27.5, 650B, All Mountain, Enduro, Orbea, Rallon - January 30, 2014

First Look: Orbea Rallon Breaks Away with 160mm of Tuned BOS Suspension

Orbea enters the All Mountain arena with a world-class frame design and components that stand out from the crowd.

Update by Gregg Kato

We have a new video of Orbea’s Creative Director Jordan Hukee showing us some of the highlights of the Orbea Rallon from Winter Press Camp. Mtbr.com has been riding this bike for a little while now and several of our test riders have commented about how impressive the downhill prowess of this bike is. The BOS suspension may not be well known here in the US, but if our initial ride impressions are any indication, they will not remain in the shadows for long. Stay tuned for the full ride review in our Enduro Compare-O coming soon. And if you are wondering about the pronunciation of the name, it is “ray-own”, Rallon is a National Park in Spain well known for killer trails.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY6SLVMGh0E

Original Introduction by Francis

Orbea has been threatening to become a force in Trail and All Mountain bikes. This Spanish company developed their own lab to design and test suspension kinematics. They worked with racers and suspension tuners to create a legitimate All Mountain bike. But it never quite came together.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtLr65qxu7s

Video: This video from Orbea shows the rock-eating downhill capabilities of the bike. But it’s not afraid of climbing to the top as well.

Until now that is. The Orbea Rallon has a story to tell and we are one of the first in the US to see it. What they’ve created is a sub-30 lb. downhill bike that can climb. This bike has short 420mm chainstays and a slack 66 degree head angle. The bottom bracket height is a low at 338mm matched with 170mm cranks to minimize pedal strikes.

Shock Mount slackens the head angle and drops the BB height.

But then they made it configurable with a frame shock mount ‘chip’ that sets the front position of the shock mount. This can slacken/steepen the head angle by half a degree and lower/raise the BB height by 7mm and change the seat angle too. Measurements quoted here are the low and slack position.

Top tube is long at 23.85 for a medium size and is ready for those stubby stems and wide handlebars. This coupled with the very short stays creates a quick yet stable wheelbase.

Other details include a concentric suspension pivot on the dropouts to maximize rear axle stiffness, while isolating braking forces away from the rear suspension action.

A steep seat angle of 74.5 is designed to give this bike excellent climbing abilities with the rider nicely positioned for pedaling. And since a dropper post is standard on this bike, the descending position is not hampered by the steep seat angle.

Orbea Rallon with BOS Kirk Rear Shock.

Suspension

A big part of the package is Orbea’s selection of BOS for suspension. BOS is a new name in the US market, but the French company has made waves in Europe and we are delighted to see them as OEM spec on a big brand bike. They are known for stiffness, plushness and tuneability. The front fork, the BOS Deville, is stout and is very stiff with its massive chassis. It even uses 20mm axles and is the first bike we’ve seen in a while that doesn’t use the popular 15mm front axle.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyBMslXmLLw

Video: Art’s Cyclery talks about the merits of the BOS Deville fork.

The rear shock is the BOS Kirk and it has three tuning knobs plus a platform switch. A BOS engineering office is a few miles away from the Orbea headquarters, so the two companies have collaborated in depth to develop a shock tune ideal for the Rallon.

The Other Pieces to the Orbea Rallon Recipe are Quite Unique

Mavic Crossmax Enduro wheels and tires – Although hard to color match, these are some of the best wheels we’ve seen of late. The front rim is wide and the rear is narrower to round out the tire better. They come with matching, optimized Mavic tires that have ample grip in the front and speed and maneuverability in the rear. Tire widths, patterns and compounds are different front to rear to optimize for the different priorities of the front and rear.

Orbea Rallon with Mavic Crossmax Enduro Wheels.

Raceface stem, bar and grips are some of the best of breed and the Rallon specs the proper lengths and widths for the Rallon.
And finally, even the OEM saddle, the Fizik Gobi is one of the best around and is well suited for the All Mountain duties of this bike.