Orbea Diem 10 review: futuristic, well-equipped, but not built for speed

Spanish cycling brand Orbea might be better known for its high-end road, mountain and triathlon bikes, but it also offers a line of commuter-friendly urban bikes.

Diem is the last addition to its burgeoning electrified family and adds a dollop of motorised assistance – plus a whole host of cutting-edge tech – to inner-city exploration. In fact, the Diem is one of the sharpest electric bikes I have laid eyes on in a long time.

Offered in three specification levels, Diem can be optioned with a more traditional Shimano Cues 9-speed, chain drive layout, which is labelled Diem 30 and packs and Shimano EP6 motor with 540Wh of integrated battery.

Step up to Diem 20, and you receive Shimano’s Nexus Inter-5 internal gears and a maintenance-free Gates belt drive, alongside the same Shimano EP6 motor and a larger 630Wh battery.

Finally, moving up to Diem 10, which I’ve been testing here, adds in Shimano’s more powerful EP8 motor, the previously mentioned 630Wh battery, a Gates belt drive and, somewhat controversially, Enviolo’s automatic shifting, which we will dive into later.

The slick machine is available in three very fashionable shades, a matt green, glossy white (as tested) and sparkly silver, while an MIK-compatible rear rack, integrated lights, a dropper post and the optional front cargo carrier all came fitted to this model. 

Orbea Diem 10 Review

Price and availability

Prices for Diem start at £3,499 for the entry levelDiem 30, but these bikes can be specified with the larger 630Wh battery pack (an additional £145), as well as a range-extender battery for £439. Similarly, dropper posts can be added, as can a front light with remote low and high beam.

The Diem 20, with the larger battery as standard and Shimano Nexus Inter-5 internal gears, starts at £4,299, but you can also add much of the niceties mentioned above for an additional fee.

A range-topping Diem 10 starts at a spicy £5,299, but it comes fully loaded with much of the optional extras, aside from the 252Wh range extender battery. 

The best place to build your dream Diem is the Orbea website, where a simple configurator allows you to add or remove tempting extras. 

Alternatively, large online retailers, such as Tredz, also has most variants already in stock but we can’t see anything in the way of discount just yet.

Specifications

• Frame: Hydro High Polished Aluminium 
• Fork: Carbon fibre
• Battery: 630Wh internal
• Motor: Shimano EP801
• Brakes: Shimano Cues Hydraulic Disc
• Wheels: Alloy tubeless
• Tyres: Vittoria e-Randonneur 50-622
• Seat post: OC Mountain Control MC22 dropper
• Saddle: Selle Royal Vivo Ergo
• Lights: Supernova Starstream Pro Integrated front and rear

Design and build

The quality Orbea has incorporated here is exceptional, with all models featuring the Spanish brand’s handmade 'Diamond Glide' frame design. The geometry is slightly mad, but it has been engineered to be as easy and as comfortable to live with on a daily basis.

Wider tyres aid grip and offer some protection from lumps and bumps, while the carbon fibre front fork attempts to keep the weight down and reduce vibrations from the road surface. 

Despite the electric motor and cleverly disguised battery packs, it’s not a particularly heavy machine and can be hefted up stairs with a bit of muscle.

The model I had the pleasure of riding came fitted with a dropper seat post, which generally makes easier to get on and off, but affords that little extra bit of control if you do decided to venture onto the gravel or other loose surfaces.

It’s not really designed for that, but Orbea has created bespoke alloy mudguards for the front and rear, which not only look fantastic but also offer protection from the elements.

As you can probably tell, I’ve been mightily impressed by Orbea’s build quality - the welding is beautiful and the entire frame just flows. That’s before you consider the integrated lighting.

There’s a red LED strip that is built into the previously mentioned sculptural slither of a rear mudguard, while the front is offered with a powerful LED lamp built into the bars. 

What’s more, there’s a brilliantly sci-fi Daytime Running Light (DRL) bar that sits just below the stem and gives the machine a truly futuristic presence on the road when powered on.

It’s a lovely looking bicycle, with the integrated cabling and minimalistic cargo carrying facilities affording it a streamlined and sleek look, without compromising on practicalities.

Speaking of which, there’s even a neatly disguised USB-C charging port concealed beneath the stem and adaptors for SP Connect twist-lock mounting systems. 

All you need to do is buy the correct phone case and you’ve got Google Maps at your disposal without the worry of running out of Apple (or Android) juice. 

Performance

Operating the Orbea Diem couldn’t be simpler: there’s just a small button atop the main control unit, itself mounted to the bars, which requires pressing and holding. This fires up the neat DRL and preps the motor for riding.

This particular model came equipped with the Enviolo automatic gear shifting system. It takes the form of a small plastic hub and remote unit that sits in the rear wheel.

Essentially, it acts like a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) found in some hybrid cars and scooters, constantly adjusting the gearing to torque inputs so the rider doesn't have to do anything.

I’ve got mixed feelings about the system in general. On the one hand, it’s a fantastically lazy way of riding a bike, especially if you hate the thought of juggling gears, as it is designed to keep the rider at the optimum, pre-selected cadence at all times.

In fact, all you have to do is spin your legs, select the amount of assistance from the motor and away you go. Approaching a hill? No bother, Enviolo selects exactly the correct ratio to get you up it with very little change in resistance.

However, I found it to be an unnecessary faff to step-up - first having to pair a smartphone app, then calibrating the system and then almost throwing my iPhone into a nearby pond when it wouldn’t connect properly and allow me to select my desired cadence.

Maybe a simple bug, but as a result, I found my legs would be spinning ferociously, putting almost zero wattage through the cranks, and the bike would be travelling much slower than I wanted.

Perhaps it is designed to offer a seriously easy going riding experience, but I just found it frustrating that I couldn’t increase the pace and put some watts through the cranks. When a teenager on an escooter blasted past me, I think a piece of my soul evaporated.

Thankfully, the Diem can be optioned with a variety of gearing systems, all of which I’d take over the Enviolo system any day. 

Unless you absolutely hate riding a bike and find even the mere mention of five simple Shimano Nexus internal gears extremely daunting, it’s just not worth the outlay in my eyes.

Ride and comfort

All-in-all, the Orbea is a very easy bike to ride, with the additional dropper post on this test model making it a doddle to get on and off. The steeply-raked crossbar also assists.

Wide bars give a good feeling of control on the road, and the general riding position is nice and upright for all-day comfort. Alas, I found the saddle to be quite firm, while the steel front fork angle made the handling quite sharp.

Still, I was never hitting crazy speeds, so steering was never an issue. In fact, the Diem is a doddle to balance at the lights and thread through tight spots using the powerful disc brakes to control things.

The MIK-compatible 30kg max capacity rear rack is great for adding things like panniers or even a child seat, but it’s pretty useless at carrying anything without an accessory added. 

Similarly, the front cargo platform is nice and large, but the netting that comes with it is tight, so you can’t fit much under there - you’ll have to get creative with bungee straps if you do want to lug larger loads.

The SP Connect phone holder is a neat touch and its is beautifully integrated into the stem, with plenty of clearance so nothing catches when steering. 

There’s also a charging port located just beneath it, so you can practically use the phone all day without worrying about power.

Verdict

It is easy to see why the Orbea Diem has won a number of design rosettes, including the IFA Design Award 2024, as well as a coveted RedDot Bicycle Design award this year. Everything is brilliantly thought out and it makes for a super-clean, super easy to live with eBike for daily use. 

In terms of specification, I would opt for the Diem 20, as it offers - IMHO - the perfect blend of larger batteries for increased range, as well as the fuss-free Gates belt drive, without the Enviolo automatic shifting system that irked me during testing. 

Charging is dead easy (it takes around five hours) and thanks to the lightweight nature of the bike, it’s simple enough to lug it to a convenient space to plug it in… a good thing considering there isn’t an option to charge away from the bike.

As for range, it is difficult to pinpoint an official figure, as it all depends on riding style, assistance levels and terrain, but we’ve seen 100-miles touted by a number of retailers. 

That’s mightily impressive and we can imagine the 630Wh batteries are good for weeks of short hops between plugging in, as I only had to charge it for testing purposes, rather than out of necessity.

Also consider

There are so many good electric commuter bikes out there these days, but we have been particularly impressed with the Canyon Roadlite:ON series, of which there is a new, top of the range CF 9 LTD model coming soon. 

It is priced similarly to the Orbea, looks fantastic and offers some of the clever design touches touted by the Spanish brand. Although its 430Wh battery is way down on those offered in the Diem line-up.

Alternatively, the VanMoof S5 is an equally cool and technologically advanced machine, coming in cheaper than the Orbea, but again lacking the battery firepower. 

VanMoof has also struggled historically with making bikes available outside of its domestic market.

We also rated the Volt Infinity when we tried it, which isn’t as flashy as the Orbea, or fellow rivals mentioned here, but it does come in cheaper and it boasts an impressive battery range.