Orbea Rallon Review // Fast and Floaty

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The Best day is new bike day! 

Finally, we get to dive into the Orbea Rallon you guys have been asking me to try out for years! It took a while to secure one because they’ve been selling too fast for media folks like us to get a loaner from the company.

Jenson USA is a big partner of the channel and sponsored the Orbea Rallon video, you can thank them for making this happen! Jenson is a leading online retailer but they’re also a retailer in the United States of America for Orbea, getting an Orbea is as easy as heading over to the Jenson USA website, they’ve got a ton of Rallon’s in stock and ready to ride. When you get a complete bike from Jenson USA it doesn’t show in a million pieces, it shows up in a Jenson USA box and it’s a super easy process to get it ready to ride. Usually, you just put on the handlebars and the front wheel and you’re dialed! Anything you purchase at Jenson using any of the links on this post directly helps support the channel, it’s a really big part of how we can make all these videos happen so thanks to all of you for your support thanks to Jenson USA for sponsoring this review!

Getting the bike together was quick and painless, being a good mountain biker using proper torque on the stem and wheel thanks to the Park Tool torque wrench. The overall build spec on this model left little to be desired. Jeff has some distinct preferences when it comes to parts but overall the build kit was spot on. He opted to update the rear hubs ratchet assembly to get a little more engagement as well as a dropper post that offered more drop to get the saddle out of the way when things got airborne. The goal was to ride the bike as Orbea designed it before going all crazy with parts swapping.

The only thing from the beginning that was in need of immediate attention was the Exo+ tires. These had to go. As an aggressive rider who needs side wall support, Jeff always opts for the Double Down casing when running Maxxis tires. Lighter less aggressive riders may not have the same issues, just something to note! After a few rides, he swapped the stock wheelset for a trusty pair of Industry Nine wheels. The stiffness and support through corners with these are a big change over the stock wheelset. Not to mention that oh-so-sweet classic I9 buzz! 

The Rallon lands in with 160mm rear travel and 170mm up front with an aggressive 64º headtube angle. For a medium frame, the reach is pretty lengthy at 460mm, which is quite a departure from the short travel Occam and Rise previously tested from Orbea. For reference Jeff is 5’ 8” tall, this is a size medium bike nearly everything tested here on the channel is a size medium.

Time to set up the bike in the best way possible to get the most out of this new frame. The bars were chopped down to 760mm to avoid any tree and finger interactions! The stock dropper had to go in favor of a 200mm dropper post that would allow the saddle to get clear and out of the way when things get rowdy. 

We started with 180 PSI in the rear shock adding no additional volume reducers, 78psi in the fork. The Rallon has a really really cool suspension feel, you don’t notice the ample suspension travel at first, it hides that well! The Rallon feels like a trail bike on smoother bits of trail and jumps especially well on man-made lippy jumps but also on the classic bike park style jumps with a more mellow lip profile. The suspension provides enough support through the spring alone that it pops, we are not talking a little pop, more like a cricket who happened to fall into an open can of Red Bull and then avoids drowning by simply drinking the entire thing and then hopping out!

With the first shock set up the playful and poppy nature was hindered by harsh bottom outs, since then we went and added a bigger volume reducer, an increase of .2. During this time we learned our original shock pressure may have been lessened due to an old pump. The pressure was thought to be at 180 psi but in checking it was only set to 160 psi. We bumped the pressure back up to 185 psi which made an immediate difference in how the bike felt, in the best way possible. After a few rides with this setup an additional 2 tokens were added to the fork with the pressure being unchanged. Snag some volume reducers for your own experimentation HERE! 

The Rallon does what a trail bike does it floats along single track amplifying rider inputs rather than hiding them beneath a weighted blanket that’s fresh out of the washer, but a bit like Roosevelt advised the Rallon has that big stick that’ll get you out of whatever danger situation you might have encouraged yourself to enter. When it gets into proper Enduro territory the frame and suspension are at home.

One of the issues we ran into with the stock stem was that it was consistently coming loose, even when torqued to spec. Looking into this further there was still a 3 or 4 millimeters of space from the steer to the top of the stem. Noticing they have these spacers with little spikes and notches in them instead of regular spacers. With those replaced with your standard spacer, we cleaned up the steer tube and added some carbon gripper paste. Problem solved!

Some folks love in-frame storage, but Jeff certainly would not make a decision to buy a bike based solely around that, for one, not all in-frame storage is created equal The Rallon has a small trap door that’s barely large enough for a multi-tool and plug kit. It was so tight it needed a series of Russian nesting doll bags to fit everything in there! It is better than not having it but it’s no game changer like some folks say. 

Memories of the Rallon are enjoying the trails and trying lines I’d only dreamed of previously, rock rolls were rolled, boulders were doubled and trails were well manualed. To some of its rivals, while it looks more like the Specialized Stumpjumper, Jeff felt the Rallon slots more in between the Ibis Ripmo and Pivot Firebird. The Rallon pedals much better than the Stumpjumper and holds speed better through the rough stuff. It also likes to ride a bit higher in its travel than the Stumpy does, which is a cool trait. The Rallon feels at its best with a little quicker rebound and a mix of nimble supportive suspension with a safety net for when things get wilder than a bear that’s high on its own Supply. The Pivot Firebird felt bigger and more stable, though the shorter rear end left some balance still on the table which is odd as the suspension was a tad more reliable but the short back end was a little bit skittish. This is great on slower trails but the Firebird in general did feel bigger than the Rallon. Jeff liked both but for mellow terrain, however, the Rallon is more well-rounded as a race bike. We could see folks with good technical backgrounds preferring the Rallon but folks who want the bike to ride tighter slower trails take to the Firebird. The Rallon rides more confidently in the rough than the Ripmo, and the extra travel is nice. But for more average trails the Ripmo does a great job with its 13 millimeters less traveled traction. The Ripmo similarly holds its speed given it’s a shorter travel frame, it’s even more fun on the mellower stuff than the Rallon is. That said between the two bikes, oh man it’s almost a toss-up.

To learn more about the Stumpjumper Evo, Ibis Ripmo and Pivot Firebird check out these other review videos we did!

The Yeti SB160 is one absolutely badass bike and Jeff spent a day in Whistler Bike Park going back and forth between these two bikes. It was an incredibly fun fun comparison, here is a link to that video! 

Orbea did something really cool with this bike, and Jeff really enjoyed his time on it. The Orbea Rallon is the bike you were talking about most in the comments for the last couple years and you guys were not wrong it is a really fun all-around bike it’s almost like a big brother to the Ripmo so we were stoked to check it out!

Again, big thanks to Orbea for trusting us with the loner bike, and huge thanks to Jenson USA for sponsoring this and making it all possible. I couldn’t be here right now without not only you guys and your support but also Jenson.

If you want to learn more about the Rallon follow THIS link, it has all the pricing, geometry, build kit specs and all that is through Jenson USA. If you click over there anything you purchase will also help support the channel, BIG thanks in advance! Not to mention all of you for being here, again it would not be possible without you shredders! 

Orbea Rallon Size Guide

Orbea Rallon Geometry Chart

ORBEA RALLON M20 Build Specifications