An afternoon on Orbea’s Rallon DH

Orbea delivered an incredibly interesting bike with its new Rallon. While many brands offer adjustable travel and geometry, none go so far as the Rallon. Orbea sells the new frame as both a downhill and enduro bike. That is quite a lot of ground to cover, and the Spanish brand has some innovative tricks to do so without compromising either purpose. Which makes sense, as this is their pro-level race bike for the team’s enduro and downhill athletes and already has World Cup wins to its name.

When we had the chance to ride the Rallon DH for an afternoon, we jumped at the opportunity to find out just how well an enduro frame could function as a downhill bike.

Orbea Rallon: Downhill or Enduro? Yes.

With such a wide range of riding covered by one frame, the Rallon looks very different in downhill or enduro configuration. But it is sill the same frame, just with a different “Gravity Link” bracket.

In downhill form, the Rallon has 200mm rear travel and sells with a 203mm fork. The carbon fibre frame only works with mixed 27.5″/29″ wheels in DH mode. There’s still downtube frame storage, quite unique among DH frames, as well as a space to add weights to the Gravity Link. It has an adjustable HTA between 62.95 and 63.7-degrees.

In enduro mode, the same Rallon frame has 170mm rear wheel travel and comes with a 180mm fork. It can run mixed or 29″ wheels, still has a downtube storage and the option to carry weights and is still a carbon fibre frame. HTA runs from 63 to 64.25-degrees.

Both frames use a flip-chip to adjust shock progressivity by five per cent. An angle-adjust headset adds more customization. There are also two chainstay lengths: 442mm or 450mm. They are interchangeable, but not adjustable (you pick which one you want when ordering). There’s also impressive clearance for dropper posts, with a 240mm-travel post fitting into the steep seat tubes of even the small frame.

Both versions come with a lifetime frame warranty from Orbea and are sold in four sizes: S, M, L, XL.

Gravity Link brings options and pro-level tech to production

At the core of the Rallon frame is the Gravity Link. This is the key to unlocking both downhill and enduro potential of the frame. It’s not the actual linkage, but where the shock attaches. Three different Gravtiy Links are available: one for DH, one for MX enduro, one for 29″ enduro configurations. The Gravity Link also houses the flip chip to adjust shock progressivity.

Quite…