A total of 19 brands showcased an ebike with an Avinox drive system at Eurobike 2026. According to the manufacturer, more than 60 brands worldwide now use an Avinox M1, Avinox M2 or Avinox M2S in their models. To stand out from the crowd, you need original ideas. Orbea had just such an idea. On its latest e-mountain bike for the 2027 season, the Orbea Wild LT, the manufacturer has significantly toned down the power of the Avinox motor, thereby robbing it of one of its greatest advantages. What might make some people simply shake their heads turns out to be a really clever move.
1. Orbea Wild LT: Built for downhill riding
2. The fitting motor for the desired kinematics
3. The courage to customise
4. Version of the Orbea Wild LT for the 2027 season with an Avinox motor
5. Connected is better
6. RS: Motor tuning with an ulterior motive
7. Conclusion: Orbea Wild LT 2027 – an exciting Spanish-Chinese mix
8. Uniqueness comes at a price
1. Orbea Wild LT: Built for downhill riding
As its name suggests, the Wild was one of the bikes with which Orbea aimed to appeal to those who prefer a truly wild ride off-road. No flow trails or blue runs. Instead, heavily technical descents, long jumps and the steepest gradients, where the altitude metres just fly past you.
For an e-mountain bike designed for this, you need a suspension system with plenty of travel in both the rear suspension and the fork. The ‘LT’ suffix in the Orbea Wild’s name signals exactly that. LT stands for ‘long travel’. Take, for example, the 170 millimetres of travel at the front and rear on the Orbea Wild LT. If you wish, you can even increase the suspension travel on the fork to 180 millimetres. It also comes with 155-millimetre-long – or short, depending on how you look at it – cranks for the most efficient uphill riding possible. Plus, a setup with 29-inch wheels that can be changed to a version with a smaller 27.5-inch rear wheel.
2. The fitting motor for the desired kinematics
As with previous Wild models, Orbea has opted for a Bosch motor. Oh no, that’s wrong. Unlike its predecessors, the new Wild LT is powered by an Avinox M2S. And a key reason for the change of motor was – that’s right – the desire to improve the frame’s kinematics. It sounds like a strange reason, but the two are directly linked. By switching to the Avinox motor, Orbea has gained the necessary space on the model to move the main pivot point on the rear triangle to exactly where they wanted it. According to the company, this would likely not have been possible with the dimensions and shape of a Bosch motor.
Anyone who feels at home in the world of enduro, downhill, gravity – whatever you want to call it – will probably agree that an ebike in this segment has to prove its worth downhill above all else. Here, the kinematics play a far greater role than the choice of ebike drive fitted. The new suspension design on the Wild LT ensures better weight distribution. The combination of the shock and the rocker arm can be positioned lower within the frame. Furthermore, the top tube sits extremely low on the seat tube, thereby significantly reducing the step-through height. Orbea states that the new rear triangle has reduced anti-squat by 20 per cent. This means that when accelerating, the shock compresses less and consequently has less rebound to compensate. If you imagine this as the profile of a curve, the manufacturer has managed to flatten it out. There are fewer pronounced peaks and troughs.
Whilst riding, this should translate into improved control and agility, particularly at high speeds. An even larger proportion of the ebike’s total weight is concentrated low and centrally around the bottom bracket. Test riders, for example, have been pleasantly surprised by the newcomer’s cornering performance, even in the setup with the large wheels. And thanks to the combination of a low top tube and a long-travel seatpost, you can manoeuvre very nimbly on the bike.
3. The courage to customise
The blueprint for the desired riding characteristics – and also the aesthetics – of the Orbea Wild LT was provided by the Orbea Rallon RS, which was unveiled at the start of the year. Several adjustment options have been adopted from that model, allowing you to alter the Wild’s geometry. These include, amongst other things, the flip-chip on the shock mount on the frame. This allows the bottom bracket height to be lowered by a further eight millimetres. As a result, the bike generally sits even more firmly on the trail. Turning the flip-chip simultaneously changes both the head angle and seat angle by around half a degree each. However, you can also adjust the head angle specifically using different headset cups. Orbea does not, however, supply these as standard with the models. If you compare the frame geometry of the new Orbea Wild LT with that of its predecessor, you’ll hardly notice any major differences. The manufacturer believes that the geometry for an e-mountain bike with this focus is already highly optimised. They have therefore concentrated on the customisation options.
4. Version of the Orbea Wild LT for the 2027 season with an Avinox motor
Of course, Orbea didn’t simply opt for the Avinox M2S because it had the right dimensions. Rather, they had a fairly precise idea of what they wanted to achieve with the motor. This could only be realised because Avinox gave its consent and granted Orbea access to the firmware. This opened up possibilities that go far beyond what is achievable when integrating the drive in its standard configuration.
The first thing that stands out on the spec sheet is that Orbea has set new limits for the M2S. In the Orbea Wild LT, the motor now delivers just 750 watts instead of the usual 1,300 watts. The torque, however, remains at the familiar 130 Newton-metres. Unfortunately, we were unable to find out how the manufacturer handles the 800 per cent assistance level. The division into the four riding modes – Auto, Eco, Trail and Turbo – remains unchanged. A Boost mode can also still be activated briefly. This then gives you 1,300 watts and 150 Newton-metres for a limited time.
Orbea complements the motor with the large 800-watt-hour battery from Avinox. Optionally, you can also choose the smaller version with a capacity of 600 watt-hours. Orbea integrates both batteries firmly into the frame. The aim was to avoid unnecessarily compromising the frame’s stiffness by creating an opening in the down tube to allow the battery to be removed.
5. Connected is better
The first indication that there’s more to it than just a reduction in some performance figures comes from Orbea’s own control unit on the handlebars of the Wild LT. The letters ‘RS’ are embossed on its largest single button. RS stands for Rider Synergy. Behind this abbreviation lies a system that integrates not only all components of the ebike drive but also other hardware components of the bike into a single, cohesive whole. The approach is similar to what Giant, for example, has implemented with its Smart Gateway 2.0.
In Orbea’s case – in the case of RS – this means that the motor, the battery, the control unit, the entire sensor system, the shock, the seatpost and the gear system are all connected via CAN bus cables. On the one hand, this relates to the power supply. The frame battery, integrated into the down tube, provides power to all the components mentioned. On the other hand, the entire system communicates with one another via the cables and exchanges data. For example, the shock knows exactly what position the seatpost is currently in. This ensures that it, too, can always operate in the correct mode.
6. RS: Motor tuning with an ulterior motive
With RS, Orbea places greater emphasis on the supportive aspect of an ebike system. It is not intended to dominate the ride or take centre stage in the riding experience any more than is necessary. To achieve this, the manufacturer has recalibrated the sensor system on the Avinox. The pedal angle sensor is five times more sensitive than in the Avinox’s standard setting. As a result, the motor responds to significantly smaller movements of the pedals. The torque sensor requires only half the input, whilst the cadence sensor is three times as sensitive.
Those who have already had the chance to test a model featuring RS motor tuning particularly praise the ebike’s performance on steep climbs. Firstly, because it reacts more quickly and more sensitively to the rider’s input. Secondly, because the reduced power output proves to be an advantage, leading to greater traction and better control. At times, it was even difficult to cause the rear wheel to spin on uphill sections.
Unexpected qualities as a mountain goat
With the combination of a maximum power output of 750 watts and torque of 1,300 Newton metres, Orbea seems to have hit a sweet spot. The balance between these two characteristics means you get plenty of assistance even at a low cadence. This really pays off on hills, particularly on technically demanding sections. All the more so when the riding situation does not allow enough space for a full pedal revolution. Then, thanks to the motor’s enormous responsiveness, even a quarter-turn extracts so much power from the motor that you have the chance to keep both feet on the pedals.
With an original Avinox motor, there is a significantly longer delay between the input on the pedal and the motor’s response. This is surely also with the ulterior motive that, once it gets going, there’s up to 1,500 watts behind it in Boost mode. Thanks to its power limitation, Orbea simply doesn’t need to be so cautious.
7. Conclusion: Orbea Wild LT 2027 – an exciting Spanish-Chinese mix
All in all, it’s certainly very easy to see what Orbea was aiming to achieve with the new Wild LT. Avinox provides the motor’s compact form factor, its light weight and everyday benefits such as fast charging. None of this would have been possible with Bosch. And certainly not with Shimano, with whom Orbea has worked very closely in the past. The manufacturer itself has contributed its desire for better traction and a crisper response. The slightly greater range almost feels like a by-product of this. Coupled with a truly stunning frame silhouette and a weight of just under 21 kilograms, this is a remarkable statement from Orbea in this ebike segment.
8. Uniqueness comes at a price
Once again, Orbea has pulled out all the stops when it comes to the design of the individual models and their respective specifications. Given a price tag of 13,499 euros for the top-of-the-range Orbea Wild LT M-LTD RS, that’s exactly what you’d expect. Rear shock, suspension fork, gear system, brakes, wheelset – everything is top notch. Added to this is the technical uniqueness of the electric drive, which, for the moment, is only available on the Wild LT. Presumably, this factor is also factored into the price to some extent.
As well as four models with carbon frames, the range also includes a further three with aluminium frames. You can get started with the Orbea Wild LT H20, for example, at a significantly lower price of 5,599 euros. Technically, of course, this means making a few compromises. For instance, Orbea uses Avinox control units on all three H-models rather than its own in-house component. As a result, you cannot lower the seatpost to a preset intermediate position at the touch of a button. Nor is it possible to choose your own frame colour via Orbea’s Myo customisation programme. The frame geometry, kinematics and drivetrain, on the other hand, are identical.
Orbea Wild LT 2027 at a glance
- Models: Orbea Wild LT M-LTD RS, Orbea Wild LT M-Team RS, Orbea Wild LT M10, Orbea Wild LT M20, Orbea Wild LT H-Team, Orbea Wild LT H10, Orbea Wild LT H20
- Frame: carbon, aluminium
- Frame sizes: S, M , L, XL
- Suspension fork: Fox 38 Float Factory 170 Grip X2, RockShox ZEB Base DebonAir+ 170
- Shock: Fox Float X2 Factory Trunnion, Fox Float X2 Live Valve Neo Factory Trunnion (optional), Fox Float X Performance Trunnion
- Motor: Avinox M2S
- Battery: Avinox 800 Wh, Avinox 600 Wh (optional)
- Control unit: Orbea System Controller with eDropper Remote, Avinox BC100
- Display: Avinox DP100
- Drivetrain: Sram XX Eagle AXS, Shimano XTR, Shimano XT, Shimano Deore
- Brakes: Sram Maven Ultimate, Sram Maven Silver, Shimano XT, Shimano MT420, Shimano MT620
- Weight: from approx. 21 kg
- Maximum permitted total weight: from 110 kg
- Prices: from 5,599 euros
Pictures: Orbea S. Coop. N.I.F.