Daft question is this your first disc braked bike and does it have concealed cables.
Orbea Gain
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Daft question is this your first disc braked bike and does it have concealed cables.
Chislenko
Veteran
Yes, It is indeed my first disc brake bike and everything on it is concealed. (How did you know!!) The hydraulic hoses appear to disappear into the forks and then reappear at the desired point to connect to the calipers.
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I have recently acquired a disc brake bike with concealed cables and I’m amazed how the front end flops about. It’s due to the weight of the disc and no cables dragging against the frame, that’s why the front end is so loose. To check your head set pull the front brake on, place your fingers between the top of the forks and head tube, rock the bike. If you can’t feel any play your head sets ok, also bouncing your front wheel will give you and idea if there’s any play in the headset.
No the opposite. My Gain is one of the most stable feeling of my bikes, certainly the road bikes. I’ve not had huge experience with road bikes but on the Gain I felt fine hammering down a local hill at 45mph but the non motorised carbon Spesh Roubaix (not the most racy geometry) felt much flightier. Maybe just due to the weight. My Gain is the D40 so ally frame and weighs 14.5kg.
Chislenko
Veteran
Thanks for the reply. I suppose for both of us it is a new sensation to get used to. I find it particularly unnerving at low speeds when negotiating staggered double gate entries to cycle paths etc. On the old bike (rim brake) I would stay clipped in and go through no problem, now I am unclipping for fear of coming a cropper!
I suppose like anything we will adapt.
14.5 kg😱 My god my best two bikes don’t weigh that much together.
I'm so happy for you.
They won't be electric will they. The battery and motor add about 3.5kg
I'm so happy for you.
They won't be electric will they. The battery and motor add about 3.5kg
No I’m hoping electric is still a good few years awa.
Chislenko
Veteran
Your body will tell you when the time is right but your mind will tell you different!
I resisted for as long as I could but a knackered right leg means I can hardly turn a non assisted pedal now.
You can get eBikes that come in at 10kg now which isn't much more than a mid range gravel bike. The difference is the extra 3kg versus a 7kg road bike gets you an extra 250watts of sustained power (88watts per kg) when you hit your favourite local hill.
If you want to know what it's like for Tadej Pogačar to be climbing double digit gradients at 15mph, an eBike is the way to go
I've got 2 eBike already, my next one will probably be an Scott eRide that uses the same motor as the Orbea but comes in at around 10kg versus 14kg.
Chislenko
Veteran
Mine is an M but Orbea never appear to publish weight on any bikes, normal or electric.
I would much rather have the power back in my legs than an e bike but needs must.
I know there is an argument that e bikes are "cheating" but I looked at an uphill segment I did the other day, it is a continuous uphill lasting about a mile and I was only 5 seconds faster on the Gain than my previous personal best on my leg powered Orca.
The time I notice the weight is when you pass the cut off for the motor on a flat road, it is at this point I would love to jump off the Gain and get back on the Orca!
You can get eBikes that come in at 10kg now which isn't much more than a mid range gravel bike. The difference is the extra 3kg versus a 7kg road bike gets you an extra 250watts of sustained power (88watts per kg) when you hit your favourite local hill.
If you want to know what it's like for Tadej Pogačar to be climbing double digit gradients at 15mph, an eBike is the way to go
I've got 2 eBike already, my next one will probably be an Scott eRide that uses the same motor as the Orbea but comes in at around 10kg versus 14kg.
When I go out on our clubs wednesday ride, there are few on ebikes of various descriptions. So when the gradient gets in to double figures and your speed is in single figures. It’s quite something to see those on the ebikes engage turbo power and disappear in to the distance. However once we get on the flat and unless it’s a 30 mph block head wind, you are usually waiting at every junction for the ebikes.
So I would much rather loose it on the hills rather than the flats and if I get desperate there’s always the option of a compact chainset.
I also have an Orbea Orca silver it’s about 11 years old with external cables. Which originally had a plastic( Gortex?) coating to help the gear shifting. As these are no longer made it really difficult to get the shifting to work well so it’s ended up as a turbo bike. Which is a shame as it was really nice to ride.
Chislenko
Veteran
My Orca is from 2015 so roughly the same era but has internal cables. At the moment it is an ornament on the garage wall 😟😟
