The Orbea Diem 10 is radical in looks, but it’s pretty damn effective in use. As an elegant, simple to use, urban e-bike, it’s certainly up there. I think there’s a fear when you see a really nice or intriguing looking e-bike that the brand might have chosen to focus on form over function, but the Diem capitalises on both its beguiling frame design and the combination of a high-performance mid-drive motor and automatic gear hub to make riding in most environments an absolute pleasure.
As I was pootling along earlier this week, I decided that the Diem is almost like a Jaguar saloon car. It looks prestigious, it’s unique in design and (I’ve only heard this is also true of the car) it offers a wonderfully comfortable ride.
Many e-bikes set out to be the ‘ultimate’ commuter or urban steed - as Orbea bill the Diem - but few have such a strong claim to that label.
Motor and battery
Perhaps unusually for an urban e-bike, the Diem 10 is equipped with a Shimano EP801 mid-drive motor. This is one of Shimano’s more powerful offerings, typically seen on eMTBs, so some may consider it overkill for urban scenarios. But to be honest, if you can have access to this kind of power, then why not?
The system weighs a claimed 2.7kg (unfortunately my mechanic skills don’t extend to ripping out an e-bike motor and popping it on the scales without severely damaging something in the reassembly process). This is fairly typical for a full-power mid-motor. If weight were more of a consideration then there are options like the Bosch SX, but Orbea has gone down the Shimano route instead.
The motor is paired with a 630Wh battery, and I found it pretty difficult to drain. In fact, I cautiously charged the bike maybe once or twice during the testing period but beyond that it just kept on going.
I would say I watched as I racked up the miles, but the Diem 10 doesn’t come with a screen so I had to rely on actually recording each ride on my watch or phone to see the 80 mile mark from roughly one full charge, give or take a few per cent.
At the point of purchase you can also choose to add on a 252Wh custom range extender - although honestly, unless you’re doing hundreds of miles a week on it, I don’t think you’d need it.
Ride quality and performance
Beyond the electric motor system, there is the Enviolo Automatiq gear hub. I found it worked quite well and was responsive to my cadence when I wanted to get the bike to shift up or down.
There’s a level of customisation that I quite liked, too. In the Enviolo app you can control what cadence you would like the gearing to change at, so if you want it to change to a harder gear when you get to say 80RPM, you can instruct the unit to do so.
Much like other hub gearboxes from the likes of Rohloff, for instance, the hub shifts down when you stop. This means you don’t need to push a hard gear when you set off again - and it’s automatic so you don’t need to manually change gear to benefit from this.
The overall ride quality was excellent. The 50mm Vittoria e-Randonneur tyres give plenty of cushioning, and paired with the carbon fork and frame design (yes, there appears to be some method in the madness with that shaping), I can’t really fault it.
At 422mm, the reach on the size small was spot on for me. Not too short that it was twitchy to handle, and not too long that I was overstretched. Of course, whether this suits will vary person to person, but if you want a nice middle-of-the-road riding position, the Diem should fit.
Components and accessories
Moving on to what makes this bike an urban bike, we have a list of accessories to make it attractive to the city commuter. But there is one glaring omission - a screen. Now, for some of us, the simplicity of not having another device on the handlebars will appeal, but for others we want to see how fast we’re going, how much battery we have and sometimes even where the heck we are going.
Orbea works around this by adding in a phone mount in place of a screen. To be cynical, I’d say well there’s another £20 you need to spend on a compatible phone case, and it means downloading yet another app just to see some basic data from your riding.
This is of course a personal opinion, and many people won’t be bothered in the slightest about not having an easy-to-view screen, or even having to use their phone. But it feels like if the bike is going to cost over £5k, maybe there should be the option without added cost.
Elsewhere you get a rear rack rated to 20kg of carrying capacity and a front pizza style carrying rack, which comes with a very useful bungee net covering. The Diem 10 also has integrated lights - and by integrated, I mean they are quite literally sat in the frame.
Another thing I really liked was the dropper post. You can choose between different lengths (compatibility will likely depend on the frame size), but now I’ve used urban bikes with droppers it’s hard to go back to bikes without. They’re so useful for stopping at junctions and the like, particularly if you’re carrying luggage and don’t want to be worried about getting off-balance.
Value and conclusion
The Orbea Diem 10 is the top-tier bike in the Diem hierarchy, and the price reflects this at £5,299. If you don’t need an EP8 motor or automatic shifting but still want the intriguing frame, then there are the Diem 20 and 30 options, which cost £4,299 and £3,499 respectively.
Compared to other e-bikes at the £5k mark, you’re looking at things like the BMC 257 AMP AL TWO, which has an RRP of £5,100 - although the Orbea may be easier to get hold of as the BMC is now a couple of years old.
The Riese & Muller UBN 5 Touring is another mid-drive, urban e-bike. It uses Fazua’s Ride 60 drive system, and although doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the Diem 10, it does offer decent value at just over £4k.
We haven’t tested it yet, but the Moustache J is probably also worth exploring. Again, it can be configured with the Enviolo Automatiq hub, but it comes with front and rear suspension to make it even more comfortable for riding over British roads. It’s £5,399 for a similar spec to the Diem.
Overall, the Orbea Diem 10 is a slick and speedy urban option with plenty to like as a commuter. It’s comfortable, agile and boasts plenty of extra bits you might not consider standard elements of an urban e-bike. In my opinion, it’s pretty close to being the ultimate urban ride, if you can justify the price.
orbea.com
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