A new name in bikes, Cairn Cycles is the latest venture for The Rider Firm, the operation behind Hunt Bike Wheels and the Dissent133 glove layering system.
Cairn’s first machine is an e-adventure bike and its now taking pre-orders. It’s powered by the Fazua motor system also seen on the recently launched Look E-765 Optimum endurance road e-bike and on the Focus Paralane2, which we’ve tested here at Cycling Weekly.
The Cairn e-Adventure 1.0 is priced at £3489 and can be secured now with a £299 deposit on the Cairn Cycles site with delivery scheduled for end-June.
Battery sits in the chunky downtube
Made of alloy, the bike has a carbon fork and comes with a mix including Ritchey finishing kit. As often with this style of bike, you can ride either 650b wheels with tyres up to 2.25 inches or 700c with tyres up to 45mm. Naturally, the wheels are Hunt 4 Season Gravel Disc, and come fitted with WTB Exposure tyres.
There are eyelets for mudguards and a rack and internal dynamo cable routing through the right fork leg.
Battery can be dropped out of the frame and the bike ridden without it, saving over 3kg
According to The Rider Firm: “After exploring a few different options during the conceptual phase of Cairn's development, it became clear very quickly that the Fazua system is the absolute best in the world for the intended usage of the bike, and this is further evidenced by the decision of some of the world's biggest bike brands to adopt the same system.”
It singles out Fazua’s two sided torque measurement at the crank, that metes out power dependent on the effort that you’re putting in. The Rider Firm reckons that you can get a range of between 55km and 90km from a charge dependent on the level of support selected on the bar mounted controller.
There are four power mode options, including switching assistance off and a Rocket mode that adds 400 watts to your efforts. As with all e-bike systems, assistance has to cease once you reach 25kph.
Fazua has the option to remove the battery pack too. That saves over 3kg of weight, but doesn’t affect the e-bike’s rigidity.
Finally the accompanying Fazua app lets you set up your own customised support levels.
E-adventure/gravel bikes look to be becoming a hot product at the moment, with Ribble recently launching its CGR AL e and other leading brands about to launch their own versions.
The Cairn e-Adventure bike will be on show at Fazua’s stand at Sea Otter this week.
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