NUMBERS LIE
ORBEA OCCAM | $8,000 M-LTD
PLATINUM-CARD SPEC, GOLD-CARD PRICE AND BIG-TERRAIN ATTITUDE SQUEEZED INTO MID-SIZE PACKAGING.
At first glance, Orbea’s Occam looks like a derivative portmanteau of other bikes. The rear triangle could easily be confused for a Trek ABP, or a Weagle Split Pivot. The asymmetrical shock mount and frame strut invites comparison to Specialized’s Stumpjumper. But make no mistake; the Occam is very much its own bike, a mid-travel badass with superb suspension kinematics, progressive geometry, and in the case of our test bike, a top-shelf component selection that puts it at the ‘very expensive’ end of the spectrum.
About that spec. XTR is investment-level componentry, and the Occam M-LTD sports the shifters, derailleur, cassette, chain and brakes from Shimano’s highest-end parts. Wheels are DT Swiss XMC 1200, featuring 30-millimeter-internal-width carbon hoops, DT 240 hubs and a feathery 1,530-gram combined weight. The suspension utilizes the best of the Fox line—a DPX2 Factory rear shock and 150-millimeter 36 Float Factory Grip2 fork. As a result, the pricetag on this bike is a hefty $8,000, which, in this instance, is a very good value. Bear with us here. As a customer, you can choose the length of the Crankbrothers Highline dropper post, you can select between Maxxis High Roller/Rekon tires or Minion DHF/DHR rubber, you can opt for a Fizik Taiga saddle or upcharge to a Selle Italia X-LR Ti Flow, and you can further bling up the front end with a Kabolt axle. All of these components except the seatpost will bump the price up in $50-60 increments. But even if you were to select them all, you would still spend over a thousand dollars less than you would on any similarly spec’d, similarly constructed, similarly targeted competition.
Questionable value justifications aside, the Occam is a noteworthy bike however it is dressed. A 140-millimeter-rear-travel big-wheel bike that scoots uphill with a lot more ease than most bikes in this arena, it makes absolute mincemeat of longer-travel bikes when fighting up the climbs. It’s one of the most climb-happy, pedal-friendly bikes we’ve slung a leg over in this segment of the market. Chalk that up to a mighty-steep 76.5-degree seat angle, those sweet wheels, and suspension that provides excellent pedal support when mashing. However, it’s also a damn fun bike to throw downhill. The 1,224-millimeter wheelbase and 65.5-degree head angle on our size large test bike, combined with a stout frame and suspension that tended toward firm instead of buttery, delivered a ride that was balanced, planted and fun—not quite as plush as the similar travel Santa Cruz Hightower but snappier, and far more playful than the longer-travel barges that are defining the 150-millimeter-and-up end of the 29er market. The rear suspension is supportive and capable, with a good range of tune-ability, but it is definitely more sports car than Cadillac in its behavior. The fork is just lovely.
Occam buyers can choose to down-spec the fork to a 140-millimeter-travel Fox 34. Doing so would steepen the head and seat angles by half a degree, and would change the intent of the bike into something more commonly associated with all-round trail bikes. As it sits with the 36 up front, the Occam occupies a somewhat-unique landscape between the currently accepted trail bike norm and the increasingly aggressive longer-travel segment of the market. It can hang with the everywhere that the bigger bikes like to play. As a bike for long backcountry rides in big terrain, or one that might need to handle anything from twisty mellow singletrack to high-speed alpine rock gardens to jump sessions, it’s a very worthy choice. And if the XTR-level price tag chokes you out, the Occam M-30 starts at $4,000, and can be ordered with the exact same suspension as the flagship M-LTD for a hair under $4,750.—Mike Ferrentino
