WE DIG
WE DON’T
ABOUT THE ALLOY ORBEA WILD H10
For the 2025 model year, Orbea made some changes to their Wild, including the new Bosch CX Gen 5 drive unit and tweaks to the geometry and suspension. In doing so, they changed the character notably while retaining very similar looks.
DRIVE UNIT AND ELECTRONICS
This Orbea Wild H features the 6.2 lbs (2.8 kg) Bosch Performance Line CX Gen 5 drive unit. This offers a maximum of 100 Nm Torque and 750W Peak Power. Powering the system is the choice of the 600 Wh Bosch battery at 6.6 lbs (3.3kg) or the 750Wh battery at 9.9 lbs (4.5kg). These batteries are fixed within the downtube, requiring removal of the motor to access and remove. With the 3.3 lbs (1.5kg) PowerMore Range Extender, capacity can be increased by 250Wh. The Bosch 4A Charger recharges the 600Wh battery from empty in around 5 hours.
Orbea opted to keep it simple, using the LED Hub in the top tube to display the battery life and the power mode selected only. The wireless Mini Remote allows the user to cycle through the power modes and use the walk function. For riders seeking more information, the Bosch Kiox 300 display unit can be added to the bars at the point of purchase. The alloy frame sadly doesn’t have room to accommodate the new Kiox 400C display.
With the Bosch eBike Flow App, riders can connect to the Smart System wirelessly. This allows for a number of functions from power mode tuning to security and even route planning with simulation of battery life. It’s one of the most user-friendly eBike apps on the market.
FRAME AND FEATURES
Orbea puts in a lot of effort to make the Wild H alloy frame look sleek and perform well. The High Polish Alloy front triangle features smooth polished welds that make it very difficult to tell that it’s not a carbon fiber frame. If you have a bigger budget then they offer the Carbon Wild M, but the alloy will be our focus for this review.
High quality details are present across the Wild H frame. One point of contention is the headset cable routing, which sees the cables passing through the upper headset cup into the frame. While Orbea has fitted high quality bearings and uses a reasonably well-sealed dust cover, there are still concerns over ease of maintenance with the system. Once inside the frame, the cables run down the downtube to the rear end. It was disappointing to see these cables only trapped by the battery and therefore free to rattle.
The Wild frame is delivered with either dual-29” or MX wheels as standard. By purchasing an aftermarket link from Orbea, the same mainframe can be converted to the other wheelsize without compromising the geometry. We appreciate Orbea’s decision to keep the frame more simple, with no flip chips to add to complexity. The suspension pivot bearings receive extra seals to keep them better protected from moisture and debris, and a neat integrated flap is added to the main pivot to add further guarding from the elements.
Orbea worked on the protection on the frame and delivered an impressively quiet ride. The chainstay and seatstay protectors effectively reduce noise and damage from chain slap. The motor bash guard is made from a durable reinforced plastic and held up well, while still allowing airflow to the Bosch drive unit.
SUSPENSION
Orbea reworked the suspension for the latest generation of Wild, giving significantly different handling without a considerable change to the appearance. With 170mm on both ends, the new kinematics of the Wild provide incredible small bump sensitivity. At the end of the travel there’s significant support to resist bottom outs, letting you charge hard. Really hard. 40% progression over the stroke is amongst the highest we’ve seen on the market, and the effect is notable on trail.
With Anti Squat hovering around 100% at sag according to Orbea’s analysis, the Wild also provides solid pedaling support. In practice, it’s not an ultra-stiff platform, letting the rear wheel find good traction and making for impressive technical climbing prowess. The Anti Rise – the effect braking has on the suspension – sits around 60%, which is fairly low and so allows the rear end to move with minimal restriction when braking, but allows the chassis to rise slightly.
GEOMETRY
The geometry on the Wild is not so Wild, but certainly purposeful. A standout feature is the seatpost insertion, which is one of the best on the market. With short seat tube lengths across the size range, most riders should be able to fit a very long dropper post to maximize clearance on the descents.
Consistent across the size range are the 63.5° head tube angle; 77.5° effective seat tube angle, 22mm BB drop and 448mm chainstay length. Key figures for the size Large tested are a 480mm reach, 643mm stack height, and resulting 1282mm wheelbase.
BUILD SPECS
Orbea offers the High Polish Alloy Wild H series in two standard builds: the H20 at $6,499 or the H10 at $6,999. These are both offered in a choice of three frame colors. The MyO program then allows each customer to make select changes to the componentry on the bike, to really dial in the spec of the Wild H to their liking.
The Orbea Wild H10 with customisations was £7,456/$8,256 as tested at the time of writing. This included the 600Wh Bosch battery plus 250Wh PowerMore range extender; and it was decked out with Factory level Fox 38 and Float X2 suspension; Carbon OC10 bars, Shimano XT brakes, a 230mm OC dropper and DH casing Maxxis tires. The ability to customize this H10 build on Orbea’s MyO configurator meant that I’d be happy to receive this bike and not have to spend a penny on changing any cockpit items or upgrading.
However, the nature of my job means I have the ability to access some other components to test, and as such the Wild spent the majority of testing time with the Aenomaly Constructs Switchgrade 2.0 saddle angle adjuster and SQLab 6OX Infinergy® ERGOWAVE® active 2.1 ClipOn saddle, and WTB Verdict and Judge Tough High Grip SG1 tires.
I also had the opportunity to test the setup in both dual-29” and Mullet, thanks to the aftermarket link directly from Orbea and a spare 27.5” OQUO MC32 Team Power wheel.
In its stock configuration, the size Large Orbea Wild M10 with customisations weighed in at 57.5lbs or 26kg, including the 3.3lbs or 1.5kg range extender.
THE DIRT
I’ve spent a good chunk of time on the carbon fiber Orbea Wild and was the fondest of it out of the whole team here at The Loam Wolf. But with our audience and my friends alike regularly asking which eBike to buy – and often having a budget in mind that didn’t quite stretch to the full bells and whistles Wild M-Team or LTD – I was interested to see how close the alloy framed version would stack up and whether it was also worth recommending. Thankfully Orbea were on board to send one to me for a proper long-term review, during which I used the bike as my test bed for some other components and had the chance to play extensively with the setup.
SETTING UP THE ORBEA WILD H10
I began testing this MyO-customized Orbea Wild H10 “dream build” in a dual-29” setup. I ordered a mullet conversion link, but it took a while to become available, so I was able to get the 29er guise fully dialed in before playing with wheel size.
To provide some rationale for my spec, my biggest irk with the Wild is Orbea’s failure to accommodate the 800Wh PowerTube battery. As such, customers must make the choice between the smaller 600Wh with its new tech that yields a better energy density, or the older 750Wh battery which is half a kilo (just over 1lb) heavier than the 800Wh, as well as being longer and therefore placing more weight towards the head tube. Partly out of the principle of not wanting the old battery tech but also favoring the versatility of the smaller battery plus range extender combo, I chose the 600Wh battery and added a range extender.
Looking at the spec upgrades, opting for the factory level Fox suspension would provide consistency of feeling between the carbon and alloy bikes, giving a more direct comparison. I mirrored my settings from the carbon bike initially but ended up making some small tweaks over time. The XT brake upgrade wasn’t necessary, but I figured why not, and I wanted the higher rise bar so upgraded to the carbon MC10 bars to get the cockpit feel dialed. I fitted the 230mm dropper for my long legs, chose the DH-casing tires that are appropriate for such a hard-hitting bike, and went yellow because it’s pretty sick. At £7,456/$8,256 the result was by no means a cheap ebike, but I’d consider it reasonable value for money, especially when you consider the customization aspect which removes the need for spending on component switches out of the box.
CLIMBING
If you think a couple of lbs extra frame weight is going to considerably change your climbing experience on an ebike, you’re wrong. Perhaps you could feel a small difference in ECO or on a particularly technical climbing maneuver, but for the most part it’s irrelevant with that motor assisting you. As such, the Orbea Wild H is still an excellent climbing machine. Geometry is great, suspension platform well balanced, and the Bosch CX Gen 5 system is a market leader for control with solid power.
The biggest impact on the climbing performance didn’t come from the Orbea itself, rather one of the modifications I made after it was delivered. I suggested the Aenomaly Switchgrade saddle angle adjuster to be a serious asset for eMTB a couple of years ago, but had yet to spend considerable time on an eBike with one fitted. This Orbea Wild H changed that, and only served to reinforce my stance on the Switchgrade. It’s simply excellent for both climbing and descending. The stupidly steep climbs that eMTBs encourage are more comfortable and easier to perform with the saddle nose dropped. You can relax a little, rather than having to perch on the nose of a conventionally positioned saddle, focusing on your pedal strokes rather than weighting the front wheel. I find myself cleaning steep tech climbs much more frequently and comfortably with a Switchgrade fitted. Then when the descents got ultra steep and I needed to really hang off the back of this eMTB to influence its heavier weight, the extra clearance of the nose-up position was awesome, too. The holy grail of a mixed wheel setup, long-travel dropper post and nose-up position of a Switchgrade made steep and gnarly descents safer and easier.
The 600Wh battery drained fast for my 220lbs (100kg) weight when run in turbo, especially after the update and the power increase to 750W. If you’re pushing the motor hard then you get under an hour of assistance at 750W. It’s simple maths. As a heavier rider, it’s easier for the 400% input multiplication to get close to or hit that 750W max. With the range extender, range improved of course, but it still fell a little short of what I’d love at times – I can sympathise with riders who seek bikes with easily removable internal batteries that allow for swaps in the parking lot and for charging off-the-bike. In a dream world, the Wild’s battery would come out easily with no detriment to the frame rigidity or weight, but I respect Orbea’s pursuit for improved performance here equally. It’ll remove the Wild from many rider’s lists, though.
DESCENDING
On the way down, there’s a little difference in the overall feel. The alloy feels even more planted and muted than the carbon, with a little less agility as a result. If you’re a passive rider who prefers a bit more of a point and shoot approach, they’ll perform equally well until things get ultra steep and technical and the extra weight becomes a little harder to manage. If you’re a super active and playful rider, the carbon’s slightly sharper and lighter handling are a touch more engaging, but the alloy was by no means a slouch. I’d suggest I rank fairly highly on the playful scale, and still had an absolute riot riding the alloy Wild.
If you were to go from the previous generation carbon frame to the new alloy, then the change would be quite significant. With the plusher suspension and reduced frame stiffness, there’s a notably more muted trail feel for better and for worse. The new generation Wild is more comfortable and easier to hold onto for a big day, but a touch less sharp and engaging to ride. The new bike was undeniably an easier bike to ride fast, and a better bike for the vast majority, but I did miss the racier feeling of the previous generation.
Comparing 29 and mullet, and Orbea’s link does a good job at retaining geometry and overall handling feel. There’s not an insane amount to tell between the two rear wheels, only a slight boost to agility and clearance with the smaller rear. Going from a slightly worn 29er wheel to a new tire on a 27.5”, there was no detriment to climbing traction, and I didn’t feel any significant differences in rough terrain. As such, I’d certainly be choosing the mixed wheel setup for my preferences. But there’s no denying it works damn well as a 29er, too.
QUALITY AND MAINTENANCE
For the vast majority of the test, the Orbea Wild H10 ran super dialed. There were never issues with hardware coming loose or creaking. At the beginning however, the Bosch drive unit would cut out regularly. This was due to a poor setup of the battery connection, and once resolved there were no further issues. Orbea would recommend you take your bike to a mechanic to fix this issue, and the store you pick your Wild up from should fix this for free. I ended up performing it myself, to come away slightly disappointed by the cables sitting loose in the downtube. They didn’t rattle through testing, but it’s easy to imagine that they might.
When switching the link to the mullet setup, I was introduced to the upper shock hardware. They use two loose spacers that ideally need a third hand, or certainly two more dexterous hands than I have. This won’t be a major issue unless you are switching shocks often, but I’d love to see a solution that’s a little easier to work with.
Otherwise, everything was assembled fairly sensibly, the bike performed flawlessly for the rest of testing, and even the headset cable routing wasn’t the worst thing in the world to work on. Don’t come at me. I’m not suggesting that I would choose headset routing over a standard internal routing setup through the side of the headtube, but it wouldn’t prevent me from purchasing the bike.
CARBON OR ALLOY: DOES IT MATTER?
So, carbon or alloy? If you’ve got very deep pockets and the price isn’t much of a consideration, then the carbon is going to be the better call for its lighter and more agile handling. But if pricing matters and going alloy will let you access Orbea’s big-hitting eBike, then you shouldn’t feel bad about going for the Wild Hydro. It’s still a seriously good eMTB, with exceptional handling up and down the hill. Just make sure the cables and battery are well set up out of the box.
The Wolf’s Last Word
If you’re a rider who demands an easily removable battery, this isn’t the bike for you. However if you can live with the fixed internal battery, then the Wild H10 is one hell of a bike, regardless of the frame material that you choose. 
Price: $6,999 (H10 as Tested)
Website: Orbea.com
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ABOUT THE WOLF
Robert’s habitat is the Tweed Valley, Scotland, which is renowned for its root-littered enduro mountain bike trails. Robert has been developing his bike handling skills for the last 16 years. Since he was a pup, he’s been riding everything from BMX through to enduro and downhill bikes. Combining a playful style with occasional speed-focused aggression, he favors supportive bikes, and does his best to push them hard.
Rank: European Tech Editor
Size: 6’2” / 189cm | 220lbs / 100kg
Social: @robert_johnston
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