A long weekend in the Pyrenees with the Orbea Occam LT M10 showed some serious promise, how did it stack up as a daily driver?
Essentially a blend of the Occam platform with the Rallon kinematic and geometry has created the Occam LT. This latest wave of mid-travel, aggressively-angled bicycles is right up Pete’s alley. The Orbea Occam LT M10 is definitely in the leading pack.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Fox 36 Factory 160mm fork
- Fox Float X Factory shock
- Shimano XT 12-speed drive
- Shimano XT 4-piston brakes
- Oquo Mountain Control MC32TEAM wheels
- OC Mountain Control MC21 dropper
- From £6,499.00 RRP
- Orbea.com
The new Occam LT sports a 150 rear travel in 29″ with a 160mm fork out front. That 150mm travel is 4% more progressive than the outgoing Occam. Anti-squat and anti-rise are now very close to what the current Rallon offers too. A shock extender-mounted eccentric flip chip also allows for geometry adjustment with the rear axle-mounted 6mm allen key.
Head angle loses 1.5 degrees whilst the seat tube angle is up to 1 degree steeper too. Reach grows on all sizes too and is now in 25mm increments between the sizes. A 230mm dropper can now fit inside the size Small, the bigger post being a MyO customisation option.
The Orbea Occam LT M10 is constructed from Orbea’s OMR carbon fibre, with alloy links. Stock, the bike comes with a Fox Factory 36 fork and a Float X Factory shock, although I upgraded the shock to a DHX2 unit. Drive and braking is handled by Shimano’s XT group that adds £249.00 to the asking price. Oquo’s Mountain Control MC32Team wheels had their rubber upgraded to downhill casing Maxxis offerings with an Assegai out front and a Minion DHR II out the back, at a £35 cost. Finishing kit including cockpit and dropper are Orbea’s excellent OC units.
Geometry
The Occam LT is available in S, M, L and XL sizes.
With the lower shock mount flip chip, you get Low and High geometry. Reach for the M in Low is 455mm with a seat tube of 415mm. Head angle is 64 degrees with a seat tube angle of 77 degrees. Chainstays are 440 across the sizes with a wheelbase of 1227mm.
On a second trip to the Pyrenees, this time with BasqueMTB, Orbea were kind enough to loan me exactly the same bike that I had ridden at the launch. This meant setup was not required, it had been kept the way I had left it some weeks earlier (no, making the two trips coincide wasn’t going to work).
With that in mind, I could simply go about the task of cracking on knowing that the Occam LT was exactly the way I wanted it. In just under a week, we’d take in the best that Ainsa, Bielsa, Sierra Negra and the pre-Pyrenees closer to the coast had to offer. A very good way to get the measure of the bike.
I cannot understate just how good the DHX2 shock feels compared to the Float X that comes as standard. Coil shocks have come a long way recently and the added suppleness of the opening stroke doesn’t seem to come at the expense of climbing support. Even if it does wallow slightly more than the air unit, the grip provided when things get steep or loose more than makes up for it.
On those climbs, the low weight and steep seat angle means the Occam LT climbs like a mountain goat. Almost all the power you put in goes into forward momentum and the shock, combined with the linkages, simply inhales any terrain, meaning your cadence isn’t thrown off any.
On the downs, the sensibly-sized cockpit gives plenty of room for body English when things gets spicy and the dampers start to sing together, meaning you can really push on, knowing they have got you covered. Ample power is available from the four pot XT anchors, and the 200mm Galfer rotors deal with the heat well.
It’s fair to say that there’s not much the Occam LT can’t do. It seemed well within its limits as I tried to find mine. In the Pyrenees, the climbs are steep and so are the descents, so the heavier rubber didn’t really feel like it was holding me back, and the extra security provided meant that any lapses in concentration in the middle of nowhere were shrugged off. Perhaps an EXO+/Double Down tyre combo option would be a better option for most UK work.
The Occam LT found its way quickly onto the list of bikes that urged me to opt for the riskier but faster line, go for the gap that didn’t quite exist or dive into a turn slightly too quick. As I braced for impact, the bike simply shot me out quicker that I could process, leading me into the next section with similar aplomb. It’s also a contender for bikes that I would spent my own money on.
What do we think?
The Occam LT M10 is a rocketship. That combination of mid-travel, go anywhere chassis with the big bike geometry and kinematics, combined with the delight that is the DHX2 coil makes what is already a very fast bicycle into a bike that will keep a grin permanently fixed across your face.
We love:
- Confidence-inspiring ride
- Climbs like a mountain goat
- Gets you out of as much trouble as you get yourself into
Could do better:
- The grips are awful
