Orbea Gain

[richtea]

After my battle early on to get info on the spokes I was losing, my 'Ready GR' wheel rims have looked as if they have completed 100,000 miles since about 6 months old.

Ah, that's the weakness of my cheaper D50 Gain too - the wheels weren't up to much. However, I don't exactly help by being porky.
I got the wheels rebuilt for less than £200. They're now much stronger, although I am having to adjust the occasional spoke - but that's a minor hassle compared to the wibbly wobbly originals. I would expect lighter people (< 100Kg) to have less problems.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Out of interest I tried to compare the 2021 Gain D30 with a non-powered Shimano 105 equipped bike from their current range and while there is no direct equivalent it looks like one is paying around £1000 extra for the motor, battery and electrics.

 

[richtea]

It is quite a hit just for the electrics, it's true. On the other hand is there a tidier way to get 250W of help?
Also there are occasional bargains out there. Nobody said you had to pay full price (2020 models for example).

 

[youngoldbloke]

It is quite a hit just for the electrics, it's true. On the other hand is there a tidier way to get 250W of help?
Also there are occasional bargains out there. Nobody said you had to pay full price (2020 models for example).

- or buy a Ribble SLe or CGR ALe and get more for your money?

 

[NickWi]

A 3-Speed Gain.

Let me explain. I was out for a ride last Sunday, about halfway in to my planned 30mile route the rear shifter went click click thunk, the rear mech went into its lowest gear and stayed there. A quick poke with a multitool confirmed it wasn’t a roadside fix. I thought about calling International Rescue but my better half was otherwise engaged so it was fifteen miles on a single speed bike, (as mine is a 1x11) and one stuck in top gear, but not quite. I still have 3x power assistance options to play with. Welcome to new my 3-speed Gain!

In truth it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, obviously hills were a bit more challenging than normal, but putting the motor on full power and getting out of the saddle got me up them, if making the legs sting a bit. On the flat and undulations I kept the speed up, didn’t have much choice really being stuck in top, but I kept it just on 15mph mark to keep the motor assisting. A different way of riding but quite good fun really

Back home the strip down diagnosis is that part of the plastic cup that holds the nipple of the gear cable within the shift had given way and thus the cable had pinged out when I tried to upshift. Why, I don’t know. A manufacturing fault only now coming to light, plastic fatigue and maybe a sticky cable or gummy rear mech push the problem back upstream, I don’t know, but not a complicated fix and I’m 3-Speed no more.

 

[theboxers]

First post and ready to go down the LBS with a credit card this week for a Gain D40 2021 spec. However, the LBS can't offer trial rides right now (understandable). So looking for advice if I may (newbie alert)...

Probably worth some background first... Trying to get fit at 60yrs and over 100Kg (but falling). Currently on a 16Kg MTB with a 1:0.9 ratio bottom gear (which I do use to keep going on gradients above 6%) and 26"x2.1 wheels. I can do 20 mile runs but still struggling above those 6% climbs of any length. Getting better every week and working to improve my fitness, so don't want a free ride up hills, but I'm hoping the Gain will mean I can be less scared of the climbs.

However, I'm becoming a bit concerned the Gain won't help me enough on hills (I read about low cadence reducing assistance plus larger wheels and the higher 1:1.1 bottom gear ratio). Would you guys say the Gain would give me "two gears worth" of assist on hills?
Any other advice from "less fit" (OK, very unfit) riders of my size before I part with cash?

I have a cube hybrid road bike with a Fazua motor. I've worked my way down to 118kg @56yo, still going down in weight.

The 50/34 - 11/32 gearing with the motor will get me up most stuff up to 15 or 16% as long as it is not too long. I've attempted 20+% and ground my way to a halt about 3/4 of the way up a half mile hill. The couple of walkers I rode past on the way up went past me whilst I was walking .

Motors are not the panacea for everything, but if used sensibly they can do wonders for endurance rides.

 

[CXRAndy]

I have a cube hybrid road bike with a Fazua motor. I've worked my way down to 118kg @56yo, still going down in weight.

The 50/34 - 11/32 gearing with the motor will get me up most stuff up to 15 or 16% as long as it is not too long. I've attempted 20+% and ground my way to a halt about 3/4 of the way up a half mile hill. The couple of walkers I rode past on the way up went past me whilst I was walking .

Motors are not the panacea for everything, but if used sensibly they can do wonders for endurance rides.

Boxers, there are more powerful systems available, Bafang, do a selection with BB conversion or bespoke frame Ultra models.

 

[theboxers]

Boxers, there are more powerful systems available, Bafang, do a selection with BB conversion or bespoke frame Ultra models.

@CXRAndy I've seen what they are capable of, depending how they are set-up. However they don't interest me. Not because it cheating or anything like that. Nor because I want to make the ride easy.

I want to have available the lowest, I can get away with, assistance level to ride where I want to ride. Most of the time that will be zero assistance. But on occasion it will be 400w, for my cube or more depending on the set-up.

I want to be able to use my ebike to help with weight loss and fitness increases. Riding assisted all the time will help a little with the first but not much with the second. My use pattern of my set-up is a little as possible. In fact I did my first ride CCW of Richmond Park without any ebike assistance last weekend. I've ridden round it on normal unassisted bikes with much lower gearing. But this was the first time for my 34/32 gearing on the cube.

Yeah dragging an extra 5-8kg of bike around, my cube ebike all up including cameras, radar and edge tops out at 15kg, doesn't help. But for me the extra weight has more positives than negatives, pun not intended .

I think it is down to how you want to use the available assistance. For me it is exactly that, assistance. For others it is to get out and about away from p2w, cars or vehicles.

YMMV, as much as your battery power. But I'm doing an assisted ride not a powered one.

 

[gzoom]

Been out on both my road bike and Boardman eBike last few days, with the 40 birthday coming up, am gradually firming up the idea of getting an eRoad bike to complement my current Boardman hybrid and Trek road bike. The Orbea Gain looks like really good value for money, and I love the colour customisation.

I presume people are happy with their Orbeas on here? Can you customise the motor output to your liking?

 

[Scaleyback]

Been out on both my road bike and Boardman eBike last few days, with the 40 birthday coming up, am gradually firming up the idea of getting an eRoad bike to complement my current Boardman hybrid and Trek road bike. The Orbea Gain looks like really good value for money, and I love the colour customisation.

I presume people are happy with their Orbeas on here? Can you customise the motor output to your liking?

View attachment 578902

Yes, you can customise the motor output. All 3 levels of assistance can be adjusted in % terms.

 

[Zofo]

Yes, you can customise the motor output. All 3 levels of assistance can be adjusted in % terms.

Been out on both my road bike and Boardman eBike last few days, with the 40 birthday coming up, am gradually firming up the idea of getting an eRoad bike to complement my current Boardman hybrid and Trek road bike. The Orbea Gain looks like really good value for money, and I love the colour customisation.

I presume people are happy with their Orbeas on here? Can you customise the motor output to your liking?

View attachment 578902

There is the capability to re map the 3 power outputs in the app ..

 

[Baldrick]

Kind people, I have managed to sort this out, but had to destroy the front Fusion to do it then learned my lesson.
To summarise a very long and at times painful morning......
The reason these are a pain to remove is due to the beads "locking" into place at the outer edge of the rim. This is what's supposed to happen but due to the highlighted varying rim sizes it looks like they actually get wedged under the rims clincher edge and the inner/outer, largest (greatest diameter) , part of the rim too. This means that moving the deflated tyre back to the rims middle or shallowest part is virtually impossible by hand. Having cut one tyre off it was clear to see what was happening. I then used some large plumbers pliers with tape on the jaws to lever both of the beads away from the outer edge and once they "popped" from under the outer edge and rim back into the middle of the rim it was easy to get them on and off again. Also, to my surprise the Fusion 5 All Weathers came with KENDA tubes in them from new, they weren't Tubeless. I now have my Conti Contact Plus City tyres on with some decent Shwalbe SV17 tubes and feel way more confident I can fix things at the roadside with a spare tube and a couple of spare CO2 16OZ canisters. Thanks for helping a newbie out here, you are all a credit to the helpful nature of the forum.
I did just pop out for a quick "round the block" test to see if the tyres made a difference and I can't say I noticed too much difference but being 35c instead of 25c I would be happy to say the roads felt a bit smoother but overall I feel a lot more confident about the setup.

So did the Conti tyres which you put on, with tube, come off the Black Jack rim okay? I got a pinch puncture yesterday on a cattle grid 20 miles from home. New Orbea Gain 40 with Black Jack rims and Hutchinson tyres with tube. Could not get tyre off the rim, however hard I tried. Taxi home and had to pinch the tyre in a vice to get the bead free, and then only one side. I had to drive the tyre bead off the other side with a piece of hardwood and a hammer. Why they put this combination together is beyond me.
I now need to know which tyres would fit and be capable of being removed at roadside. Did the Contis come off okay? Otherwise I will fit new rims.

 

[Baldrick]

I bought my Orbea Gain 40 in early April and love it, apart from a tyre removal issue which I have asked for advice on another thread. I am 76 and started to struggle uphills whilst riding with younger riders. I only use the power on hills and top power on the steepest bits as I still want to keep fit and work. I have done three rides so far and had plenty of battery life left. Last week 57 miles and 1300m of climbing and used 47% of battery. Yesterday 47 very hilly miles, climbed 1750 metres and used 64% of battery. I reckon 100 miles with 800m of climbing should be achievable if being frugal. With tool kit, pump and empty bottles it weighs 16kg but is okay on the flat and great when descending. I can recommend it. It is an aluminium frame with lugs so you can fit a carrier for touring. Shimano Tiara gears and hydraulic brakes, which are all superb.
BTW I ordered a Ribble in March with the same Ebikemotion power (and the same frame, I think) but they were talking 6 months for delivery. I cancelled and got the Orbea off the shelf in Wigan- £2,040, a bargain.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Excellent miles/% battery figures. I have the original Tiagra version. My battery capacity has dropped since new almost 3 years ago after a period when the bike was left fully charged for a long period - the advice is not to leave the bike charged to any more than 80% for more than a day or so. However I have never achieved anywhere near your figures, and to be realistic I estimate a maximum battery range of about 45 miles over mixed terrain (as does the app.). My average is consistently around 2% of charge per mile. I rarely use a setting higher than no. 1, except on steep hills, hardly ever 3. My average speed is around 13 mph, so I am riding without assistance - above 15.5 mph - for a considerable distance each ride. You must be riding above the assistance cut off speed for a large part of your ride.

 

[Scaleyback]

I bought my Orbea Gain 40 in early April and love it, apart from a tyre removal issue which I have asked for advice on another thread. I am 76 and started to struggle uphills whilst riding with younger riders. I only use the power on hills and top power on the steepest bits as I still want to keep fit and work. I have done three rides so far and had plenty of battery life left. Last week 57 miles and 1300m of climbing and used 47% of battery. Yesterday 47 very hilly miles, climbed 1750 metres and used 64% of battery. I reckon 100 miles with 800m of climbing should be achievable if being frugal. With tool kit, pump and empty bottles it weighs 16kg but is okay on the flat and great when descending. I can recommend it. It is an aluminium frame with lugs so you can fit a carrier for touring. Shimano Tiara gears and hydraulic brakes, which are all superb.
BTW I ordered a Ribble in March with the same Ebikemotion power (and the same frame, I think) but they were talking 6 months for delivery. I cancelled and got the Orbea off the shelf in Wigan- £2,040, a bargain.

Hi Baldrick,

I have a Gain D30 which I purchased in Feb 2019. I have completed approx 4,000 miles on mine. (I also ride another bike)
I turned 74 in jan. I am not surprised at your battery consumption figures as i have had similar results on hilly rides.
I am impressed by your ride results for a man of 76, well done to you and long may it continue.
Ref your tyre removal troubles, I have 'been there' see my post 236 on page 16 dated 1 jun 2019.