First Look: Forestal Cyon Diode - The Andorran e-bike from CORE Bike
We're still riding the CORE Bike high here at off-road.cc and while there was a lot of cool stuff to take a look at (you can see our highlights here), Forestal's showcase of high-end e-bikes really held our attention. We even managed to get the Cyon trail bike outside for a closer look. Here's what we saw.
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Forestal might be a rather unknown brand to many in the UK but over the past few years it's quietly developed some of the most advanced e-bikes to date. The brand now offers five bikes with three of them of the off-road persuasion. We've managed to wrangle Forestal's trail bike, the Cyon to have a good look at but there's the Siryon enduro bike and the Hydra downhill bike also in the range, all of which are pedal-assisted.
Here we've got the Cyon in its Diode model as indicated by the thin stripe that runs along the frame. Though, straight away it's hard to ignore the bike's colourway, which changes with the light and the perspective of which you look at it. If you remember the TVR Tuscan's colour-changing paint job, you'll know exactly what I mean.
It's not just the colour that's mega futuristic because the bike's display or dashboard is housed directly into the top tube and it features a very detailed touch screen. We're told that the touch screen works perfectly fine even when wet, muddy or with gloves, and while having a quick play, it was impressively responsive. The display runs Forestal's custom-coded app that connects with your chosen device where you'll find tonnes of information about your ride, including some anti-theft tech. The display on the bike can show you your maps along with any ride data, and even your heart rate if your pair it with a monitor.
Then, a minimalist bar-mounted remote controls Forestal's own motor system dubbed EonDrive that's claimed to weigh in at a measly 1.95kg and summons up 250W of power and 60Nm of torque. We're told that the motor is built to last and that it uses titanium for its key components, all held within a magnesium casing. When EonDrive is turned off, it's completely disengaged so there shouldn't be any drag, or noise when pedaling the bike about unassisted.
The 360Wh battery also comes with Forestal's own design. It's fully integrated into the frame and can rapidly charge, sucking up 80% of its capacity in just under an hour and a half. If 360Wh isn't enough for you, the capacity can be boosted up to 610Wh with the 250Wh Aurora range extender fitted.
Of course, this bike isn't just about the fancy motor system as Forestal has put a lot of thought into the Cyon's suspension kinematic and geometry. The brand says that simplicity is key and as such, the Cyon uses a linkage driven single pivot suspension platform, dubbed the Twin Levity linkage system. Forestal says that Twin Levity is calibrated for the particular riding styles of each bike, so for the Cyon it's been tuned for performance both up and downhill.
Moving onto the spec, the Cyon isn't a cheap bike with this Diode model said to cost around £10,000. Softening the blow... To a point is the fact it comes with some pretty high-end kit, starting off with the Öhlins RXF36 m.2 which is paired with the TTX1 Air from the same brand. Both of those offer up 150mm of suspension.
Shifting comes from an XO1 Eagle AXS drivetrain with a nice colour-matched cassette, then this bike is slowed with thanks to a pair of Formula Cura brakes sorted with four-pot calipers. The Cyon Diode then rolls on a pair of Crankbrothers Synthesis Carbon E11 wheels that are wrapped with a pair of Panaracer tyres that look awfully uncanny to some others on the market. All of that is claimed to weigh in at 17.1kg, and that's not bad for an e-bike. Oh, and we can't forget the RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post that completes the wireless ecosystem on this bike.
As for the Cyon's geometry, it's not too shabby with a large frame coming sorted with a 480mm reach. There's then a 65.5° head tube angle, a 76.6° seat tube angle, and a -30mm BB drop. The chainstay on this 29er measures in at 445mm.
At the moment, we're seeing what we can do about nabbing one of these for testing so be sure to check back in for when we do. For now, we can only drool at the pictures from CORE Bike.