New Orbea Gain ebike drops weight while integrating lights and a power meter

Orbea claims third-generation Gain is lighter, with extended range and Mahle X20 motor

This competition is now closed

By Warren Rossiter

Published: January 19, 2023 at 3:00 pm

Orbea has announced the release of a new third-generation Gain electric road bike with its lightweight frame, fork and motor weighing in at an overall claimed 11.5kg.

The Basque bike manufacturer was one of the first brands to enter the performance e-road and gravel arena with the original Gain back in 2017. It also marked the first collaboration between Orbea and Ebikemotion, now called Mahle.

The new ebike takes the original Gain concept of being a road bike first and an electric bike second. It features a lighter frame and fork based on the lightweight Orbea Orca OMR race bike.

Assistance comes from Mahle’s lightest electric bike motor system, the X20, with a 350Wh internal battery and remote controls for the motor included as standard.

There are six models of the new Gain, which Orbea says will be available from February. There will be four 2x drivetrain options and two 1x drivetrain options. Pricing ranges from £3,500 to £11,500.

Find out how this new lightweight ebike rides in our Orbea Gain M10i first ride review.

Orbea says the Gain has ‘pure road’ geometry which looks to be very much in the endurance bike space. The bike has a taller stack and shorter reach than a race bike such as the Orca OMX.

Orbea has kept both the chainstays and wheelbase short and the fork trail is more akin to an endurance bike, too.

The bike can fit 700x35mm road bike tyres opening the door for all-road or light gravel riding. (Orbea has also hinted strongly that an electric gravel bike is on the horizon.)

The Gain has small integrated front and rear bike lights. The front light is incorporated into the out-front GPS mount. Orbea’s light is wired into the ebike system. At the rear, a similar COB LED strip light is integrated into the cover for the hidden seat clamp.

Alongside the standard HMI motor controller that fits flush into the Gain’s top tube, Orbea has used Mahle’s optional remote controllers. These twin buttons are mounted onto the bar like SRAM’s MultiClics or Blips.

The remote controllers mean you can shift between modes without having to take a hand off the bars to reach for the top-tube controller. They also mean you can shift up and down between modes rather than having to cycle through them in a single direction, as with the HMI controller.

Orbea claims the range-topping and lightest model, the Gain M10i, weighs 11.5kg in a size large.

The alloy Gain Hydro is an unchanged design (apart from new colours) and comes equipped with Mahle’s X35+, priced from €2,999 / $3,450 / £2,899 to €4,499 / $5,200 / £4,299.

Orbea says it has worked closely with Mahle on tuning the standard X20 system, which is a service Mahle offers to brands. This has resulted in the Gain’s X20 motor having power profiles said to complement your power output while providing a natural ride feel.

With a claimed system weight of 1,399g, Mahle’s rear-hub X20 is the lightest on the market, beating even TQ’s mid-mounted lightweight system as found on the new Scott Solace.

The X20 hub motor is also said to be more user-friendly than the older Mahle X35 motor, thanks to the use of a standard thru-axle rather than a bolted rear axle.

Mahle’s new system now measures power and cadence, via a new bottom bracket, with the aim of giving a power delivery more in line with your input. Through the system’s software, this data is used to optimise the power assistance being delivered irrespective of which of the system’s three power modes you’re using.

Unlike the Mahle standard setting, Orbea has designed each mode to be able to have full-range motor power (usually reserved only for the highest setting). It’s just proportional to your input. So, for example, if you’re pedalling at 150W in the high-power mode, the system will match it. In the lower modes, it’s a fraction of your power, but all go up to the full 250W.

The effect is intended to be a natural-feeling response rather than a lump of power being dumped as you pedal. Therefore, the bike should never surge forward, unless you want it to.

Like the older X35 motor, the new X20 makes great use of Mahle’s Smartbike app. The app can be used to adjust motor map settings, monitor and analyse energy consumption, and even link to your heart rate monitor, delivering power to keep you in the HR zones of your choosing.

Full route data is recorded through the app, too.

The X20 promises 55Nm of torque and is compatible with electric bike laws that state assistance must cut out at 25km/h in the EU, UK and Australia, and 20mph in the US.

Like the older X35 motor, the new X20 makes great use of Mahle’s Smartbike app. The app can be used to adjust motor map settings, monitor and analyse energy consumption, and even link to your heart rate monitor, delivering power to keep you in the HR zones of your choosing.

Full route data is recorded through the app, too.

The X20 promises 55Nm of torque and is compatible with electric bike laws that state assistance must cut out at 25km/h in the EU, UK and Australia, and 20mph in the US.

Charging comes via a new Smart charger that Orbea says can deliver an 80 per cent charge in two hours, with a full recharge in just under four.

The charger also has a USB port so you can download any firmware updates to a USB stick and perform upgrades to the system at home without the need to take your bike to an authorised Mahle shop.

Orbea and Mahle remain tight-lipped about the bike’s range because it’s so dependent on riding style, rider size and the topography where it’s being ridden.

However, because the X20 motor is much more efficient than the previous X35+ and because of its clever monitoring and matching of power, its range is claimed to be approximately 1.5 times that of the older model.

Orbea prefers to give range examples in terms of elevation rather than distance travelled. This makes sense because with the 15.5mph limit on a standard ride, you’ll be riding beyond the speed limit on the flat or descending. So, the system will only come into play on climbs.

Mahle, however, does give approximate examples. A 94kg rider riding on flatter roads using full assistance could expect around 136km with a total elevation of 2,050m. Or a 78kg rider on a hilly route could achieve around 78km with 1,678m of elevation.

The new Orbea Gain launches with six models – four road and two all-road options, equipped with SRAM XPLR 1x groupsets.

Prices start from €5,499 / $6,400 / £5,299, rising to €9,999 / $11,500 / £9,299.

Senior technical editor

Warren Rossiter is BikeRadar and Cycling Plus magazine’s senior technical editor for road and gravel. Having been testing bikes for more than 20 years, Warren has an encyclopedic knowledge of road cycling and has been the mastermind behind our Road Bike of the Year test for more than a decade. He’s also a regular presenter on the BikeRadar Podcast and on BikeRadar’s YouTube channel. In his time as a cycling journalist, Warren has written for Mountain Biking UK, What Mountain Bike, Urban Cyclist, Procycling, Cyclingnews, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike and T3. Over the years, Warren has written about thousands of bikes and tested more than 2,500 – from budget road bikes to five-figure superbikes. He has covered all the major innovations in cycling this century, and reported from launches, trade shows and industry events in Europe, Asia, Australia, North American and Africa. While Warren loves fast road bikes and the latest gravel bikes, he also believes electric bikes are the future of transport. You’ll regularly find him commuting on an ebike and he longs for the day when everyone else follows suit. You will find snaps of Warren’s daily rides on the Instagram account of our sister publication, Cycling Plus (@cyclingplus).

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