Orbea Rallon X30 Review
The long and anticipated Orbea Rallon has arrived at D&D Cycles and excited is an understatement to what we felt when the bike arrived.

We decided to go for the Rallon X30 basic model with upgrade to Shimano SLX brakes and Rockshox Reverb due to this bike being one of our Demo bikes available to customers to try. It is also going to be used for ourselves so we can get a real feel for the bike and let our customers know the pros and cons of the Orbea Rallon.

We were eager to get out on the Orbea Rallon considering the hype around this bike in the reviews from all the different bike magazines and forums. Dan got to take it out on the first ride (our Thursday XC rides from the shop) to get to grips with how it handles with the 27.5” wheels and 160mm travel. First impressions when I slung a leg over the bike was that straight away the cockpit was comfortable with the stock Raceface Evolve handlebar and Ride stem and surprisingly the reach wasn’t a problem, where in recent reviews they opted for a shorter stem.

We gave it a good go on some XC routes locally and it was a great laugh and pedalled extremely well considering most of the reviews stated it was only ‘OK’ on uphills. Even outdid a chap on a Specialized carbon 29er, was rather happy about that!! The pedal bob kept to a real minimum with the use of the Fox CTD on the rear shock and it certainly didn’t feel like I was pulling a 33lb bike up the hill.

Now for the real test on how it descends. Taking a trip up to the Surrey hills, Peaslake where the trails are steep, rough and perfect for a 160mm travel Enduro bike with plenty of trails to choose from. Spending the majority of the day there as I was grinning from ear to ear as I got a real idea for how the Rallon rode, hitting doubles that I haven’t even hit before due to it being so stable, playful and confidence inspiring. The stability of the bike at speed was impressive thanks to the longer wheel base, larger wheel size and it still managed to be nimble with a short rear end at 420mm. No idea how they managed to get a 420mm chainstay with a 27.5 wheel but it works a treat!

A couple of things we didn’t quite like on the Orbea Rallon X30 was the QR rear axle which only a couple of times I could feel it wasn’t as stiff compared to a 12mm bolt through but can be upgraded to a 142 x 12mm axle which Is worth the upgrade. One other thing we was a little surprised at was that it come with an unsealed headset but again can be easily changed with sealed headsets retailing from £30 upwards.

A quote from a customer we sold a Rallon frame to a couple of weeks back this is what he had to say…

“Had 4 Rides now and it is simply awesome. So sweet on the descents, the BOS shock is utterly brilliant. This bike is already becoming a game changer for me, only problem is I am over jumping gaps and overshooting drops with the shear speed it carries!” Tags: Orbea, Rallon, review, X30