ORBEA OCCAM H30 (2022) – ANTHRACITE GLITTER/CANDY RED

Quite simply, the Occam is Orbea’s most versatile mountain bike.

Ever.

That means it will suit those riders who want the best balance of:

1 – An efficient pedalling mountain bike.
2 – Without sacrificing stability and confidence (and fun) riding at warp speed.

The Occam is the perfect all-rounder.

And in this preview, we’ll go through why the Occam H30 should be on your shortlist.

THE FRAME

Orbea has been around for almost 100 years.

Their focus has been on creating beautiful designs, ergonomics and (ultimately) products that must perform as they’re intended.

The Occam’s frame is hydro-formed. This means it doesn’t use boring round or rectangular tube sections.

Every tube is sculpted depending on the force that area of the frame is subject to. That’s why you’ll see the Occam’s frame flare out in spots and then contract back in other areas. Every section of the frame is designed to deliver rigidity or flex – or a combination of the two.

Tubes are NOT single or double butted like we see with other brands. Orbea uses a more sophisticated triple-butted process.

Meaning:

Inside each tube of the frame there are 3 different wall thicknesses.

Wall thickness tends to be thicker near the welds where more strength is required and then thins out towards the centre of the tube.

Next, there’s Asymmetry:

Most suspension designs have their shock perfectly centred within the frame.

But:

This has the possibility of placing uneven stress on the front of the frame and its mounting points. For example, you may find bearings on one side of the frame wear out faster than the other.

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So, Orbea moved their shock over to the left (called “Shock Offset” in the image above). This is so that the “Right-side Support” can be more centred.

Which means:

A stronger front frame – without piling on extra weight.

High Polish is the process of making welds smooth. It’s a super labour intensive process and costs more, so a lot of brands don’t bother. In fact, the finish is so good that a lot of our customers mistake it for carbon.

It’s not just for looks though.

The technique of high polishing also increases fatigue resistance (and therefore frame durability) in these high load areas.

Every Orbea frame comes with a Lifetime Warranty (when registered online).

Every Orbea Occam is painted and assembled in Spain.

THE GEOMETRY AND SUSPENSION

The Occam was designed to be versatile. A mountain bike that’s efficient on trails where you have to pedal constantly to maintain momentum (like Lysterfield Park) but also confident when the trails get technical and raw (like Red Hill).

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It’s similar in feel to the Giant Trance X 29.

Except the reach is shorter (while maintaining the same Stack height), which means you’re in a slightly more upright position.

The Occam H30 has 140mm of front and rear wheel travel.

In this case, it’s the new Marzocchi Bomber Z2 fork (made by Fox) that’s paired to a Fox Float DPS rear shock.

Both suspension products offer the rider air pressure, compression (soft, medium or firm) and rebound adjustments.

These are important adjustments you absolutely need to make sure the bike handles well.

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OCCAM H30 COMPONENTS

The H30 build is perfect for riding just getting into mountain biking. You may already be riding an old and worn out hardtail or dual suspension mountain bike – and it’s time for an upgrade.

We mentioned above that the Occam H30 floats on Marzocchi and Fox suspension.

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The H30’s Marzoochi fork has several key adjustments such as air pressure, rebound and a 3 position switch. This switch (called Low Speed Compression) changes between soft, medium and firm mode instantly.

The Fox Float rear shock has the same adjustments. No surprise, as Fox owns Marzocchi’s tech.

Shimano Deore 12-speed components are designed for rugged off-road use. And they sit at the affordable end of Shimano’s performance range.

So, perfect for someone who is upgrading from a hardtail or buying their first dual-suspension mountain bike.

Maxxis tyres complete the major components of the build. Interestingly, it’s a Dissector (front) and Rekon (rear) combination. The tyres have a bias towards fast, easy rolling. And they easily be setup tubeless