Electric mountain bikes keep bolting more electronics onto the frame, and the new Orbea Wild tries the opposite move: it runs almost everything off one battery. In a hands-on review, Rob Rides EMTB takes the Avinox-powered Wild to the Pyrenees and through local trails to test what Orbea calls its RS concept, where the motor, display, controller, electronic dropper post, derailleur and even the suspension all talk to each other over a single system. The bike pairs a full-carbon frame the video lists at 2.6 kilograms with 170 millimeters of rear travel and a Category 5 rating, meaning it is cleared for the kind of abuse usually reserved for downhill rigs. The pitch is integration, and the reviewer spends most of the video probing whether that actually helps the ride.
Worth saying up front: this is a paid partnership. The reviewer discloses that Orbea hired him to test the bike and produce the video, while stating Orbea had no editorial control and did not see it before it went live. Read the impressions with that in mind. The wider trend the bike rides is real, though. eMTBs have been drifting toward fully integrated electronic systems, where wireless dropper posts and electronic shifting each carry their own little batteries and chargers. Orbea's argument, as the video frames it, is that powering all of it from the main pack lets components shed weight and clutter and removes a drawer full of proprietary chargers. The flip side, a real buyer consideration the video does not dwell on, is that deep integration ties you more tightly to one ecosystem when something needs service or replacement.
On the tech, the video reports the Avinox M2S motor peaks at up to 1,300 watts and 150 newton meters, but Orbea's own RS modes cap at 750 watts and 130 newton meters and are tuned to react harder at low cadence and low rider effort, with riders able to build up to five custom modes that go to the full 1,300 watts. The reviewer, who says he has long experience on Avinox bikes, describes the RS tune as noticeably eager to pull away with little pressure on the pedals. Other details from the video: a 420 millimeter seat tube and 240 millimeter dropper on the XL, a fixed 448 millimeter chainstay across sizes, a flip chip, and a Fox electronic shock on the CAN bus. His main critiques are his own: the XL feels long and rearward biased for him at 6 foot 3, and the dropper is a touch slow to actuate.
A couple more findings from the ride. The electronic dropper has a smart mode the reviewer demonstrates, where a single press primes it to drop when he puts his weight down and a double press returns it to a set height, which he says takes some muscle memory but works well once learned. He puts the tested build around 23.6 kilograms and notes Orbea quotes lighter configurations near 21.9 kilograms, and times the fast charger at roughly 1 percent per minute. He also points to factory frame protection on the down tube and chainstay, and a head tube that accepts reach-adjust headsets, which he says he would use to shorten the long XL. None of it is cheap, but the engineering and finish, in his telling, are a step above the usual bolt-on eMTB.
Bottom line: Strip away the sponsorship and the interesting idea survives: one battery running the whole bike is the direction eMTBs should be heading, because the alternative is a backpack of chargers and three things to forget. The Wild looks like a genuinely capable, downhill-rated machine for steep terrain, less so a playful trail toy. If you ride mellow flow trails, the travel and length are probably more bike than you need. If you live near real mountains and want everything to just work together, this is the one to shortlist, sizing carefully.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.