On the brink of seeing the new innovations for the next campaign, the month of May brought with it a wide range of mentions in the media, starring several different bicycles.

Rallon, the focus of attention

The most important website in the MTB world, Pinkbike, subjected the Rallon M-Ltd to a through test throughout the month, at the hands of Mike Levy, who after a “date night” spent testing out the many different MyO configurations, came up with his perfect machine to hunt down some technical trails.

On the route, the word he chose to define the Rallon on the downhill stretches is “versatile,” since “it's at home in far more settings than just rough and rowdy trails or the race course”. He also wanted to emphasize the “surprising amount of fun on all sorts of low-grade flow terrain that's insidiously replacing trails that call for skills”, commenting that “is more of a sporty, playful bike than a boring ground-hugger, and that makes it fun nearly anywhere.”

Like other media sources, the pedaling efficiency was another aspect that got Mike Levy’s attention, who made the interesting comparison that “Rallon has the efficiency of a Toyota Prius but with way more skids and airtime. This is a great pedaling bike.”

One of its little sisters, the Rallon M-Team, also gave them something to talk about in Mountain Bike Rider, breaking into its list of today’s top Enduro models, in a selection that considered aspects like “the perfect balance between speed and efficiency on flatter trails, yet still be able to blast descents that wouldn’t look out of place on the World Cup DH circuit.” In this sense, the Rallon earned a score of 9 out of 10, and was included among the eight bikes chosen by Mountain Bike Rider as today’s best enduro rides.

Even though the Fox 36 RC2 fork was one of the key components identified by Mountain Bike Rider, in Italy, and specifically, at MTB Mag, they wanted to try the new Lyrik RC2 2019 on a Rallon.

“TheBasque beauty goes aero”

That’s how the review of the Orca Aero M20 Team began on one of the most influential English-language websites, Bikeradar. Their verdict: the “brilliant handling dynamics set the Orca Aero M20 Team apart from your average aero bike”.

“On flat ground the Orca Aero holds onto speed willingly, and its responsive handling makes putting it into sharp corners a thrill, with the agility of the bike allowing you to make subtle corrections confidently,” is what they had to say about an Orca Aero, also highlighting the MyO configurator and the many different combinations available. More reviews rolled in during the month, from as far away as Japan, in two issues of Bicycle Club, while Road.cc recorded a video with some of the best bicycles with Shimano Ultegra installed:

Meanwhile, Velonews asked “Where’s the aero?” in an article that identified the Orca Aero bike as one of the pioneers in the aero segment, following the rule change by the Union Cycliste Internacionale (UCI) regarding the 3:1 ratio between the frame tubes and other components.

Ebikes create a buzz

Ebike fans continue to grow in numbers month by month, and so have the mentions of these models in the press. The Gain, Wild FS and Keram have received attention this month in the media.

Focus, an important German publication with hundreds of thousands of copies sold, launched a special supplement dedicated to ebikes, where the Gain D10 was present along with three other selected models. But that’s not all.

Peloton Magazine, in the United States, interviewed our ebike product manager Jon Gantxegi to find out the specifics of the development of the Gain, following the recent launch of the bike in the American market and the interest it has generated. They said that this model “is foremost a road bike, with road geometry, a road look and road feel. Itis a bike that requires a cyclist to ride.” A cyclist that Raw Magazine found in the post on our blog about the Gain experience, in collaboration with Blanco en Botella.

Back in Germany, ebike-mtb tested our Wild FS, “taming the Wild Bull” and making it a “pleasant experience”. Agility, fun and agile steering were other aspects that surprised the magazine. Keram 30, in turn, pleased the Italian MTB-Vco with its price-quality ratio and for the lifetime warranty on its frame.

Thomas’s return

Of course, the great return to competition by Thomas Lapeyrie to the Orbea Enduro Team in the third race of the Enduro World Series in France created quite a stir around the globe. Italy, in MTB-Mag, and Germany, in Enduro MTB and Prime-Mountainbike and, of course, English-language sources like Pinkbike, Enduro MTB and Vital MTB, all made mention of the event.

Pinkbike, as a matter of fact, wanted to know a little more about our rider, and they interviewed Tlap to ask him about his career as an enduro cyclist, his injury, his plans for the future and other matters.

To wind up this month loaded with content, we can think of no better way than with the three articles published by James Watt after his visit to our facilities in Mallabia. One of these articles explored our 175+ year history, while the other two focused on an interview at Mikel Landa’s house, and finally, a ride the cyclist took with some of the students at the Euskadi Foundation through the Orduña mountain pass.

More next month!