# Orbea & Ribble



## coldash (29 Sep 2020)

I’ve been asked 2 questions about e road bikes by one of my cycling friends and can’t answer either of them, so ...

1). Is there much difference between the Orbea and Ribble offerings? The Orbea gets lots of useful mentions, the Ribble, not so much. The frames, battery and motors look the same to me but.. I’ve seen mentions of the Orbea but not the Ribble. Is the app supplied by the drive company or the bike manufacturer?

2). Can the internal frame battery be replaced if it becomes defective. I know about the add-on unit but he is more interested in the integral battery

TIA. No doubt, I’ll be asking for myself in a few years time


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## Pale Rider (29 Sep 2020)

The Orbea and Ribble both use the same hardware - the Ebikemotion 'light assist' hub motor.

It's possible the bike companies have their own versions of the firmware, but I reckon that's unlikely.

Thus any difference in ride feel will come down to the push bike bits.

I don't know about the battery, but modern lithium cells have a decent service life.

One of my Bosch batteries is still holding a good charge after about nine years.

Thrashing the battery with a powerful motor will reduce its life.

The Ebikemotion motor is a relatively low powered one, which would suggest the battery would last a long time.


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## coldash (29 Sep 2020)

Thanks for the quick reply. I think the battery life aspect will be reassuring.


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## tom73 (29 Sep 2020)

Going on what's on the app store the app look's to be a standard one that's go's with the motor company not bike company.


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## NickWi (29 Sep 2020)

_2). Can the internal frame battery be replaced if it becomes defective. I know about the add-on unit but he is more interested in the integral battery _

Yes, but I understand it's a dealer only job as the three main components are paired (or whatever their term is) and replacing one of them, i.e. the battery, motor or controller means the new part has to be re paired.


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## cm2mackem (29 Sep 2020)

I'm looking at both those and one of the differences that push's me towards the Orbea is tyre clearance, i think the Ribble can squeeze in 28mm but the Orbea a lot bigger


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## NickWi (29 Sep 2020)

My D20 Gain (Alloy and 1x11) was billed as gravel bike and came with 37mm tyres. Not sure what the pure road bike versions will run too, but certain models definately have lots of clearance.


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## coldash (29 Sep 2020)

Thanks all. I’ll pass it on. It will help him because he does a lot of group rides whereas I ride on my own so lack of speed isn’t an issue for me


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