The Orbea Occam gets a complete design and personality overhaul, combining the best of both its TR trail & AM all-mountain predecessors, into one unified trail bike ready for whatever mountain biking your get into. While the previous generation of the Occam made you chose between efficient climbing or long travel, this new bike hits right in the sweet spot with 140mm of rear wheel travel and 29″ wheels.
2020 Orbea Occam 140mm all-mountain 29er trail bike
Maybe chalk it up to improved design, construction & better components than two years ago when the last Occam debuted, but this new version promises the best “speed, stability, weight & climbing efficiency” characteristics of both the old TR & AM bikes in a single package. With 29″ wheels only (no more 27.5 or 27.5+ options), the new Occam gets 140mm of rear wheel travel and the option to tailor your build to individual riding style with 140mm of 150mm forks.
Tech details
Now firmly defined as a trail bike, the new Occam promises much improved technical capability over the old TR thanks to an extra 20mm of travel in the new suspension design. Gone is the old pivotless rear end, replaced by another new single-pivot suspension with a pivot concentric around the rear axle, and an asymmetric main frame.
From a kinematics standpoint the new frame isn’t so different than before, although it does look to have raised the main single pivot a bit. With rear end flex replaced by a concentric rear axle pivot, the new Occam still drives a toptube-mounted inline shock with a short linkage. But how that hits the frame is all-new.
The new asymmetric design offsets a cross bar between the seat & downtubes towards the driveside to better accommodate suspension & drivetrain forces, like on the new Orbea Rallon enduro bike. Here it’s less about shock access, but allowed Orbea to build a stiffer frame while still squeezing a full-sized water bottle in too. They even say it helps get the weight of a full bottle lower in the frame, and offsetting drivetrain weight on the opposite side of the bike.
The carbon Occams use Orbea’s high-end OMR carbon to mold the monocoque frames, mixing hi-mod & high-strength fibers to optimize performance & durability. While carbon makes it simple to create such shaping, a butted & hydroformed alloy frame gets the same detailing – even down to similar looking smooth welds – in a heavier, but more affordable version.
No matter the material, all of the new Occams share internal cable routing, classic threaded bottom brackets, built-in rubber downtube & chainstay protection, and sealed Enduro pivot bearings. The 1x only bikes feature integrated chain guides on the main pivot, 31.6mm posts with internal dropper routing, Boost spacing, and include Orbea’s Lifetime Warranty.
New Occam trail bike Geometry
Available in four stock frame sizes (S-XL), the new 140mm travel Occam is longer & slacker than even the old AM version. The new bike slackens out to a half to one-and-a-half degrees to a 66° head angle. At the same time it steepens up three degrees to a 77° seat angle to get weight forward when climbing. The front end grows about 2cm across the range to be paired with ever shorter stems, the rear end grows to a 44cm chainstay length with a slightly lower bottom bracket.
Pricing & availability
As always, Orbea offers the Occam in a wide range of build options – with prices starting from 2300€ in alloy for the Occam H30 with SLX (H is for hydroformed), $3000 / 2800€ for H20 w/ NX Eagle or SLX/XT, and $3500 / 3300€ for H10 with XT.
Carbon bikes start at $4000 / 3800€ with the M30 & SLX, up to $8000 / 7600€ for the top Occam M-LTD carbon model with XTR 12-speed.
Orbea is always big on customization, so their MyO custom build tool really lets you dial in the spec you want. Pick the shorter travel 140mm forks for more climbing and you get a Fox 34 fork. Go for more aggressive trail riding with 150mm up front, and Orbea specs the more burly Fox 36.
And the spec choices don’t stop there, with semi-custom paint as well to make your Occam one-of-a-kind.
