siciliano
New Member
I know there's several longer threads about the bike but I wanted to post my first impressions after my first ride today. I ordered the Rise M-Team medium (I'm 5'7") in the blue/gold from Bike Bling about 7-8 weeks ago. I called the owner beforehand and he actually told me the exact size and trim I wanted was about to head to their shop in San Diego within a week so I said sold...I received it the last week of March and got it put together by the only Orbea dealer LBS within 100 miles of me (Even though I live in the big city of Atlanta). I have been so busy with work that today is the first time I was able to ride it, even though the LBS put it together 3 weeks ago. I should preface this whole thing by explaining that A) I consider myself at best an intermediate rider and only got back into MTB'ing about a year ago when I bought a Marin Hawk Hill 3 but found it way more strenuous than I remembered it being 10-15 years ago, even though I am pretty fit and light (147 lbs) which led me to B) buy a 2021 Levo SL Expert 2.5 months ago. I rode the SL once on the same track I rode the Rise today and was annoyed by the loud motor noise when going uphill even in Eco mode, plus if I ever need to go into the top mode on very tough terrain I felt it wouldn't potentially be enough power. I was able to return it to the shop i bought it at minus 5% restocking fee.
The mods I have done or had the LBS done to the Rise are the following:
203mm/180mm Shimano Ice-Tek rotors
DHRII 2.4" and DHF 2.5"
Ergon GA3 grips (cut the handlebars down to 760mm as well)
OneUp oil slick aluminum pedals
changed out the crank arm bolts to Tbest GUB aluminum ones that lock the arms better in place (Bought from Amazon)
Garmin 530
With all these mods the bike weighed in at 41.8 lbs which was a little more than I was hoping for but is still good enough for me. I took the bike to a set of singletracks north of ATL about 40 minutes called Blankets Creek and rode the two intermediate level trails I like the best. I immediately felt like this bike had more "pop" and playfulness than the Levo SL and the suspension felt better as well even though both bikes had the Fox 36 and DPX2. It's also very clear that Eco mode in this bike (profile 1) is basically in between Eco and trail on the SL. I in total rode 10 miles today and I'd say 70% of that was in Eco, 25% in trail, 5% or less in Boost. The motor noise when going uphill is definitely less of a whine than the SL, although still audible. When going downhill the motor rattle is apparent but I care less about it than I thought I might. Also, people have said the SL feels more planted or "safe" on downhills but I found that not to be true at all. Again, I'm in between a novice and intermediate rider and not one time on some steep rocky downhills did I feel any less planted or comfortable on the Rise than the SL. Lastly, the battery is better than SL at least in an apples to apples comparison I would consider. I charged the bike to 100% over 3 weeks ago when I received it built from the LBS. When I turned the bike on today it was at 95% (I'm guessing these batteries lose charge little by little as they sit not charged). By the time I was done with my ride today I had 82% left. That's only 13% discharge and this was 9.5 miles with 900 ft of elevation gain. The Levo SL I lost 18% with the same miles and elevation. All in all, I'm super happy with this bike and the decision to switch from the Levo SL without even demoing the Rise. I have been concerned like many of you in here about bolts coming loose and such but before I rode today I had my LBS double check everything and install those Tbest Aluminum crank arm bolts. I hope to ride many other trails soon when time allows.
The mods I have done or had the LBS done to the Rise are the following:
203mm/180mm Shimano Ice-Tek rotors
DHRII 2.4" and DHF 2.5"
Ergon GA3 grips (cut the handlebars down to 760mm as well)
OneUp oil slick aluminum pedals
changed out the crank arm bolts to Tbest GUB aluminum ones that lock the arms better in place (Bought from Amazon)
Garmin 530
With all these mods the bike weighed in at 41.8 lbs which was a little more than I was hoping for but is still good enough for me. I took the bike to a set of singletracks north of ATL about 40 minutes called Blankets Creek and rode the two intermediate level trails I like the best. I immediately felt like this bike had more "pop" and playfulness than the Levo SL and the suspension felt better as well even though both bikes had the Fox 36 and DPX2. It's also very clear that Eco mode in this bike (profile 1) is basically in between Eco and trail on the SL. I in total rode 10 miles today and I'd say 70% of that was in Eco, 25% in trail, 5% or less in Boost. The motor noise when going uphill is definitely less of a whine than the SL, although still audible. When going downhill the motor rattle is apparent but I care less about it than I thought I might. Also, people have said the SL feels more planted or "safe" on downhills but I found that not to be true at all. Again, I'm in between a novice and intermediate rider and not one time on some steep rocky downhills did I feel any less planted or comfortable on the Rise than the SL. Lastly, the battery is better than SL at least in an apples to apples comparison I would consider. I charged the bike to 100% over 3 weeks ago when I received it built from the LBS. When I turned the bike on today it was at 95% (I'm guessing these batteries lose charge little by little as they sit not charged). By the time I was done with my ride today I had 82% left. That's only 13% discharge and this was 9.5 miles with 900 ft of elevation gain. The Levo SL I lost 18% with the same miles and elevation. All in all, I'm super happy with this bike and the decision to switch from the Levo SL without even demoing the Rise. I have been concerned like many of you in here about bolts coming loose and such but before I rode today I had my LBS double check everything and install those Tbest Aluminum crank arm bolts. I hope to ride many other trails soon when time allows.
