Top 10 finish for OOLAB at the E-EDR World Cup with Rise and Shimano's Free Shift technology

A few weeks ago we knew that under the OOLab project (Orbea Optimization Lab) Orbea was testing the new Shimano Free Shift system in competition and mounted on a Rise. Now, the legendary rider Damien Oton just got into the Top 10 of the E-EDR World Cup with this same ebike.

Damien Oton finished 8th with Rise and Shimano's Free Shift technology in the first E-EDR competition of the season

OOLab is Orbea's flagship innovation project, where the brand develops and tests new materials and assemblies, both its own and those of its closest collaborators. Orbea and Shimano have been conducting tests and taking part in competitions to test and optimize the new Shimano XT Di2 derailleur with Free Shift technology.

This time Damien Oton and Gabriel Torralba were the riders in charge of pushing an Orbea Rise mounted with the new Shimano at the E-EDR World Cup in Finale Ligure. And their results could not be better, as Oton has managed to be among the top 10. This is how the Orbea rider explained it:

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"The Free Shift technology has helped me a lot in competition given the characteristics of Enduro. Since we can't learn the whole course in advance, we face many situations where we don't have time or ability to react, for example in a very tight corner where you enter too late." 

"In that case, with the Free Shift we can go up one or two cogs without pedaling and have a proper gear ratio."

Here you can find all the details and the complete range of Orbea Rise 2023, and in this other article you can learn a little more about Shimano's Free Shift technology.