed the brakes.

@kelvin

nope to the motor but yep to the brakes. Discs both ends.  And stupidly small routing holes too

New one is apparently a full power Bosch motor with ~625wH battery and 10mm extra travel either end.

So basically, a completely different bike.

The reduced power RS thing was one of the main reason I bought mine so a new one isntall that appealing to me but I’ll bet that sort of thing is going to be pretty popular.

On the cable thing, I’d give anything for external routing. Need to bleed your brakes? Easy, just take the whole lot off. Need anew dropper cable? Easy, w minutes work. Internal does look better but it’s so much worse,

First issue that i’ve had, a knackered charger. Sent it back to the shop and hopefully they’re going to ship me out a new one, got ~70% battery left so going to play bettery roulette out with the lads this week!

Don’t suppose anyone in South Manchester has a 2022 charger I could borrow for an hour or two 😀

bensFree Member
New one is apparently a full power Bosch motor with ~625wH battery and 10mm extra travel either end.

So basically, a completely different bike.

That pretty much describes the Wild

I’d say the lower powered Bosch motor is more likely

Yeah, I did think that the lower power (SX?) would make more sense.

Some bloke I don’t know told me all about the new one because his mates cousins brother works in shop that once sold something that looked like an Orbea. Something along those line anyway.

He was sure it was full power 😂

The reduced power RS thing

Is just in the software. Full power Shimano motor “turned down” is why the Rise works so well. You could do this with any bike with a full fat motor but smaller capacity battery.

@Scaled
“Don’t suppose anyone in South Manchester has a 2022 charger I could borrow for an hour or two”

Not S Manchester but a bit further afield (nr Whaley Bridge) if you’re desperate?

Si

@scc999 thanks mate, if a new one doesn’t turn up next week I might take you up on the offer. They’re just too much fun to have em out of commission for too long.

That and the fact the only other (mountain) bike in the house is my large Rallon, and that has been stolen by my lanky 13 year old!

Full report on the new Rise.

New 2025 Orbea Rise on test – The Risolution?

Options look sorted.

Sborter seat tube at last, the old one was 508 or so in XL.

Yeah, looks like they’ve addressed some of the annoying things about the old one. Seat tube length and a lack of stiffness in the frame being my main problems.

Be interesting to see the weight of the lower spec models.