Ordered a new e-bike. It's not an emtb though.

[gunshot72]

Love my gravel bikes. Couldn't resist...

Cairn E-Adventure 1.0

 

[lumpy]

That's a very cool bike!

 

[Randles]

Looks sweet mate

 

[R120]

I have had my eye on that for a while - very nice

 

[dirt huffer]

Very cool! If someone could do one in Ti i'd be all over it!!

 

[gunshot72]

Very cool! If someone could do one in Ti i'd be all over it!!

Could you imagine the size of the Ti downtube to hold the battery/motor though. It would cost an arm and a leg.

 

[dirt huffer]

Could you imagine the size of the Ti downtube to hold the battery/motor though. It would cost an arm and a leg.

Now that 10k is "normal" spending for an eBike, i bet someone in China could find a way to make it economically viable to produce a tube. I know you can get 50mm downtubes from China currently... but maybe it's wishful thinking...

 

[sparrow]

Now that 10k is "normal" spending for an eBike, i bet someone in China could find a way to make it economically viable to produce a tube. I know you can get 50mm downtubes from China currently... but maybe it's wishful thinking...

Why titanium? Just aesthetics? Can't say I've seen any ti eBikes

 

[Dukeinlondon]

Nice bike! Stealthy too. I don't mind the assist speed restriction on my fs emtb but on a gravel bike, I fear it would bother me as on gravel trail, thats a more typical speed on mine. I guess it's a much lighter bike so pushing past the 25 km/h limit will have a completely different feel? Have you ridden anything similar before?

 

[R120]

There are titanium Ebikers with external batteries, I think Zinn do a gravel one and Moustache a hardtail

 

[Mabman]

Why titanium? Just aesthetics? Can't say I've seen any ti eBikes

GR 270e Gravel e-Bike

And only $8995 usd!

Although the eRoad bike trend seems to be going for light weight via low watt assist and low wh batteries there is another side that I feel will develop although more weight due to higher assist levels and battery wh's will also attract some attention for the drop bar segment. View the Polini effort here to see what this might mean:


1000wh at full capacity, 2850 gr.-500w peak 45kmh motor will make centuries fast and fun.

 

[dirt huffer]

Why titanium? Just aesthetics? Can't say I've seen any ti eBikes

I prefer the feel and ride quality of Ti... that "magic" springiness that people talk about. Once i hit rough pavement or gravel, the Ti really shines - IMO.

My Ti road bike has custom formed seat and chainstay and is really an efficient pedaler, not the wet noodle some Ti bikes are. I think it would be perfect with a small booster motor, with beefed up tubing for the added weight as an eBike

 

[gunshot72]

Nice bike! Stealthy too. I don't mind the assist speed restriction on my fs emtb but on a gravel bike, I fear it would bother me as on gravel trail, thats a more typical speed on mine. I guess it's a much lighter bike so pushing past the 25 km/h limit will have a completely different feel? Have you ridden anything similar before?

The Fazua drive disengages at 25kmh and I've ridden the Focus Paralane2 with the same system and you can't feel it disengaging or any drag at all when you go over the limit. It's a very natural feeling. One thing I hated about my E8000 motor was the drag after 25kmh. There's no such problem on the Fazua.

 

[flash]

The Fazua drive disengages at 25kmh and I've ridden the Focus Paralane2 with the same system and you can't feel it disengaging or any drag at all when you go over the limit. It's a very natural feeling. One thing I hated about my E8000 motor was the drag after 25kmh. There's no such problem on the Fazua.

I'm soooo tempted with one of these. I was looking at the Paralane2 but this looks much better for me. I saw the Cairn video on Bike Radar and was in love but didn't think they were this close to shipping.

It does look like the Cairn is heavier than the Paralane2. I've seen a report of 16kg and one of 18kg for the Cairn. The Paralane2 is 13.5. I'd be using this bike for a mix of touring and as my eRoad bike. I'm not a super roadie so I don't think it would matter much for the extra weight. Or would it? I would ride it once a week with a social group (very social) on a 40km flatish ride without the motor. And probably a couple of longer rides a week with the motor. I suppose when I take my fat arse into account 3kg is nothing.

And I really don't need it. I have a road bike and a hardtail EMTB I can adapt for my touring.

Still, will almost certainly pull the trigger.

Gordon

 

[Levon]

Yeah! V kool! Would love to know actual weight....!!

L

 

[Levon]

My Orbea Gain E Road is due in next week. 40mm tire clearance....might make fun gravel ride with right tires.....

L

 

[MattyB]

I was very impressed with the Gain when I rode it at the NEC bike show. It doesn’t have the ability of the Fazua to remove the motor in seconds, but the assist was very natural with no drag over 25kmh and it’s a fair bit cheaper. The Ribble Endurance SLe also uses the same system I believe. I still don’t really know if an e-road or gravel bike would make sense for most of us though - unless you live somewhere pretty mountainous or have an injury that significantly hinders your cycling I’m not sure they are the game changer that EMTBs are.

 

[Levon]

Im expecting to add 1 hour and at least 1000’ to my usual 2 hour 2500’ rides.

 

[gunshot72]

The Fazua drive disengages at 25kmh and I've ridden the Focus Paralane2 with the same system and you can't feel it disengaging or any drag at all when you go over the limit. It's a very natural feeling. One thing I hated about my E8000 motor was the drag after 25kmh. There's no such problem on the Fazua.

I'm soooo tempted with one of these. I was looking at the Paralane2 but this looks much better for me. I saw the Cairn video on Bike Radar and was in love but didn't think they were this close to shipping.

It does look like the Cairn is heavier than the Paralane2. I've seen a report of 16kg and one of 18kg for the Cairn. The Paralane2 is 13.5. I'd be using this bike for a mix of touring and as my eRoad bike. I'm not a super roadie so I don't think it would matter much for the extra weight. Or would it? I would ride it once a week with a social group (very social) on a 40km flatish ride without the motor. And probably a couple of longer rides a week with the motor. I suppose when I take my fat arse into account 3kg is nothing.

The Paralane2 felt about 15kg with the battery and motor installed when I picked it up. So maybe 13kg with it removed. Could be wrong though. The Bike Radar review of the Cairn claims 16kg with everything installed. At 95kg I’m not too fussed by 2-3 kg weight difference on a bike but I do find 23kg plus emtb’s a bit of a handful on technical rides but then I can only compare them to my Cannondale Trigger 2 carbon full susser at 14kg and that’s not fair!

 

[flash]

The Paralane2 felt about 15kg with the battery and motor installed when I picked it up. So maybe 13kg with it removed. Could be wrong though. The Bike Radar review of the Cairn claims 16kg with everything installed. At 95kg I’m not too fussed by 2-3 kg weight difference on a bike but I do find 23kg plus emtb’s a bit of a handful on technical rides but then I can only compare them to my Cannondale Trigger 2 carbon full susser at 14kg and that’s not fair!

I'm not far off your weight and agree about 2-3 kg. In my case it's not the bike that need to lose it.... More than happy with 16ish kg. For general riding and bike packing that's more than light enough for me.

I have emailed Cairn to see if they will ship an extra battery to Oz at the same time as the bike. I don't think they will ship the batteries separately. Hopefully as they're already shipping one with the bike they can send me a spare at the same time. Currently getting extra Fazua batteries here is difficult.

Gordon

 

[idahoskiguy]

Very nice ebike..........can the motor be programed by the user?

 

[gunshot72]

Very nice ebike..........can the motor be programed by the user?

Yes via app.

 

[flash]

Ordered a medium with sleeve and a spare battery. Couldn't help myself....

Gordon

 

[Wiltshire Warrior]

Bone shaker

 

[Roughshod]

@gunshot72 @flash and anyone else who has one:

How are you guys finding your Cairn bikes? They have recently joined the UK cycle scheme so I'm considering getting one for my commute and some country lane and forest road use in my spare time.

 

[flash]

@gunshot72 @flash and anyone else who has one:

How are you guys finding your Cairn bikes? They have recently joined the UK cycle scheme so I'm considering getting one for my commute and some country lane and forest road use in my spare time.

In summary: If someone stole it I'd order a new one immediately.

I should explain I didn't buy the Cairn because I want to ride gravel every day. On 100% dirt I ride my emtb. I ride it a couple of times a week (or I did pre virus). 90% has been on roads with mostly average B road quality. Rough bitchumen and potholes. I also bought it as a bike I'd take when I travel in Oz and for the odd short bikepacking trip (again postponed due to the virus). So far my *gravel* riding has been limited to some gravel paths and the odd section of gravel road. It's kind of my N+1 bike. Also, I hate hills. I did in 1994/5 when I rode Nairobi to Capetown and I still do now. I like exercise but have never enjoyed suffering for it. So in this context......

Cons:

- The weird feature advertising text on the frame made it to the production versions. I love the graphics but the text should go.
- I should have specce'd a dropper post. My fault. Cairn said they'd look into it if I wanted one.
- I don't like the Sram shifters as much as the Shimano ones on my road bike. But that's not the bikes fault and just a personal preference.

Neutral:
- The Fazua display is form 1970's design school. But it doesn't irritate me as it does some. It just doesn't look right on a good looking bike.
- The battery/motor has to come out for charging. OTOH the charging port is protected when riding.

Pros:

- It's plush. My bike is an early one and shipped with 35mm tyres. Turns out for most of what I'm *actually* using it for, they're perfect. The difference on the bumpy patchy roads where I live is stark. My old Scott road bike with it's 25mm tyres feels like I have a concrete saddle in comparison. The Cairn (or any wider tyre bike) is soooo much more comfortable. Wide tyres are awesome. And I can ride with much lower pressures. The ride position is a bit more upright than a road bike so I find it more comfortable. I'm not a racer and never will be. It's much more *snappy* than my road bike but I'm so used to it now my road bike feels slow to react.
- It's well made. And good looking. Apart from the text I really like how the bike is finished. The welds are great and it looks like a quality bike. I like the components they put on it. It shows they thought about it carefully. My only change is I am currently using a suspension seat post and may swap that out to a dropper.
- The motor is fabulous on the road. I haven't done enough off road to have a real opinion but on roads and paths it's awesome. It's very quiet. You hear it but not always. The cut off is smooth and there's essentially no drag. I pedal at 30kmh quite comfortably on a smooth road. The assistance is much more natural than my Shimano bike. As a single speed gravel bike you don't get the huge gear a road bike gets. I has run out of pedals when descending a big hill. I run out of pedals at about 50kmh. At lights I'm much quicker to 25kmh than my riding buddies so I hold up traffic less when riding alone. I'm rarely in rocket mode. Mostly *eco* and *mid* in hills.
- Range: As a result of the above I find that I'm not using the assistance except when I want it. On hills. And from a standing start. Other than that I'm above the limiter much of the time. As a result on my 60km Tuesday ride with the boys I use two or three (out of ten) bars of battery. If the battery were to die I'd just be peddling a normal bike as there's almost zero drag. On roads and paths I'm easily going to get 100km out of a single battery.

Finally and the biggest pro, is that Cairn are really really good at support. I had a few questions and every one was answered within 12 hours ( time zone differences). I ordered a spare battery and they had shipping issues for that (to Australia). So they refunded me and then once sorted they sent the battery, at no charge, because I had been inconvenienced. I can't praise they team at Cairn/Hunt enough. One of the best companies I've ever dealt with. After the world settles a bit, I'm ordering a second set of wheels (I'd like to be able to change between a more road and a more *adventure* set up and I'm running tubeless) and I'm absolutely ordering direct from Hunt.

Right now I haven't ridden my road bike in 8 months. Sure the Cairn is heavier but it's basically replaced my road bike. I only ride in a social group on the road and Although it's heavier I have no problem leading out the group for a km or so. Maybe the weight is also giving me inertia on flat ground. I still need to pedal up the hills but I don't despise them. Travel is opening back up, slowly, in Oz so I'm rebooking cancelled trips. The Cairn and eZesty will be the bikes I take while travelling for sure. Also hoping to get a couple of three day bike packing trips planned for summer.

I highly recommend the Cairn. Great bike.

Gordon

 

[Roughshod]

Wow thanks Gordon, that's over and above what I was expecting as feedback, really appreciate it.

Like yourself I mostly want it for hills and standing starts. I've had a hardtail MTB for donkeys years and whilst I was looking at e-mtbs for the riding I do I think a gravel bike would be more than enough. I also don't have a car so riding to places on the road and for my commute to work it seems to make the most sense. I was originally thinking of just getting a road bike and had never heard of a gravel bike until I went into my local shop.

For your neutral points, they have ditched that old fashioned looking handlebar remote and it's now integrated into the down tube. I think you can get the handlebar remote as a separate accessory and I believe Fazua are bringing out a newer smaller version too at some point. (Here's the integrated down tube remote for those interested New Fazua Touch Remote ) This could be a bit of a hindrance if you are using a frame back under the top tube (which I might do at some point) but it's probably still workable and doubt I'd come off eco mode that much anyway. I had some some speculation about Fazua releasing a software update with compatibility with GPS units etc, so perhaps this would also allow for mode changes at some point.

The removable battery for charging is actually a plus for me and the main reason I was looking at them over getting something like the Orbea Gain. I'd have to bring the whole bike into my small house for charging otherwise, it also means I can keep it warmer than leaving it in the shed. I can see how some would be put off by this though and then there are others who are meh either way.

Weird to hear that the advertising text made it onto the frame, I presume you gave this as feedback to them? I wonder if they have changed it since your purchase.

I was considering a dropper post upgrade, though I'm pretty short and not sure if it would drop enough for my to warrant the extra cost. I'm going to their HQ for a test ride later this month, so hopefully I can find out. I'm a bit more local to them than you are!

I was also thinking about asking about shimano GRX though having never had a road bike before or ever ridden a drop bar bike I'm not sure if I'll bother. I believe shimano will have shifting up and down on both levers (which I may find easier) rather than sram which does both on one as far as I know. That means you can have a dropper post connected to the other sram lever unless I'm mistaken. I'd also imagine both systems would run a lot smoother than my MTB currently does...

From all the research I've been doing I'd pretty much nearly talked myself into it already and your report has just reinforced the idea. Thanks again for the time you put into that, hopefully others will find it useful too.

Jon

As an extra have you updated it to the new Fazua Black Pepper firmware?

 

[flash]

Wow thanks Gordon, that's over and above what I was expecting as feedback, really appreciate it.

Like yourself I mostly want it for hills and standing starts. I've had a hardtail MTB for donkeys years and whilst I was looking at e-mtbs for the riding I do I think a gravel bike would be more than enough. I also don't have a car so riding to places on the road and for my commute to work it seems to make the most sense. I was originally thinking of just getting a road bike and had never heard of a gravel bike until I went into my local shop.

For your neutral points, they have ditched that old fashioned looking handlebar remote and it's now integrated into the down tube. I think you can get the handlebar remote as a separate accessory and I believe Fazua are bringing out a newer smaller version too at some point. (Here's the integrated down tube remote for those interested New Fazua Touch Remote ) This could be a bit of a hindrance if you are using a frame back under the top tube (which I might do at some point) but it's probably still workable and doubt I'd come off eco mode that much anyway. I had some some speculation about Fazua releasing a software update with compatibility with GPS units etc, so perhaps this would also allow for mode changes at some point.

The removable battery for charging is actually a plus for me and the main reason I was looking at them over getting something like the Orbea Gain. I'd have to bring the whole bike into my small house for charging otherwise, it also means I can keep it warmer than leaving it in the shed. I can see how some would be put off by this though and then there are others who are meh either way.

Weird to hear that the advertising text made it onto the frame, I presume you gave this as feedback to them? I wonder if they have changed it since your purchase.

I was considering a dropper post upgrade, though I'm pretty short and not sure if it would drop enough for my to warrant the extra cost. I'm going to their HQ for a test ride later this month, so hopefully I can find out. I'm a bit more local to them than you are!

I was also thinking about asking about shimano GRX though having never had a road bike before or ever ridden a drop bar bike I'm not sure if I'll bother. I believe shimano will have shifting up and down on both levers (which I may find easier) rather than sram which does both on one as far as I know. That means you can have a dropper post connected to the other sram lever unless I'm mistaken. I'd also imagine both systems would run a lot smoother than my MTB currently does...

From all the research I've been doing I'd pretty much nearly talked myself into it already and your report has just reinforced the idea. Thanks again for the time you put into that, hopefully others will find it useful too.

Jon

As an extra have you updated it to the new Fazua Black Pepper firmware?

The Shimanos have two separate push levers on the right (the full lever and a smaller sub lever) for shift up and down and one on the left for the front deralieur which can be repurposed as a dropper. Sram uses one lever with a short push down and long push up and I sometimes don't get that right and shift the wrong way. I find the Shimano really natural and the change is taking time.

I have done the update but aside from a ride up the street to test it I haven't used it. Exercise in groups has been banned until recently so I've only been on my emtb with @RobNevyn for the last few months.

I wouldn't want the in tube changer/display. You might find it difficult to see/use. I do change modes between off/eco/mid pretty regularly on a ride. A better display would be nice though. Ideally a button like the Shimano e7000 switcher and a garmin display would be ideal for me.

Gordon

p.s. Wish I were close like you. I'd buy them a beer for sure.