Orbea Gain

[CXRAndy]

We drove from the UK so I'm not sure about flying. However we stayed in Bourg osains at the bottom of Alpe d Huez. There are a few good bike/hire shops which may even hire ebikes.

There are loads of bike shops, Ebike can be hired from the rime I was there

 

[PK99]

Its not a myth, but unlikely a non deflated tye will pop. I drop mine half pressure to keep bead in place-using tubeless

advice from CUK:
My bold..

Deflating tyres
This is not really necessary with bicycle tyres, since the maximum possible reduction in external pressure (about 10psi) has the same effect as that much extra inside the tyre at ground level. Bicycle tyres are designed to stand way more than that. And even if one should blow off, it won’t contain enough air to damage anything apart from its own inner-tube.

In fact: leaving the tyres inflated helps to protect both tyre and rim from damage when the bike is handled. Some airlines (e.g. BA) have realised this and exempted pedal cycle tyres from the usual restriction on the carriage of pressurised gases. Check-in staff prefer nice simple rules however, with together with a dose of corporate amnesia means that you’ll often be asked “have you deflated the tyres” even when flying BA.

Always say “I have deflated the tyres”. No need to say when or how much. One advantage of the packing rule is they cannot easily check – but if you argue they will. You’ll have deflated the tyres last time you had a puncture, won’t you, but it doesn’t do any harm to let a little air out when you’re packing the bike. 10psi is plenty.

The reason they have a rule about this is the amount of energy stored in a big tractor tyre, if it blew, could send the wheel through the side of the plane! And tractor tyres work at such low pressure, an extra 10psi might really make it happen.

 

[Widge]

Just a heads up to my earlier post...........
I can confirm after due investigation that the the forks AND steerer tube are indeed of a one piece carbon construction (like most £1000+ road bikes these days it seems).
Sadly...I suffer from a bit of an anxiety issue (no Really!) where sometimes the worst thing I can do is read Google about the likelihood of carbon catastrophically failing-although statistically mostly it doesn't ....so thank god I have invested in a (torsion beam system) torque wrench.
Sure enough-I had marginally overtightened the stem to steerer bolts after relying on just 'feel' and have since discovered that just 'tight enough' is where I should be.
5-6nm (or even possibly less!) in case you're wondering? How can we know?

Internet opinions vary wildly from 'don't sweat it' to OMG you're DOOMED' so it is a bit of a lottery to know what to believe.

I never had this worry with any of my steel/or aluminium bikes in the past but apparently CF is stronger than some of us think it is?

Any thoughts or opinions?

Yours, Paranoid,

Widge

 

[Storck]

Just a heads up to my earlier post...........
I can confirm after due investigation that the the forks AND steerer tube are indeed of a one piece carbon construction (like most £1000+ road bikes these days it seems).
Sadly...I suffer from a bit of an anxiety issue (no Really!) where sometimes the worst thing I can do is read Google about the likelihood of carbon catastrophically failing-although statistically mostly it doesn't ....so thank god I have invested in a (torsion beam system) torque wrench.
Sure enough-I had marginally overtightened the stem to steerer bolts after relying on just 'feel' and have since discovered that just 'tight enough' is where I should be.
5-6nm (or even possibly less!) in case you're wondering? How can we know?

Internet opinions vary wildly from 'don't sweat it' to OMG you're DOOMED' so it is a bit of a lottery to know what to believe.

I never had this worry with any of my steel/or aluminium bikes in the past but apparently CF is stronger than some of us think it is?

Any thoughts or opinions?

Yours, Paranoid,

Widge

Still got and riding one of the first all carbon frames Trek Team Postal. Recall folks saying it would come apart or snap after a couple of years. Well no it hasn't, done tens of thousands of miles on it. And now? People ask me if it's for sale!

 

[No pain no gain]

I took another look and sure enough mine also says 5-7, it's just that my old eyes didn't see the 7 and thought it was just the Nm. I swear the Spanish must have the best eyes in the world, the markings on this bike could not be harder to make out !

The same goes for the app. The overall grey screen is not a good colour when viewed on a phone, particularly in bright sunshine. White with black markings would be better. I fed this back to the app developer as it is still in beta mode but I suspect this will fall on deaf ears.

 

[robgul]

A bloke brought a Gain F30 into my shop today - brand new, bought from Cycle Republic and the LH shifter didn't work .... turns out that the shop had fitted bar-ends and just moved the ergo-grips inboard a bit so that they jammed the triggers - easy fix.

BUT what was interesting and not something I had seen before was that it had a switch on the handlebars that controlled the motor - on/off switch and stepping up or down the power levels with a toggle switch. It had the top-tube button too although I think that only switched the motor on or off - not the power changes.

I have a Gain D40 about 18 months old with just the top-tube button - it's a bit frustrating (and I've fed this back to Orbea FWIW) to go from Amber to Green by having to go through the red phase first.

I agree the single button is neat BUT a toggle or two buttons would be better. I'm wondering if the handlebar switch could be a retro-fit option (although I'm not sure where it would go on drop bars?)

Rob

 

[Solom01]

Hi robgul, yes, all the flat handlebar Gain models have the iwoc 3 handlebar control in addition to the standard top tube control. As you noted although they control the same functions the iwoc 3 allows one to go up and down so you don't have to cycle as with the top tube iwoc 1. I think the Orbea site lists it as an option, and there is no electrical reason why it shouldn't work, but even though it really is quite narrow do you think there would be room to install it on a drop bar? If it fits I don't understand why they don't put it on all their bikes. It doesn't seem like it would add a lot of cost and it doesn't stand out so it doesn't take away from the "stealthy" nature of the bike.

 

[robgul]

Hi robgul, yes, all the flat handlebar Gain models have the iwoc 3 handlebar control in addition to the standard top tube control. As you noted although they control the same functions the iwoc 3 allows one to go up and down so you don't have to cycle as with the top tube iwoc 1. I think the Orbea site lists it as an option, and there is no electrical reason why it shouldn't work, but even though it really is quite narrow do you think there would be room to install it on a drop bar? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but if it fits I don't understand why they don't put it on all their bikes. It doesn't seem like it would add a lot of cost and it doesn't stand out so it doesn't take away from the "stealthy" nature of the bike.

Ah - I thought that was the situation. As you suggest on drop bars may be an issue although my Gain is set up as a tourer with mudguards, rack and R&K KlickFix bar bag fitting so it MIGHT be possible to cobble something - perhaps I'll have a look when I get time.

Rob

 

[NickWi]

...........and it doesn't stand out so it doesn't take away from the "stealthy" nature of the bike.

Talking of which, or not as the case maybe, my Range Extender battery arrived today. To say it looks a bit like a water bottle is like saying I look a bit like George Clooney. Yes I've got two eyes, a nose, mouth etc and they're arranged in the usual format, but good looking I ain't; and neither is the Ranger Extra battery. It is very obviously a battery and not a water bottle so the stealthy element goes out the window.

Full report to follow after rides with it over the weekend.

 

[Solom01]

Fantastic! Although I'm really not in the market for one I'm curious about how it works, especially about the 2 amp Max and if that really will keep the internal battery topped off. Anxious to hear what you think, who knows, maybe it's worth it after all?

 

[BucksCS]

Hi robgul, yes, all the flat handlebar Gain models have the iwoc 3 handlebar control in addition to the standard top tube control. As you noted although they control the same functions the iwoc 3 allows one to go up and down so you don't have to cycle as with the top tube iwoc 1. I think the Orbea site lists it as an option, and there is no electrical reason why it shouldn't work, but even though it really is quite narrow do you think there would be room to install it on a drop bar? If it fits I don't understand why they don't put it on all their bikes. It doesn't seem like it would add a lot of cost and it doesn't stand out so it doesn't take away from the "stealthy" nature of the bike.

The iwoc3 also has a useful powered "walk" mode which is hidden very deep in the documentation - it's useful if walking the bike through railway stations for example (or even on very steep unrideable hills).

 

[Solom01]

So here is what is probably a really dumb question. I use a Garmin so I don't use the ebikemotion app when I ride. I occasionally turn it on to change power levels or see the exact charge amount but that's about it. Today I went into the engine setting and was surprise to see that there is an "odometry" field that had kept track of the total miles on the bike. I actually think that's a good thing, since it's a record I want to have, but how does the app know this if it's almost never turned on? Is it just the revolutions of the motor or something?

 

[Scaleyback]

So here is what is probably a really dumb question. I use a Garmin so I don't use the ebikemotion app when I ride. I occasionally turn it on to change power levels or see the exact charge amount but that's about it. Today I went into the engine setting and was surprise to see that there is an "odometry" field that had kept track of the total miles on the bike. I actually think that's a good thing, since it's a record I want to have, but how does the app know this if it's almost never turned on? Is it just the revolutions of the motor or something?

Hi Solom01,
My use of the ebikemotion app mirrors yours and I have never noticed the "odometry" field in the rare times I use the app. Could it be a recent change to the app ?
But yes the bike itself must be logging the distance. When I log on to www.ebikemotion.com and assuming you have registered ? under My Profile / My ebikes
it will give you your ebike serial No, the activation date and the miles/kms the bike has completed. It must update the My ebikes mileage whenever you connect via the app? I also use a Garmin and record all my rides on garminconnect and the mileage I have recorded is pretty close to what shows on My Profile page.

 

[Solom01]

Thanks Scaleyback, I guess that's the way it works. I don't think it's new, it's just hard to find. You have to connect the bike to the app. Under settings right under the help and support there's a field called Engineering mode. When you click on that field there's all sorts of info on your bike including the miles. I did register on the ebikemotion site, but I never go to it. Although I'm not too interested in the water bottle battery a lot of people are and because of the high price there are people trying to come up with a third party solution. When I saw the engineering page and realized how much info. Orbea has on the bike and how it is updated (and yes my miles are pretty much on spot with my Garmin results) I decided I would never risk using a third party solution while I'm under warranty. I have no doubt that Orbea would know that third party items were used and use that as a reason to void the warranty regardless of what really caused the problem.

 

[Storck]

Thanks Scaleyback, I guess that's the way it works. I don't think it's new, it's just hard to find. You have to connect the bike to the app. Under settings right under the help and support there's a field called Engineering mode. When you click on that field there's all sorts of info on your bike including the miles. I did register on the ebikemotion site, but I never go to it. Although I'm not too interested in the water bottle battery a lot of people are and because of the high price there are people trying to come up with a third party solution. When I saw the engineering page and realized how much info. Orbea has on the bike and how it is updated (and yes my miles are pretty much on spot with my Garmin results) I decided I would never risk using a third party solution while I'm under warranty. I have no doubt that Orbea would know that third party items were used and use that as a reason to void the warranty regardless of what really caused the problem.

Very wise Sol, I'm with you on that. Not a good idea in my humble opinion to be adding any speed deristricting devices into the system. At least whiles under warranty period.