Orbea have unveiled their latest version of the Rallon mountain bike. Now in its fourth generation, the Rallon boasts 160mm of travel in a package that's designed for enduro riding - be it racing or just for fun.
Using 650b wheels and and a different suspension design, the Rallon is a bike that now holds little in common with its predecessor. The frame is still entirely alloy, yet Orbea claim a 2.75kg figure for the Rallon frame. That's 300g down on the current model.
Look closely and you'll see the rear suspension pivot has moved from the seat stay to a concentric design at the rear axle. The linkage pivot has also moved from the top tube to the down tube. Feedback from the previous Rallon found that the rear end of the bike ramped up too harshly for aggressive riders. Now, all-new kinematics have been introduced to produce a much more linear suspension action when compared with the Rallon mk3.
Like the mk3, the new Rallon also features cartridge bearings where you'd normally find bushings at the swing arm end of the shock, this allows for additional rotation, which in turn improves small bump sensitivity.
Geometry can be adjusted quickly and easily by rotating the front shock bolt
The Rallon very much conforms to the latest generation of mid-travel machines in that it uses a slack head angle, low bottom bracket, short chainstays and a lengthy wheelbase. Geometry is also adjustable between two settings - higher and steeper or lower and slacker: the former using a 66.5 degree head angle and 345mm bottom bracket height and the latter taking 0.5 degrees from the head angle and reducing the bottom bracket to a belly dragging 338mm. With that low bottom bracket in mind Orbea have used 170mm cranks across the range.
As you'd expect there's routing for a stealth dropper post, iscg05 mounts, along with a post mount on the swing arm that's optimised for a 180mm rotor. Orbea resisted going for internal cable routing on the Rallon, instead opting on a sensible and neat solution that tracks the top of the down tube.
There are set to be four complete builds available ranging from £2,199/€2,499 to £5,499/€6,499 with US prices to be confirmed.
We'll be putting the Rallon through its paces over the next couple of days, keep your eyes peeled for a first ride review soon on BikeRadar.
