Steve has been aboard the Orbea Rallon X Team for a few weeks now and here’s a brief lowdown on the bike. Full write up in the mag this month so check it out if you haven’t already.
ORBEA RALLON X Team
What’s this then? Bike from the Basque country?
Bizkaia to be precise, in between Bilbao and San Sebastian.
Thought it was from Gipuzkoa?
That’s where it all began, the family run ‘Orbea Hermanos’ was involved in the weapons industry and tool making before they turned their hand to bikes.
Not seen many Orbea bikes in Dirt before..
They’ve not really made anything that’s our cup of tea to be honest, they have a strong history in road and cross country but they’ve produced a very good bike here.
So why is good then?
Great angles, good suspension design and superb dampers
But lots of bikes have those attributes…
Not with Shimano XTR, Mavic Crossmax, Race Face Next cranks and BOS front and rear they don’t.
Key features?
Quite like the adjustable geometry which takes about twenty seconds, oh and the super low -14mm bottom bracket drop which means it corners brilliantly. Mavic wheels always seem to roll quickly and the Race Face cranks are super stiff resulting in good power transfer.
Aluminium though?
That’s right, it has a good feel to it too.
One to consider if you’re after a 160mm enduro bike?
Absolutely, its definitely one of the top five.
Who’s the bloke in the shorts?
That’s Maurice “No Repairs” of Whitecliff Garage, Coleford. Got some nice stuff in at the minute.
The full write up is in this issue of the mag so if you haven’t already snapped one up then head to the shops or if you want to grab yourself a subscription and get it a couple of days early then check out the link to the subscription site right here.
More recent bikes to pass through the internet doors of Dirt Towers:
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