ORBEA RISE M-TEAM REVIEW

THE DIRT

SETUP | Getting the Orbea Rise ready for our first ride was pretty simple. The Shimano STEPS drive unit doesn’t require you to do anything you don’t want to, you can simply charge the bike, get on and go.

Suspension is pretty straight-forward but it’s worth noting that there is a slight window that will either give the Rise a very plush, pillowy feel or will give you a firmer platform with a bit more feedback. The upside to that is you can have a versatile bike that rides differently on rough and rowdy days where traction is scarce, or you can air up for a poppier feel on the flow trails and groomers.

ELECTRONICS & INTEGRATION | Depending on what you choose from the MyO program, you can either have a minimalist setup or have the Shimano display, which we’re personally fans of as it gives us some easy access to vital information. The charge port cover, power buttons and other integrations are pretty solid all-around however we find that the downside to the Orbea RS system is the size of the drive unit. It’s not a huge issue when it comes to performance, but it’s certainly a bit heavier than smaller, lightweight drive units and for those riders who want an SL for stealthy reasons may take issue with the full-size of the EP801 RS.

MOTOR POWER & RANGE | With the largest battery in the roundup, the Orbea Rise M-Team is the easy winner when it comes to max range and vert. Of course, weight weenies may not select the 504Wh battery and in which case, you’ll have a 1.5lb lighter bike with a more comparable range to other bikes in the mix. When it came to evaluating battery consumption on our test rides, we found that the number of Watt Hours consumed was on par, so it’s not that the EP801 is more efficient by a drastic percentage, it just has a larger fuel tank. Power is solid and at 60Nm, is close to the Fazua but offers a bit more of a natural feeler, if not a tad slower.

CLIMBING | Despite the looks, most of our riders really enjoyed the Selle Italia saddle found on the Rise, though we realize saddles are highly personal. Focusing on the rest of the bike, the Rise is a capable climber in most scenarios. The lower bottom bracket can and will be an issue for some. If you’re climbing super techy trails with lots of rocks, roots or in ruts, crank arms and pedals will regularly find the ground, especially if you’ve got a softer suspension setup. Outside of the low BB height, the geometry puts you in a comfortable position, the bike tracks well and navigates switchbacks and steeps well.

DESCENDING | With most of our riders sitting in the 5’10” – 6’2” range the 474 reach was comfortable but not overly spacious. Different riders have different preferences from comfort and playfulness on the descents and we’d say that Orbea is not out of line with this reach and overall geometry for general trail and all mountain riding, mostly. The head tube angle is one area we’d like to see updated by ½ or a full-degree as our testers felt it was a bit steep when hitting the steeper and faster trails the bike is more than capable of handling.

As we mentioned above, something that we liked about the Rise was that you could get a very different feeling bike on the trail depending how much air pressure you ran in the shock. Some trails would have us running a bit lower pressure to keep traction and compliance high while tackling loose rocks and chunk. We could then air up 10-15 PSI and have a stiffer platform and poppier bike that handled the flow and jump trails much better. Most riders will likely find a compromise in the middle and in this zone the Orbea sits squarely in the pack as a solid performer. It’s not the best in any one category but also had very few areas that polarized our testers, which is a good recipe for making a bike that pleases the masses.

FINISH AND VALUE | Orbea always has beautiful-looking bikes and depending on your MyO preference, you could get something that is truly unique and eye-catching. We love the colors of this Rise and while we did notice some paint chipping around the rear dropout from impacts with rocks, it seems that most of the finish and hardware are nicely executed.

When it comes to value, we usually take a neutral approach as we realize people have much higher and much lower budgets than we do. What we can do is evaluate component spec compared to ride quality, which for us is worth more than componentry sometimes. Orbea usually does a pretty solid job of offering bikes at a range of prices that are comparable to other offerings on the market and we think this Fox Factory Kashima-equipped eBike with a 540Wh battery and Shimano XT Di2 12s is pretty darn competitive.

The Wolf’s Last Word

Aside from the attention-grabbing paint job there wasn’t much on the trail that really wowed our test riders about the Orbea Rise, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The lack of major standouts means that the Orbea Rise M-Team is an eMTB that does everything you ask of it without many drawbacks. Occasionally we felt the rear end buck up when hitting sharp edges at speed and our more DH-biased riders wouldn’t have minded a slightly slacker head tube angle, but for the most part, when it came time to riding this 140/150mm bike on all the different test trails we threw it at, the Rise was regularly one of the top picked bikes. Its versatility and neutrality meant it would be predictable across the board and we knew exactly what to expect everywhere we rode it. If you aren’t looking for a “tip of the spear” sort of bike but instead would prefer something that will just do what you want just about everywhere, the Orbea Rise lineup could be worth considering, especially since you can customize several key aspects to make it your own.

WHO’S IT FOR?

We’d say the Rise is for riders who want a more planted, and dependable mid-power, lightweight eMTB. It doesn’t have any truly polarizing traits or numbers, can be easily customized at the factory and is currently priced to move! Overall, it’s a solid, versatile eMTB.

Price: $9,433 (M-Team as built)
Weight: 43.3 lbs (large)
Website: Orbea.com

SPECIFICATIONS

CHASSIS
Frame: OMR Carbon | 140mm
Fork: Fox Factory 36 Grip2 | 150mm
Shock: Fox Factory Float X 2-pos | 210x55mm

DRIVE SYSTEM
Motor: Shimano EP801-RS | 250W | 85Nm | 2.6kg
Battery: Orbea Internal | 540Wh | Integrated | 2.7kg
Display: Shimano EN600
Remote: Shimano EN600-L | 3 Buttons

COCKPIT
Brakes: Shimano XT M8120 200F/R rotors
Handlebar: OC Mountain Control MC10 Carbon | 20mm Rise | 800 W
Stem: OC Mountain Control MC10 Alu SL | 50mm Length
Headset: Alloy | Black Oxidated Bearing
Seatpost: Fox Transfer Factory | Choice of 125mm-200mm Length
Saddle: Fizik Taiga Kium

WHEELS
Wheels: OQUO Mountain Control MC32 Team
Front tire: Maxxis Dissector | EXO+ | 29″ x 2.4″
Rear tire: Maxxis Dissector | EXO+ | 29″ x 2.4″

DRIVETRAIN
Cassette: Shimano XT CS-M8100 | 10-51T
Cranks: Shimano Steps EM900 | S/M: 165mm, L/XL: 170mm
Shifter: Shimano M8150 Di2 | 12s
Derailleur: Shimano XT Di2 M8150 | 12s