Orbea’s race-winning, and vastly overhauled Rallon is a bike that turned heads upon its release. Built to accommodate extra weights bolted above its bottom bracket, and available in enduro and downhill specifications, it’s a gravity specialist… but now, the brand has slung a motor onto it and dubbed the bike the Rallon RS.
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Orbea reckons that its new e-MTB “marks a bold new direction for the industry”, which is a mighty bold claim, but it does take the whole e-mountain bike stance a little differently. Built with TQ’s HPR40 motor, the Rallon RS has been crafted to be lightweight, but rather than throw all of the power at it, the 40Nm and 200W of peak assistance is shaped to improve the pedalling of this long travel machine. That motor is them complimented with a 290Wh battery that promises between 1,200 and 1,800 metres of climbing.
But that’s not really where the Rallon RS gets all space-agey. Instead, the bike takes full advantage of the connectivity between Fox’s Live Valve eNEO protocol, the MC10-RS dropper post, and the TQ motor, giving the bike some pretty interesting features.
Orbea says that the suspension is “informed by motor data”. That means that the shock can register data such as cadence, rider power, motor output, and bike speed sent via the motor. Then a bunch of algorithms get to work to make the suspension more predictable and responsive.
Then the dropper post comes into play, working almost like an automatic lockout. When dropped, the shock will stay open for downhill performance. Additionally, the system can pick up when the bike is going downhill, and the motor can adjust its assistance automatically for better descending performance. Fancy.
Much like the regular Rallon, the Rallon RS boasts a bunch of adjustments. The dedicated linkage allows for the use of a 29in, or 650b rear wheel without affecting the geometry, and there’s a flip chip that drops the bottom bracket by 8mm, and slackens the head angle by half a degree. There’s then a headset adjustment that offers +/- 0.75 degrees of further head angle adjustment.
Though perhaps the most interesting facet of Orbea’s latest release is that it looks like the technology won’t be Orbea-specific. In the brand’s press release, it suggests “collaboration between brands,” which means we might see similar technologies found on future e-mountain bikes from other companies.
There are three models up for grabs, all with Fox Factory suspension with Live Valve-equipped shocks. The Rallon RS-Team and Rallon/M RS-Team boast Shimano XT Di2 shifting and XT brakes, while the Rallon /M RS-LTD ups the game with Shimano’s XTR Di2 setup.
Finally, the price (brace yourselves, it’s not cheap)… you’ll need at least £9,500, and the top-end model is priced at a whopping £13,000.
