Gyre
Well-known member
I managed to hit up the Orbea demo day in San Clemente yesterday and tried out a 23 Wild and a (prior year) Carbon Rise.
IMHO the Wild really took a step in the right direction with weight, fit, and balance. At 175cm, last gen's S/M was too small and the large was roomy enough but a bit on the big side. This year's size M feels more compact and a better fit, even though the old size L and the new size M have the exact same reach/stack numbers on paper.
The new Wild definitely feels lighter and better balanced (the old one was rather nose heavy). The Bosch remote is finally reasonably svelte, and while the LED bar display is way behind the Specialized Mastermind, as long as it can broadcast bike data like battery/power/speed/cadence over ANT+/Bluetooth to a cyclecomputer head unit, then it's less of an issue.
The reps confirmed the port in the back of the downtube is meant for a range extender, but no details on price/capacity/compatibility are available, so your guess is as good as mine.
I've never messed with a bike with a cable-integrated headset, but according to the reps, the only time you'd need to disconnect the brakes and rebleed is when you're replacing the upper headset bearing. If that's true, then maybe it's easier to live with than I expected. I'm still skeptical about routing cables and hoses this way, but I'll leave some room for benefit of the doubt.
Overall, I think the Wild is much more "Levo-like" than the past iteration, and that's a good thing.
Finally, the Rise. I had really been intrigued by the Rise ever since I saw its clean and simple look at a dealer years ago, but never had the chance to try one. After my test ride, I'm really glad I didn't buy one, but I can see the appeal for the right kind of rider.
The Rise is stupid-light and spindly, and packs a punch in the motor that puts the Mahle in my KSL to shame. The demo bike had relatively skinny tires, and it was pretty sketchy at the edge of traction on the steeps of the local advanced lines. In Turbo mode, it did a very impressive job clawing up stuff even though the trails were thoroughly matted down with long-dead mustard bush.
The thing is, the Rise feels more like a pedal-assist Ibis Ripley instead of a lightweight Levo. That's just not my cup of tea personally. I like hardtails, XC bikes, and short travel trail bikes, but if I'm pulling the trigger on pedal assist I want more travel and more robust construction. To be fair, had the bike been available with a beefier fork and bigger tires, maybe I'd have a different opinion. Perhaps some day Orbea will take the 801 EP8 RS and came up with a long-travel rival to the KSL.
IMHO the Wild really took a step in the right direction with weight, fit, and balance. At 175cm, last gen's S/M was too small and the large was roomy enough but a bit on the big side. This year's size M feels more compact and a better fit, even though the old size L and the new size M have the exact same reach/stack numbers on paper.
The new Wild definitely feels lighter and better balanced (the old one was rather nose heavy). The Bosch remote is finally reasonably svelte, and while the LED bar display is way behind the Specialized Mastermind, as long as it can broadcast bike data like battery/power/speed/cadence over ANT+/Bluetooth to a cyclecomputer head unit, then it's less of an issue.
The reps confirmed the port in the back of the downtube is meant for a range extender, but no details on price/capacity/compatibility are available, so your guess is as good as mine.
I've never messed with a bike with a cable-integrated headset, but according to the reps, the only time you'd need to disconnect the brakes and rebleed is when you're replacing the upper headset bearing. If that's true, then maybe it's easier to live with than I expected. I'm still skeptical about routing cables and hoses this way, but I'll leave some room for benefit of the doubt.
Overall, I think the Wild is much more "Levo-like" than the past iteration, and that's a good thing.
Finally, the Rise. I had really been intrigued by the Rise ever since I saw its clean and simple look at a dealer years ago, but never had the chance to try one. After my test ride, I'm really glad I didn't buy one, but I can see the appeal for the right kind of rider.
The Rise is stupid-light and spindly, and packs a punch in the motor that puts the Mahle in my KSL to shame. The demo bike had relatively skinny tires, and it was pretty sketchy at the edge of traction on the steeps of the local advanced lines. In Turbo mode, it did a very impressive job clawing up stuff even though the trails were thoroughly matted down with long-dead mustard bush.
The thing is, the Rise feels more like a pedal-assist Ibis Ripley instead of a lightweight Levo. That's just not my cup of tea personally. I like hardtails, XC bikes, and short travel trail bikes, but if I'm pulling the trigger on pedal assist I want more travel and more robust construction. To be fair, had the bike been available with a beefier fork and bigger tires, maybe I'd have a different opinion. Perhaps some day Orbea will take the 801 EP8 RS and came up with a long-travel rival to the KSL.