Friday, 26 November 2021

Looks so good I don't want to take her out and get her dirty!

 Sometime in August of this year I made a post about waiting long enough to first decide if I really needed another bike and then if I could warrant spending more money on one. 

Orbea Gain M20
Orbea Gain, now a M20 1x

I had thinned my fleet of bicycles down from 10 to 6, so figured one more couldn't hurt. I had had my eye on this particular bike for some time, an Orbea Gain  M20 1X gravel bike, which is an eBike, however the bikes always appeared impossible to get a hold of.

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
Bike comes with its own lights

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
Easy to use iwoc button to operate bike

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
I would have preferred a bar mounted power button, but sure I will get used to this frame mounted version.

Originally, I had set my heart on a stealthy looking grey coloured version, but like I say no matter where I looked online there were non to be had in my size, which for me is a size Large. I then saw Leisure Lakes Bikes had an Ice Green size Large M20 for sale, so smashed open my piggy bank and pretty much without a second thought put a deposit down on the bike and sorted out the finance for the remainder.

Leisure Lakes Bikes then organised to get the bike to me via a courier, and the bike arrived on the 19th August.

I have to say the box which the bike came in was absolutely "Humongous", however it was also the best packaged bicycle I have ever received. All I had to do once removed from the box and all the protective packaging was fasten the handlebars in place.

I then stood back to admire my new ride, she sure did look better than the pictures online and the design is beautiful. The bike having internal cable routing and this being the carbon frame model. Other than the weight due to the batteries you can hardly tell it is an eBike. The bike having a MAHLE ebikemotion X35+ hub motor. I wanted something simple, so opted for the 1 x 11 drive train.

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
eBikemotion X35+ Rear Hub
 

After checking the bike over, my dad asked should he get rid of the huge box, saying he would have to cut it in half to get it in his car to take to the tip. I figured we wouldn't be needing it, so made one final check to make sure nothing was left in the box, then gave him the go ahead.

My next though was to use the QR code on my bike and go online and register the bike. I got all the way to the end completing the relevant information for the warranty, when I happened to notice, just by chance, a message congratulating me as I recall on registering my new Orbea Gain M30. Hold on a minute, did you almost miss it too? M30 I thought I am sure I ordered an M20. I then had that sinking feeling.

I immediately went downstairs to my new bike and started checking her out for signs of different components to verify what model I had. I also asked my dad to bring up on his computer what the difference was in the two models, so that I could do a quick comparison check.

I discovered some tiny writing on the back of the brake calipers so used my camera on my phone to take a picture and sure enough it said Shimano RX 400. Oh dear, not good. Upon further inspection, it became clear that I had the wrong model bike.

 

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
New Shifters RX-810's with a dropper lever on Left Lever

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
New RX-810 Calipers

By this time it was about 16:45 pm. I rang Leisure Lakes Bikes and fortunately got to speak to one of their supervisors. He explained that he was off the following day, but that he would pass the information over to someone to follow up with the next day.

I wasn't really hopeful that anyone would contact me the next day, as many of you will no doubt have had the same experience when buying stuff, it generally takes a few calls to get anything done. So imagine my surprise when a very friendly chap called Jack got in touch and explained the situation.

Apparently the bike I received had been at a different Leisure Lakes Bikes store and had been mistakenly put in stock as an M20 size Large. Jack had contacted Orbea, and they had informed him that there had never been an M20 delivered to Leisure Lakes Bikes. Well, that solved that mystery.

Jack then offered me a few options, with no pressure.

1. return the bike and get a full refund of my deposit, saying he would ship a new box up and all costs would be paid for by Leisure Lakes Bikes.

2. Keep the cheaper model bike and have the difference refunded.

3. Keep the bike and Leisure Lakes Bikes would get in all the components required to upgrade my bike to the M20 model I wanted at no further cost to myself.

I explained to Jack option 3 sounded good, as the reason I wanted the
Shimano ST-RX810 shifters was that they are dropper seat post compatible.

Jack then said to leave it with him, and he would see if a dropper post could be retro fitted. Something Orbea informed me couldn't be done due to the battery pack. Oh! And I also asked Jack could he have my bike wrapped.

A few days later Jack got back in touch saying yes he thought a dropper post could be fitted, however the other components would take a little while to come into stock, asking did I mind waiting. I thought I had waited this long, what was a few more weeks/months.

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
Mahle mini computer that came with the Orbea

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
X-Fusion Manic Dropper post successfully installed and working a treat

And so last Saturday the 13th November, my dad and I went down to Leisure Lakes Bikes at their Leeds shop and picked up my new ride. She is completely upgraded to an M20, with an X-Fusion manic 27.2 dropper post, activated from the Left shifter, and she has been wrapped to protect here and looks superb. I have some TIME ATAC XC pedals to fit. I know they are more Mtb orientated, it's just I hate wearing road shoes and using road pedals as when I need to walk anywhere in the shoes I am all over the place. Plus, I always get a nice secure clipped in feeling using my Time pedals, essential when using my Bartlett Tendon Knee.

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
Time ATAC pedals

I haven't as yet had a spin on her as I am having serious socket issues and have a poorly painful stump, plus in all honesty she looks so good I don't want to get her all dirty.

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
The bike looks stunning

Orbea Gain M20 X 1
The protective wrap is flawless

I know things didn't go as planned with the bike at the start, however I can't fault Leisure Lakes Bikes for their customer service, how friendly and professional they were, especially Jack who rang and emailed me throughout the process Oh! And for their attention to detail, plus the handover of my bike down at Leeds.

Thanks Guys.

I will give a more in-depth review of the Orbea Gain once I get my butt in gear and I head out on her.

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