Words: Sebastian Jayne | Photos: Tim Bardsley-Smith

Orbea makes some very good-looking bikes and our latest test bike firmly fits the bill. The Occam is Orbea’s trail-focused frame with the middle of three variants, the M10, on test. Orbea offers customisation options on their bikes with their MyO program, allowing paint customisation and select parts customisation to let you tailor your new bike to your riding style.

Orbea lets you pick the fork, wheels, tyres and seatpost from a few options. The trail category is a broad category with some riders hitting mellow XC tracks as their trail rides while others are hitting all the way up to enduro trails on a trail bike. The Orbea customisation lets you tailor your ride so you are most comfortable at either end of the spectrum. The Occam still aims to tackle whatever trail, up or down, you want to hit. But Orbea hopes dialling in the ride to your specific trails will keep you comfortable the majority of the time.

Our Orbea Occam M10 test bike came with a mix of parts from both ends of the spectrum:

 

- Fox 34 140mm (Fox 36 150mm is your other option)

- DT Swiss XM-1650 Spline 30mm Wheelset (DT Swiss XMC 1200 Spline 30mm other option)

- Maxxis Highroller II + Rekon (Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5" + DHR 2.4" other option)

- OC2 Dropper 31.6mm (Crank Brothers Highline 125mm travel OR OC2 Dropper 31.6mm 125mm travel other options)

It is an interesting choice with the heavier, but cheaper, wheels and 140mm forks along with the faster rolling tyre combo. Money no object, the lighter carbon XMC 1200 wheels would make sense with the lower travel and faster tread to tackle those all-day trail rides up and down a bunch of trails. But the XM-1650s are a great set of aluminium wheels and, while being a bit heavier, they should hold up well to continued use and be better on the bank account.

It will be interesting to see what trails the carbon framed Occams’ geometry favours. On paper it leans towards the ‘enduro’ ride-to-descend end of the spectrum. The BB is low, the wheelbase and reach are long, and the head angle is pretty standardly slack at 66-degrees.

Ultimately, the Occam is designed to tackle the widest range of trails possible and put the rider in the most comfortable position in as many situations as possible.

Our test will match this expectation with XC trails, climbs, flow trails and the full on enduro trails around Bright in Victoria on the agenda. Stay tuned to see where the Occam wants to be pointed and what the best custom part selection might work for you - our full test will be in Issue #179.

RRP: $8299

From: Orbea Australia

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