Review of the Orbea Rise Hydro H30

Orbea’s origins go all the way back to 1840 when the company started as a gun and ammo manufacturer. Fast forward to 1930 when Orbea went from warfare to the light hearted world of bicycles. As the company grew they have taken the biking world by storm and with the new release of their Hydro series are showing why they are one of the best in the industry.

Starting off of course with that Shimano EP 8 RS motor. This motor is incredible. It's got 60 nm of torque, 250 watts nominal. It offers almost everything that Shimano EP 8 offers. That natural feel you get when you're riding one of these motors is represented by that RS and stands for "Rider Synergy" and describes that warm, tingly feeling when you're getting smooth support from your eMTB. This bike is made for being more cross country, all mountain style. It is absolutely easy to turn and easy to lean. You can even throw that back wheel around if you want to get around a real tight turn because of the lightness.I'll tell you what though, if you're coming from a motocross background and you like the power, the speed, the weight, then a full powered eMTB is what you're going to need. What I'm really surprised about actually is after a full day of riding, I'm one bar down. I was expecting to get 3, maybe 4 hours out of this, but it seems like I could go 6, 7 almost.

The Shimano EP8 RS (60 nm of torque, 250w) that partners with a 540 watt hour battery which is massive for a lightweight eMTB. But if you're not convinced by the 540 watt hour battery, you can add a 252 watt hour range extender. You always want to see a wide gear ratio and a solid derailleur on these bikes that are going to be a little less powerful like these lightweight bikes. And you are set up with an excellent derailleur. It's a Shimano SLX M7100 Shadow Plus 12-speed drivetrain on a 10-51 tooth cassette. You get your groupset rounded out by Shimano as well. It's going to be hydraulic disc brakes on 180mm rotors front and rear. It's got 140 mm of travel and your fork is going to be a Bomber Z2 and the rear shock is going to be a Fox Float Performance DPS. That cross country, all mountain status is confirmed further by a head tube angle of 65.5 degrees and a seat tube angle of 76.5.

I don't feel like I need a bike that's more powerful, and I definitely don't need crazy specs. I just don't ride that hard. For the fast, flowing singletrack that I like to do, there's no doubt that the H30 performs very well, and I never had any issues climbing up hills or running out of battery just with that 540 watt hours. You also can't ignore how good this bike looks in person. It's incredibly sleek and low profile. You can tell Orbea's done a lot of work, for instance on the welding to keep this aluminum frame lasting longer. It's just a really beautifully designed bike. I really fell in love with that Shimano EP 8 RS Motor of the last couple days. I think Orbea and Shimano really did a great job of designing a motor that is so good for the specific bikes they're used on. It's pretty rare that you get a motor that is so tuned to a specific bike, but that is definitely one of the advantages of going with the Orbea Rise series, is that Shimano EP 8 RS motor. If you ride a bit harder and hit jumps above 3 ft consistently you may want to look into a full powered ebike built with longer travel.