2025 Orbea Rise LT and SL - Everything you need to know!
By Ben Mowbray |
The brand new 2025 Orbea Rise range is finally here! Since getting a glimpse of it at the Orbea factory in Spain for the first time back in March, we've been itching to share the news everyone has been waiting for.
The 2025 Orbea Rise carbon models are here (we even have a launch day bike in store!), available to pre-order and hits the market with everything Rise riders have been dreaming of. Read on to discover everything you need to know about the 2025 Orbea Rise models.
What's new on the 2025 Orbea Rise?
The carbon frame range is now split in two - SL and LT. The reasons will become immediately obvious when you look at the suspension travel and geometry.
Where the previous generation Rise models tried to bridge the gap from super easy green trails through to edging in on the technical territory of the Bosch Gen 4 driven Orbea Wild models and with red trails highlighting its limits of use case, the new 2025 Orbea Rise range has been "split", with two versions more acutely pointed at specific purpose but coving a much wider scope of riding.
New 2025 Orbea Rise SL
The new Orbea Rise SL models are designed to be the lightest of the range. Initially launching with the M10, M-Team and M-Ltd, an M20 is planned later in the model year. The "Super Light" version carries over the same suspension travel as the previous two generations, with a 150/140 or 140/140 travel split for those who spend most of the time riding with two wheels on the floor of fast, flowing single track or for XC riders who want more flexibility in their rides. If you ride green and blue trails but find your limits towards the more technical side of reds, this is the model for you.
New 2025 Orbea Rise LT
The one it feels like everyone has been waiting for. LT, or "Long Travel" versions come as a 160/160 option and open up the Orbea Rise to much more aggressive riding and will also initially be available in M10, M-Team and M-Ltd flavour. Offering the same peak power as a Bosch Generation 4 motor, the LT, with its much longer travel it's most at home under the command of those who ride the reds for lunch and blacks for dessert and will actively seek out the most technical and jump filled sections of trails rather than steering towards the escape runs.
Shimano EP8 RS Gen 2 on 2025 Orbea Rise models.
You asked. You got. Not only has the bike been given more travel, the Shimano EP8 motor has lost its leash and now comes with its full 85Nm available to riders straight out of the box. As with the previous version, there is still the option to switch between two profiles.
Previously called "Profile 1" and "Profile 2", the new "RS" mode offers 54Nm or torque with the most "elastic" and natural feeling ride. "RS+" unleashes the full 85Nm potential and provide maximum assistance at lower cadences, especially on climbs where pedalling speed is often slower. These can be switched using the Shimano E-Tube App.
The new Gen 2 motor is easily identifiable with its new signature red "S".
The new, faster and more precise motor responses to rider input are now much more noticeable at lower cadences and it responds much more powerfully, making steeper climbs and the most technical trails feel more natural, even for novice riders.
New 2025 Orbea Rise batteries.
To back up the now more powerful motor and ensure riders don't have their fun cut short, the 2025 Orbea Rise models will be shipping with two battery options. The bike is equipped as standard with a 430Wh battery, with an option to switch this out to a 630Wh instead.
Insider info - Orbea initially set up the Rise in production as a 430Wh "standard" bike with the option for a 630Wh in the configurator but with an overwhelming preference towards the 630Wh option from dealers (who know what riders really want!), they were actually forced to split the bike into two models with two unique identifiers in production and its for this reason that E-Bikeshop will be stocking all 2025 Orbea Rise models with the 630Wh as standard but retaining the option to have it as a 420Wh if riders prefer.
New Range Extender for 2025 Orbea Rise.
To complement the new battery configurations there will also be a new range extender kit - older models wont be compatible. Uniquely for 2025, the range extender will only be compatible with the smaller battery equipped bikes. All 430Wh fitted bikes will be able to have their battery extended by a further 210Wh, taking it up to the same capacity as the larger battery models, but with the option to drop just over a kilo of weight in seconds for shorter rides, but bolt on almost another 50% range.
If it helps you choose between the two, a 430Wh equipped bike with a range extender will have the same theoretical range as a 630Wh equipped bike but will be slightly heavier than just buying a 630Wh equipped bike.
Insider info - Having had a brand new 2025 Orbea Rise SL M10 with a 430Wh battery hidden away in our HQ for a few weeks already, surprisingly, shipped with the bike in its box was a side-mount bottle cage. Looking at it carefully, it has the same little lugs which are used to fit a securing band for a range extender on previous models and so we expect (although this isn't confirmed) that the range extenders might be shipped without their normal cage mount system and it'll fit into the kindly supplied cage with the bike and secured in the normal way. We'll update when we know but if this is the case, we expect spares will be available.
The new 2025 Orbea Rise - Why, and why now?
Its no secret that Orbea are arguably one of the best manufacturers at not just "watching" their market but being a part of it. Trail Tails is a perfect example. Their staff and their dealers are heavily embedded in their riding communities (including your Facebook groups ;) ) and ideas, wishes and complaints don't go unnoticed. In fact, they're not just fed up the chain, they're actively listened to. We've never seen any manufacturer do as much for their riding community as Orbea.
The 2025 Orbea Rise specification evolution.
Ever since the first generation Rise models were launched, people have been fettling and tweaking them to their own individual tastes but within months, we had been getting requests to modify bikes before they even left our store, which left us a bit baffled. The previous bike was in our eyes, already perfect for what it was designed for...
Tyres
It seemed that many didn't like the custom Maxxis Rekon tyre. I have to concede, riding a first generation Rise myself in anything less than a clear dry day had that Rekon EXO+ squirming at the back of the bike and wheel spinning on climbs even in Eco mode and the general consensus was to shove the Dissector from the front on the back and fit an Assegai on the front before you even headed out into the muck and mire of the UKs best riding spots. Some were even going as far as a Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR combo.
If you take a look at the spec of the new 2025 Orbea Rise models, you'll find this original tyre combination missing. Its been replaced with either an Assegai at the front and a Minion DHF at the rear, or a pair of Schwalbe Wicked Will shoes. Not only do these more accurately fit how people are using the Rise, its shows that Orbea actively listen to feedback. You didn't like it. They changed it.
Brakes
Then there was the brakes. "I need a 203mm rotor up front". Apparently "everyone" was doing this. Why, I thought? At just over 100kg and a fairly aggressive trails rider, I get on just fine with the stock 180mm Galfer items. What were these riders doing with their first and second generation Rise models which warranted going for the biggest brakes?
Regardless, the new 2025 Orbea Rise LT models ship with a 203mm/180mm brake setup as standard.
Suspension
Last to start seeing change was the suspension, and suddenly it all became clear. Requests of 160mm Fox DHX coil at the rear and a set of Fox 38 170mm forks up front made it immediately obvious where all these requests were coming from and being completely honest, it made me a little bit sad.
Effectively, what these riders were doing was turning the Rise into something it was never meant to be. Not only was the frame never intended to be used as a bike park weapon, its geometry wasn't designed with it in mind either and so try as they might, all of these modifications would never net them something which wasn't designed to be that way from the factory and it would never be as good as Orbea could do it.
So they did.
The 2025 Orbea Rise range is a result of your feedback.
With the 2025 Orbea Rise SL models effectively being a continuation of the previous generations with more power and the option of a much larger battery, the culmination of the last several years of development and feedback from riders and the real standout is the new 2025 Orbea Rise LT range.
The super light weight, full power, long travel bike with "all-day epic" range you asked for - designed not just to attack anything you can point it at, but leave all of its competitors still hitching a ride on the uplift or lost in the dust trail of its back tyre (just not that Rekon you all said only worked in Spain!).
2025 Orbea Rise range - Wrapped.
This is the first time we've been really excited about a new bike in a while. In a post-Covid industry state of stalled development and most manufacturers "rolling over" the same models in new clothes for the last couple of years, Orbea has been our only manufacturer to continue rolling out multiple and truly brand new bikes and we expect the 2025 Orbea Rise models to upset its rivals and be just as successful as their new, multi-award winning Wild models.
This is the bike you asked for.
Production is expected to be fairly limited in the first 6 months so if a new 2025 Rise SL or 2025 Rise LT model sounds like the bike you've been waiting for, get your pre-order in early to avoid disappointment.
We have the earliest possible arrivals in the UK and our deliveries begin as early as this month (May 2024).
View the 2025 Orbea Rise range here and pre-order yours now for just £199 or book in to our showroom to see in in person today.
