Orbea's Occam trail bike gets new linkage and rowdier for 2022

Orbea's Occam trail bike has a mid-life refresh for 2022 that sees the range get two rear suspension travel options.

The 29in-wheel chassis is still available in carbon fibre and aluminium, and prices start from £2,399 / $2,999 / €2,399 for the Occam H30 and rise to £7,999 / $8,699 / €7,999 for the top-spec Occam M-LTD.

The outgoing model's 140mm rear-wheel travel remains for 2022 but in the guise of the standard Occam, while the new Occam LT gets a boost of 10mm to 150mm travel.

2022 Orbea Occam and Occam LT frame and suspension details

This increase in travel is facilitated by a new shock linkage that means a longer stroke shock can be used – from 50mm to 55mm.

Previously, Orbea upped the Occam's capabilities by bolting on a longer-travel fork – taking travel from 140mm to 150mm, and slackening the head angle from 66 degrees to 65.5 degrees – but the extra fork travel is now accompanied by the increase at the rear.

Orbea says this positions the Occam LT as a big-mountain-cum-light-enduro bike, increasing its versatility. The standard 140mm travel Occam carries on as the dedicated trail bike.

Orbea decided to make this change to the Occam after seeing how people were riding the bike in the real world. It found that riders were loving its versatility and pushing its limits, hence the decision to up rear-wheel travel.

Both models share the same suspension kinematics, which Orbea claims are suited to coil- and air-sprung shocks.

Similar to Devinci's Spilt Pivot and Trek's ABP suspension, the Occam has a concentric axle and rear pivot connecting the chainstays and seatstays. Orbea's system, dubbed Concentric Boost 2, among other things, is claimed to decouple braking and suspension forces, making the rear suspension active under braking.

Orbea has tuned the rear-end to be 22 per cent progressive, where the rear suspension ramps up towards the end of its travel. It also has a high leverage rate, helping to improve its off-the-top sensitivity.

However, it is quick to point out this isn't a scaled-down Rallon enduro bike (which recently received an update for 2022).

Both versions share the same outline that's almost identical to the old Occam model, except for a small change to the shock's linkage where it is now made from two pieces rather than three.

Orbea says this change reduces the chance of "something coming loose." The new linkage also has space to store Orbea's Allen key multi-tool, debuted on the 2022 Rallon enduro bike.

Both the Occam and Occam LT are available in Orbea's OMR carbon fibre and Hyrdo aluminium materials.

2022 Orbea Occam and Occam LT geometry

The geometry remains unchanged for the 2022 model.

The standard Occam has a 66-degree head angle, 77-degree seat-tube angle, 440mm chainstays, and reach figures that span from 425mm to 500mm across the four-size range.

The Occam LT shares the standard bike's geometry numbers, except for the head angle that's now 65.5 degrees and seat-tube angle which sits at 76.5 degrees – both slacker because of the longer travel fork – and the bottom bracket drop (how far beneath the axles the bottom bracket is) sits at 32mm rather than 35mm for the standard Occam.

There will be plenty of critics who say these figures look conservative for a modern trail bike, for example, the 2021 Specialized Stumpjumper Evo – which also has 150mm of rear-wheel travel – is running more progressive geometry.

2022 Orbea Occam and Occam LT prices, specifications and customisation

Orbea's MyO programme lets purchasers customise their chosen bike for their specific needs and budget. The new 2022 Occams are no exception, and each of the 10 models across the carbon fibre and aluminium range is customisable.

This means it's still possible to bolt a 150mm travel fork to a standard 140mm travel Occam, select from a host of different shock options on both versions of the frame, swap out dropper posts, saddles, brakes and tyres.

Prices start at £2,399 / $2,999 / €2,399 for the aluminium Occam H30 and rise to £7,999 / $8,699 / €7,999 for the carbon fibre Occam M-LTD.

2022 Orbea Occam M-LTD

• Frame: Occam OMR 140mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Factory EVOL Kashima 210×50mm
• Fork: Fox 34 Float Factory FIT4 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano XTR M9100
• Dropper: Fox Transfer Factory Kashima
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face Next-SL, Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (f) Maxxis Rekon EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £7,999 / $8,699 / €7,999

2022 Orbea Occam M10 LT

• Frame: Occam OMR 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox DHX Factory 210×55mm
• Fork: Fox 36 Float Factory GRIP2 150mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano XT M8100
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face Turbine R-30, Maxxis Minion DHF 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.5in (f) Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £5,699 / $6,299 / €5,699

2022 Orbea Occam M10

• Frame: Occam OMR 140mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Factory EVOL Kashima 210×50mm
• Fork: Fox 34 Float Factory FIT4 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano XT M8100
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face Turbine R-30, Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (f) Maxxis Rekon EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £5,299 / $5,299 / €5,999

2022 Orbea Occam M30 LT

• Frame: Occam OMR 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float X Factory 210×55mm
• Fork: Fox 36 Float Performance GRIP 150mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano XT M8100 / SLX M7100 mix
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face AR 30c, Maxxis Minion DHF 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.5in (f) Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £3,999 / $4,599 / €3,999

2022 Orbea Occam M30

• Frame: Occam OMR 140mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Performance EVOL 210×50mm
• Fork: Fox 34 Float Performance 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano XT M8100 / SLX M7100 mix
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face AR 30c, Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (f) Maxxis Rekon EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £3,699 / $4,299 / €3,699

2022 Orbea Occam M30-Eagle

• Frame: Occam OMR 140mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Performance EVOL 210×50mm
• Fork: Fox 34 Float Performance 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM GX / NX Eagle mix
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face AR 30c, Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (f) Maxxis Rekon EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £3,699 / $4,299 / €3,699

2022 Orbea Occam H10

• Frame: Occam Hydro 140mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Performance EVOL 210×50mm
• Fork: Fox 34 Float Performance 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano XT M8100
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face AR 30c, Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (f) Maxxis Rekon EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £3,399 / $3,999 / €3,399

2022 Orbea Occam H20 LT

• Frame: Occam Hydro 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float X Performance EVOL 210×50mm
• Fork: Fox 36 Float Performance GRIP 150mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano SLX M7100
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face AR 30c, Maxxis Minion DHF 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.5in (f) Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £3,199 / $3,659 / €3,199

2022 Orbea Occam H20-Eagle

• Frame: Occam Hydro 140mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Performance EVOL 210×50mm
• Fork: Fox 34 Float Performance 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM GX / NX Eagle mix
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Race Face AR 30c, Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (f) Maxxis Rekon EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £2,999 / $3,459 / €2,999

2022 Orbea Occam H30

• Frame: Occam Hydro 140mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float DPS Performance EVOL 210×50mm
• Fork: Marzocchi Bomber Z2 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano Deore M6100
• Dropper: OC2 Dropper
• Wheels and tyres: Orbea OC1, Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO 29×2.4in (f) Maxxis Rekon EXO 29×2.4in (r)
• Price: £2,399 / $2,999 / €2,399