2022 Orbea Occam LT M10 Bike

Hi, you probably have seen my raving about this bike, either from my comments, or in my bike check. but I can't help to share my opinion on somethig that many may overlook b/c it's not as flashy as the other brands out there.

Here's a note taken from my Bike Check

"From basically never of hearing or considering an Orbea, I have fully converted to the Spanish brand. Previously, I was on a SB130 LR (L), and it was a great bike, but almost too much of a bruiser for me. If you have ridden that bike, you know it’s not a chill bike. It performs best when going full throttle, and if it’s not being pushed hard it can feel a little washy with the short rear end, and long front center, ei you have to actively weight the front end, or it will knock you off line. This made for a very demanding (yet extremely fast) ride, but doing 3+hour rides on it was pretty exhausting. And since that’s my typical weekend ride, I knew I would like to switch it up when something ticked all the boxes I was looking for.

What I was looking for was pretty hard to find in the day of long-slack enduro sleds. I wanted: a lighter bike, better pedaling characteristics, slightly longer rear end, 475mm reach, 65hta (any slacker and wheel flops too much imo), 440mm chainstays (yetis cs were comparably too short on size L) bottle cage in the frame, good aesthetics, sub $6,500 pricing. 

Then a long came the Occam LT. 

Originally, I was going to buy the M30 LT, which has the new DPX factory shock, and Fox 36 performance fork, with SLX components for $4600, but the wait time was too long, and I didn’t want to get stuck wishing for a bike as we continue to battle supply chain woes. So when my local dealer told me they would have an M10 LT in stock before the end of the year (2021), I decided to splurge and get the M10 LT for $6100, and then when full custom with it… and built a hard-charging, light enough for all day adventure trail eater! 

Everything was hand-selected, for good weight/performance ratio and installed by me. Magura MT7 Brakes, Galfer Pads / Rotors, DT Swiss XRC Wheels, Shimano XTR Cassette, XT shifting, SLX crank with XTR chainring. All comes together for a bike that weighs 28lbs with coil, Grip 2 36, and proper 4 pot brakes."

Back to the review:

Now I have had it for nearly 6 months, and put close to 500 miles on it... This is the perfect bike, it is my go to pick out of all my bikes b/c it just makes riding so much fun again! It’s a super light pedaling bike, and keeps me feeling fresh even on 4-hour rides! The geo is contemporary, but not crazy, which really helps with a comfortable body-position, seated, and standing. And when pointed down, it comes alive like nothing I have ridden before! I am not sure if it’s the coil, or what, but it soaks up everything in it’s path and is so incredibly confident that it just begs to go faster and faster! 

Pros:

Suspension - Fox stuff is top notch, I am blown away with how it performs, I have never ridden a bike so smooth, yet still being lively and eager to change direction.

Geometry - I have a habit of measuring my bikes b/c you never know if the geo charts are 100% accurate. So after measuring and using a geo calculator, I found the geo to be exact what I wanted: 65hta, 76sta, 477 reach, 440 chainstay, 1237 wheelbase. It a very middle of the road geo, but I think more bikes will be coming back to this as a very fun, useful geo, that doesn't pretend it's the fastest bike on the mountain. I don't like how slack and long bikes are these days, so it was nice to find a bike that didn't lose its identity to a trend.

Frame Quality - I have just a clear coat, and you can see the carbon fiber, it is stunning!

Component Spec - Race Face Grips, Carbon Bar, Stem, Wheels, XT drivetrain, brakes, Fox Factory for just over $6k!

Price (at time of purchase) - see above, I paid $6k for mine, but prices have been raised.

Made in Spain - Why pay $15k for a Unno that's made in Spain, when you can buy a Orbea!

Lightweight - mine is 28lbs, but stock is still only 30, with a COIL!

Fast - Before this bike, I was a strava segement hunter (up and down) and my Yeti was perfect for that. But now with this bike, I have so much more fun that I am less concerned about racing the clock, but end up still getting a fair share of cups, and PRs when I am not even trying. But just having fun shredding!

Stiff, Playful, Smooth - not words you usually can use to describe 1 bike, but it works for this bike. I never liked jumps/drops, before this bike. But something about the body placement just makes me want to hit all the gaps, and drops I can! I love it! Oh and it eats brake bumps for breakfast, so smooth.

Efficient Pedaling - I have been doing intervals on this bike b/c it so much fun to ride on the way down, but I don't even notice pedal bob with the shock open when I am doing z5 intervals! This bike is a true do-it-all bike! 

Cons:

Left-handed bottle only - I like it, b/c means I can still control speed with my right hand, but may not be for everyone.

Availability - hard to find, like anything...

Price Increase - they had a mid cycle price hike. Honestly, this bike was insane value at just over $6k, it was as good as canyon, yt, and other direct-to-consumer brands. And even with price increase it is much less than equivalent Pivot, Yeti, Santa Cruz...