# Orbea Rise owners



## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

I am considering a rise. I like the assist philosophy but one concern is that Orbea and reviewers talk about assist only kicking in at 75-90 cadence. I tend to be a masher with higher gears and lower cadence. So can any owners confirm that the rise is setup for spinners not mashers. Will that configuration of the EP8RS not make it a good choice for me?

Thanks


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## minimusprime (May 26, 2009)

I've got a rise, as does my wife. IMO the ep8rs doesn't ride appreciably differently then the standard ep8. The firmware that makes it an ep8rs, does indeed still apply power up to 90 where it starts to trail off, where as the ep8 feels like it starts to trail off at 75-80. That being said, all of the current crop of ebikes, really want to be in that 60-80 range optimally. Due to the nature of 3 phase motors, the way you get them to put out the most power (consume the most amps from the battery) is with a lower cadence. For example, on the ep8rs, you can run the orbea rstoolbox garmin data field so you can log what the motor is doing... Generally, at a higher cadence, the motor is only going to put out 60% or so assist (assist % meaning torque) while climbing. Where as, if I put it in boost, and soft pedal at a softer cadence, I'll see that number go into the 80-90% range. 

I digress, don't let the ep8rs marketing and whatnot put you off. It still rides like a current generation ebike from a higher level. From a lower, more nuanced perspective, it is slightly different in where the power comes on and where it tapers off... but we're talking a slight difference here and it's not really beneficial or a detriment over a standard ep8.


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## JKA (Jul 26, 2006)

I've had a Rise for 18 months and for me it's awesome. The assist doesn't "kick it" at 75-90 cadence, but that's the most efficient cadence for the motor. That's also the best way to have the greatest longevity of your drivetrain and less stress on the motor. If you want a bike the puts out tons of power with little effort from you, the Rise is not that bike. I have to put in at least some effort to get *max* assist. If it's in boost mode, I get tons of assist, but it also drains the battery much faster. I ride mine mostly in eco and trail modes and it's plenty of assist for me.


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

I am all in for the RS philosophy. MTB first eMTB second but I am confused. Many reviews have stated that the assist does not kick-in much at all UNLESS you are pedaling 75-90 cadence. I just need assist on steep grades and on those I am pedaling slowly. I am also concerned because I can't spin a high cadence if I don't have low gears and that requires small chainrings which are not available for the Shimano EP8. I standardized my bikes on sram 10s, so I can only do a 10-42 that the GX can handle. I will never give up my gripshift and I will not use any thinner drivertrain than 10s. That requires a small chainring which I can do with other motors but not the EP8. I have broken 10s chains so I am not going any thinner.
My Fattilac is about 34lbs so the rise is only going to be a few pounds heavier. I am hoping I can ride the rise turned off and only turn it on when my knees start to hurt.


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## Jipman (12 mo ago)

I don't have the rise, are they restricting motor control? I have ep8 in mondraker and I can set the motor on my phone to put in raw power while mashing the pedals at ridiculously low cadence on boost or apply it at a higher normal cadence or even put in almost no power on eco mode. You might want to test ride a mondraker with ep8


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

The Orbea EP8RS is maximized for distance. It is locked to 65nm. I am fine with that. Same motor but different firmware. The mondraker are heavier than Orbea.


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## Jipman (12 mo ago)

I remember now, the rise is the super light bike I was reading about....I was thinking that would be a sweet bike because the mondraker is heavy with a torque of 85nm and something like 52 lbs - feels light as a feather to me, but I also ride a stupid heavy adventure bike offroad so that's my benchmark. So why not consider a heavier bike that has full control of the motor, you can tune it perfectly to ride leisurly or ride to your heart rate and get a killer workout on lower power, whatever you want to do at whatever cadence and you can go a really long way on low power. I admit it is harder to manual and way harder to bunny hop a decent height, but it feels just as good as anything otherwise...just my opinion to help with what you are looking for on lower cadence power.


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

To me the weight is the key. Not as fun to muscle around a beast. The rise in it's lightest config is 16kg vs Mondraker appears 22.2kg which is a big difference. I don't need much assist. I would rather have a eMTB that feels like a MTB. Lower weight is always more fun


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## JKA (Jul 26, 2006)

The Rise is very light compared to other emtbs, but to get it down to 16 Kg would be a stretch. That would depend on frame size and components. The top of the line Rise M-LTD in a large frame has been reported by real owners to be about 16.5 Kg, but that's with the horrible thin foam grips and superlight and super hard/uncomfortable saddle and no pedals. A reasonable weight expectation is probably about 17 Kg. My M10 stone stock without pedals sits right at 18.3 Kg. It definitely is a bike you can ride a lot of the time without any assist if you really want to. I can verify that mine DOES kick in assist at slower cadence than 75. It's not max assist, but it's there and definitely helps. I normally ride at about 70-90 cadence and it is great.


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

JKA, that is a big help. Thank you.
Now the big choice is the H with a 540 native battery and half the price or the lighter carbon with the smaller battery. 
I can't image they would not soon bring out a M series with the 540.


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## Tickle (Dec 11, 2013)

I'm more a masher myself it's fine, I think it's restricted to 60nm to conserve on battery, the cadence is more of an efficiency thing to conserve on battery as well I imagine


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

Yes in thinking about it the RS version of the EP8 sounds like it just has a clamp on the max torque so I am not sure why some reviewers are claiming that you have to pedal at 75-90 rpm to get any assist. Certainly the motor is going to have a native rpm and it will have maximum power transfer if you pedal at the same speed. I can see it might not be as efficient at different rpm but not that they reduce the assist if the rpm is below 75.
Trouble is trying to find a shop that actually has a demo these days with the supply chain problems. It appears a lot of people are waiting months to get one and some are geting them by ordering sight unseen where ever they can find one. I am not charged about giving a shop that much money in advance and have to wait until they can supply one at some undetermined date.Edit


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## Jipman (12 mo ago)

There are a few at my local store and I picked one up today and wow is it light. It's no joke on weight


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## Jipman (12 mo ago)

Jipman said:


> There are a few at my local store and I picked one up today and wow is it light. It's no joke on weight


Sorry I meant to say I lifted it, I did not buy it


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## BmanInTheD (Sep 19, 2014)

I bought a Medium Rise M-LTD. Originally it was 36.5# w/o pedals. By the time I put on a Fox 36 at 150mm, ENVE 630 wheels (replaced the 25mm stock wheels), decent tires for the application (DHF/Dissector), favorite Fabric Scoop saddle, pedals (light Candy 11's), and decent grips it was 40 pounds. The LTD was built as light as could be to compete with the Levo SL. At 40 pounds, it still rides much better than a typical 50+ pound beast with 85nm motor. And with the extra battery that fits in a bottle cage, you get plenty of range for pretty much anything. Even w/o the extra battery, I can get 3+ hours at medium power setting.


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## beholdtheflesh (Jul 4, 2021)

mike_kelly said:


> I am considering a rise. I like the assist philosophy but one concern is that Orbea and reviewers talk about assist only kicking in at 75-90 cadence. I tend to be a masher with higher gears and lower cadence. So can any owners confirm that the rise is setup for spinners not mashers. Will that configuration of the EP8RS not make it a good choice for me?
> 
> Thanks


I have an H15, I changed it to profile 2 (which you must do if you want boost mode to give you it's maximum 60nm power - profile 1 boost mode only goes to 47nm). I did _not_ adjust the other sliders for assist character (it stays somewhere in the middle) keeping those at the stock profile 2 settings.

I climb and pedal at various different cadences, and never worry about it. I almost always use boost mode to climb as fast as possible. The motor absolutely gives you plenty of power at lower cadences and higher gears. However there is a sweet spot for cadence to get maximum power, and you can feel it pretty easily once you get acclimated to the bike. I can pretty much feel the proper gear and cadence I need for a particular climb section intuitively at this point. 

Keep in mind I've never ridden a full-power EP8 bike so I don't have anything to compare it to. I can only say the rise feels pretty "natural" and has a smooth uptick in power until you get to the sweet spot.


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

That natural feel is an attractive feature to me. Thanks for the review.


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## The Squeaky Wheel (Dec 30, 2003)

BmanInTheD said:


> I bought a Medium Rise M-LTD. Originally it was 36.5# w/o pedals. By the time I put on a Fox 36 at 150mm, ENVE 630 wheels (replaced the 25mm stock wheels), decent tires for the application (DHF/Dissector), favorite Fabric Scoop saddle, pedals (light Candy 11's), and decent grips it was 40 pounds. The LTD was built as light as could be to compete with the Levo SL. At 40 pounds, it still rides much better than a typical 50+ pound beast with 85nm motor. And with the extra battery that fits in a bottle cage, you get plenty of range for pretty much anything. Even w/o the extra battery, I can get 3+ hours at medium power setting.


You sound like me 
My M Rise m20 with pedals, is 42 lbs on the nose following a few minor customizations.
It really rides like a regular bike, as opposed to my 53 lb YT Decoy.

The motor and battery power and life on the Rise are superb. I'm debating ordering a battery extender, but not sure it's needed for how I ride. After 2.5 hrs on mostly Trail setting, mixed with a bit of ECO and boost, I'm still around 45% battery per my Garmin


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## LPOk (10 mo ago)

mike_kelly said:


> That natural feel is an attractive feature to me. Thanks for the review.


I demoed a Rise H30 at San Diego FlyRides. It definitely offered assist, as others have mentioned, at low cadence and big gearing. I also demoed a Mondraker Crafty full power bike. It must have been 12 lbs or so heavier than the Rise and you could definitely feel it. It was absolutely bomber downhill, super smooth and planted, loved going fast. But, clearly not as playful as the Rise. The full power motor actually seemed like too much in turbo mode. The Rise seemed just about right for steep climbs in turbo mode.

I just ordered an H15 with the optional M8120 brakes, larger front rotor and 170 dropper. I decided to go with the H model for the extra battery capacity. I am on the clydesdale side and will be using all of that assist....


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

LPOk said:


> I demoed a Rise H30 at San Diego FlyRides. It definitely offered assist, as others have mentioned, at low cadence and big gearing. I also demoed a Mondraker Crafty full power bike. It must have been 12 lbs or so heavier than the Rise and you could definitely feel it. It was absolutely bomber downhill, super smooth and planted, loved going fast. But, clearly not as playful as the Rise. The full power motor actually seemed like too much in turbo mode. The Rise seemed just about right for steep climbs in turbo mode.
> 
> I just ordered an H15 with the optional M8120 brakes, larger front rotor and 170 dropper. I decided to go with the H model for the extra battery capacity. I am on the clydesdale side and will be using all of that assist....


Thanks for your comment. Did they give you any delivery time?


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## LPOk (10 mo ago)

mike_kelly said:


> Thanks for your comment. Did they give you any delivery time?


Yes. I ordered on the Orbea website after talking with a number of shops about bikes they had in stock or on order. None had the setup I wanted, and one shop was even adding a $200 markup to the MSRP. I decided to try and order on the website. The ordering process requires you to select a dealer/shop that has an incoming delivery of the size and model bike you want. I selected a shop that had a bike due to arrive this week, and then went and selected the options. I placed the order (this past weekend) and when I have checked Orbea website this week, it shows the order confirmed and an estimated ship date of July 5th. I called customer service to confirm. I was told it is possible that the date will change, as they do weekly updates to inventory, etc..


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

I called the only shop within 200 miles because Orbea's site said they had one coming in June 24-27, but the shop looked up their data and it said the bike was on a boat. So the website might be optimistic on deliveries I am afraid.


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## LPOk (10 mo ago)

Quite possible. I will check on Friday and provide an update...


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## mike_kelly (Jul 18, 2016)

Anybody know if the Shimano Ep8 chainrings are compatible with other Shimano direct mount chainrings or are they unique to the EP8 (AND eP8000?)
Thanks


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## LPOk (10 mo ago)

An update on my order - just got shipping confirmation today. The shipping estimate was July 5th for an order I placed on June 25th. Should arrive at the shop in 5-7 business days.


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