Orbea Gain D50 2017 Review (2 days in)

 

Orbea Gain D50 2019 day one setup 1.0

Within weeks of owning my first, I am suddenly on my second eBike.

I will preface this with a bit of the whys and hows of this purchase, you can skip to the review if you want which will have a suitable header.

Shopping again

The outgoing eLife Ranger 950 was good but wasn't right so I went shopping for what I actually wanted; a proper road bike with electronic assistance.

Carrera Crossroads 1.1

I will be referring to the eLife Ranger a lot here, it is pictured below in figure 1.3 or you can hit the link in the previous paragraph.
At my budget this pretty much left me with the Carrera Crossroads which I had previously considered but cost and a generally cobbled together look had put me off. Unfortunately Covid travel restrictions and a lack of stock at Halfords had stopped me buying one as soon as the Ranger was sold.

This gap had be broadening my search where I happened on an Orbea Gain D50 on an eBay auction. Now this is a £2000 bike so I hadn't really considered it but the seller had listed it at a low price so I was interested. Reviews were glowing, and the bike looks amazing on the Orbea website. Of course the new 2020 model has some looks over the earlier one I was looking at but at a suitable price reduction I was less than bothered. 

A little shopping about showed me I could get a 2019 model new for £1500 so I knew not to go silly. However as the auction rolled on it became apparent that others were less cautious. The bike ended up selling for well over this, a real result for the seller!

After seeing the direction the auction was going in I looked elsewhere and was very surprised for find one listed near me for £900! It was one of those "bought for the wife but she doesn't like it" listings. The bike looked a bit grubby but the seller assured me that the bike hadn't been ridden more than 500 miles and that the size small frame was actually a bit on the big side so should be fine for me.

With a viewing booked, I headed over to the sellers house masked up and armed with alcohol jell. On taking a closer look, the bike had been cleaned since the photographs were taken and its features were demonstrated. I had noticed the capless presta valve on the front was undone on inspection and the tyre was low so suspected a possible leak there but otherwise the bike seemed fine. 

Time for a proper look

1.0 again

As soon as I had it home I went into checking the bike over and setting it up to suit me.

Seat height, reach and angle were all adjusted (angle was fully forward for some reason).

The tyres were then charged to 80Psi. A familiar hissing let me know that the front end did indeed have a leak. This was joined by a flow of bubbles from the rim hinting that the bike was probably washed with a flat tyre so the inside of the tyre was wet.

The tube was pulled and a pinprick hole near the valve was repaired before reassembling the wheel.

That was pretty much it for finds on this look around. A tiny bit of brake adjustment was needed but the rest was personalisation.

Having a Garmin cycle computer arm, single sided Shimano SPD pedals and a couple of carbon bottle holders were all nice bonuses to find.

Connectivity

1.2

The 2019 Orbea Gain D50 connects to your phone via bluetooth when turned on. Mahle's eBikemotion app takes care of connectivity from here. It pairs for the first time in settings then offers a cycle computer style screen with in built in maps as you can see if figure 1.2. The screen also tells you the available battery power, effort, weather and a multitude of other things. It is free so if you are curious, download it and have a look for yourself.

Should you not have the phone on your handlebars, a short press of the power button on the paired bike will set a connected phone off on a robot voiced fact fest which is neat if you can still hear it. 

The Review

My initial impressions are all positive with a good looking bike from a respectable company, bringing out an eBike that appears to function nicely.

On a personal level, but thoughts for any would be second hand buyer, I was a little concerned about battery life as these things really do not like being stored, the rest of the bike looked mechanically fine so it was time for a test ride.

A couple of planet X lights were strapped on and the battery charged the day before. On the day weather was looking a bit pants with a 2-3hour window where the rain should stop. I took the bike the same root as I had tested the eLife Ranger, a 46Km round trip there and back again. This had the benefit of negating wind advantage/disadvantage and gave a fair comparison between the two bikes.

On the bike and things were looking just fine. The Gain didn't give the same kick as the the Ranger did but things felt very smooth. The ride position is a tiny bit more focussed than the wide barred Ranger but is certainly on the touring side even when compared to my Roux Conquest 3500 gravel bike. Thanks to a fair bit of time setting up the saddle, it was really comfortable and the bars had enough space for me to move around as the ride wore on.

I switched the assistance mode up to high early on in the ride, which is where I would intend to use it most of the time. It just means it assists you up to a higher speed with a cost of lower battery life which was the main thing I was interested in on this ride.
Once up in the cruise it's all you till you slow down for any number of reasons then the assistance creeps in so smoothly you rarely even notice it. I did accidentally switch assistance off whilst faffing about with the button cruising along which only became apparent when a head wind hit me and things got more difficult suddenly. 

With assistance on, I rarely felt the need to change more than a couple of cogs on the rear unless I was accelerating from a standstill. The assistance is that strong that I could probably just leave it in the same gear for starts but I do like to put in my own effort too. The gears really come in on down hills where I would be pedalling at a high cadence on the Ranger, I was far more sober on the Gain. The Shimano Claris gears operate snappily and are very responsive, something I was lead to believe was a weak point on this bike but they are in fact very good.

The brakes were both quiet and effective which was a pleasant change from the nasty pads that were on the Ranger. I didn't exactly hammer on the brakes on this ride as maintaining momentum is the name of the game.

The slightly wider than average bottom tube offers a surprising amount of protection from spray which was welcome on Lincolnshire's wet and muddy roads. The odd bump was handled fine but I did find one section of road with a rough surface gave the frame a bit of an annoying buz sending me searching for the smoother bits of tarmac. Lower tyre pressures would help here.

I was aware that the one top tube button is supposed to change colour as battery level diminishes which it failed to do during this ride, but this was no error with the bike. On return to home I was pleased to find I still had 77% battery left (the first colour change increment from white is green is at 75%) so I had plenty in the tank for many many more miles riding. By comparison, the single geared Ranger which relies on its motor more was down to a quarter charge on the same journey. Continuing the comparison, the Gain had outperformed the Ranger in some small way in every way. It was lighter, faster, aerodynamic, more comfortable (for me) and all round more enjoyable to use. The addition of gears alone would have sold it to me but as a package this bike holds its head high. Clearly the new price difference between the two bikes (Ranger £1200, Gain £2000) makes this comparison a little unfair but it's the one I have.

The only little issues I have with the bike are all fixable:
    The wide chainstay, to allow for the option of running wide gravel tyres, does get in the way of my feet a bit. Not frequently enough to be a real problem but my fairly chunky Keen waterproof walking trainers did catch the frame a few times. This can easily be fixed with proper cycle trainers and maybe controlling my flailing legs a bit more.
    The other minor issue is the lack of space on the handlebars. Orbea's "enough power concept" bleads into enough stuff so no screens but somehow space is still limited on the handlebars. I had a front light and a Garmin cycle computer mount fitted and I think I would struggle to fit a bell on there much less my actual phone. Again there are easy workarounds here by using a multifunction bracket or simply not sticking more crap on the handle bars than I really need.
    During the previous ride I did start the eBikemotion app but it failed to connect to the bike so I have no power data to share yet. Reconnecting through setting got the phone reconnected when I was home so I am hoping this was just a glitch.

To the future

I am happy with this bike and can see it staying in my stable for quite some time. Cleaned and safely back locked away, I now look to the future and what I want to do this bike (I can't just leave things alone).

Early on I was excited to have this bike connected directly to my Garmin fenix 5+ watch and maybe even, in the future, a cycle computer where I could see power output and battery levels clearly displayed. I later learned that ANT+ is only a built in feature of the 2020+ models but I have also since learned that there is a patch cable and dongle available for my bike which I will be looking into in the near future. Using my watch for this or a smaller cycle computer will negate the need to use my phone for such data solving my handlebar space issue.

1.3 eLife Ranger

I will also be looking into luggage as this bike will be a commuter. I know that this bike can take a rack but a recently gifted Planet X Podsack, pictured over on figure 1.3 on the Ranger, may well cover this roll suitably.
The advantage of both systems gives me luggage space whilst also acting as a rear mudguard which is needed for regular riding especially in rural Lincolnshire.

A bell would be a sensible thing to add to the bike. A short section of my commute is on a mixed use cycle path where I will need to alert pedestrians to my presence occasionally.  I was a little surprised to find it omitted here but maybe the previous owner removed it.

I really need for little else. ANT+ lights may become a treat in the future saving me the need to stop and turn them on. I like the idea of controlling them via the bikes frame switch  or a cycle computer.
The Claris gears were a thought early on as an item to upgrade but after actually using them I wont bother till they present an issue, they are very good!

I will update this review periodically when new insight arises. If I do anything mind blowing to this bike, it may even get a mention on this blog. I hope it has been useful to you.

Post ride rinse & checkover. That metal bottle was very noisy in the carbon bottle holder!