Orbea’s 2011 Rallon

The Rallon 10.

In 2011, Orbea will no longer be only associated with Julien Absalon and the ProTour in the US. Their newRallon enduro bike will surely open trail riders’ eyes to the Spanish company.

In Europe, people know what enduro bikes are for; they’re for racing enduros, of course. The enduro racing format is comparable to motorcycle enduro or the auto rally racing that’s found in the US. Riders take on multiple stages over the course of a couple days and they do it on what we consider trail bikes; total lowest time wins.

Orbea offers three models of the Rallon for 2011. All three models share the same heavily hydroformed Tricone aluminium frame, which features a tapered 1.125- to 1.5-inch head tube and lifetime warranty. All models also use a custom Fox RP23 boost valve shock with XV air can that’s been specifically tuned for the bike’s suspension design.

The top of the range Rallon 10 is finished with a bells-and-whistle all-mountain group highlighted by Truvativ’s HammerSchmidt internally geared two-speed crank, crankbrothers JoplinR adjustable seatpost, Fox 36 Talas RC2 fork and Formula R1 brakes. The Rallon 10 retails for US$5,649.

The Rallon 30 features Shimano’s XT component group supplemented with Formula RX brakes and Fox 32 Talas RLC fork. The model costs $4,199.

The Rallon 50 swaps for Shimano SLX and a Fox 32 Float RL fork for $3,199.

The first 150-200 Rallons shipped to the US should be available in May at select dealers.