FORESTAL SIRYON DIODE REVIEW

THE DIRT

SETUP | Unfortunately the Forestal was the last bike to show up, meaning we had the least amount of time to pre-ride and get base miles on it before taking it to Klamath Falls for the Roundup. On the flip side, since all the other bikes were dialed in, we could dedicate our energy and time to get this beautiful new machine feeling right. That proved to be a rather time-consuming endeavor, however. The suspension, primarily the RFX36 fork was an enigma. The air pressures suggested on the chart were pretty far off from what we felt comfortable with, and it felt like we constantly battled with sitting too low in the travel or having an overly stiff top-end that had our front end washing on the flat, loose and dry marbles of Central Oregon.

Beyond the suspension, we got along quickly with the Forestal. The cockpit, geometry and general feel on the bike was comfortable and had our riders feeling powerful and confident aboard the Siryon. The bar and stem aren’t the best looking but worked well-enough for our crew.

ELECTRONICS & INTEGRATION | We liked the Forestal experience as a whole. As mentioned above, waiting for the screen to power up was a bit longer than ideal, but you can start riding and pedaling with assistance while the screen is still booting up. App and information navigation on the screen was fun and plentiful. Even with gloves, the screen was navigable and had us looking down more often than was probably safe. Seeing those G-Force and Air Time readings was pretty cool. The ability to track workouts, navigate via map and so many other features make the Forestal user experience more sophisticated than anything else we’ve ridden. Is it necessary? Absolutely not, but it is really cool.

POWER & RANGE | For 99% of our ride time aboard the Forestal Siryon, the drive unit was near the front of the pack when it came to power and speed. The Giant’s SyncDrive and Fazua-equipped Transition and Pivot felt a bit more powerful in certain scenarios but the Forestal/Bafang collab unit had us hot on their heels. It is definitely a loud drive unit, emitting a unique and notable tone that reminded you which bike you were on. It wasn’t quite as loud as the Levo SL but notably louder than other drive units.
The range was on-par with other 360Wh bikes, although when you’re riding a big and burly 170mm enduro bike, we had the tendency to burn the battery a bit quicker because we were inevitably hunting out steeper mountains and trails to ride. The forthcoming range extender will be a very welcome addition to add range.

Safe Mode – On our final day of filming we were taking out some of our higher ranked bikes to finalize some impressions, when we suddenly lost almost all drive unit assistance on some self-shuttled DH laps. Temps were in the mid to high 90’s and we had all the bikes in the middle or “Trail” power modes. I (Drew) was on the Forestal and found myself dropping back and having to work harder to keep up. I increased the power mode and felt only a little relief for about a minute or two until I was once again doing the lion’s share of the work. I spent the last 8-10 minutes of the climb switching between power modes trying to find one that offered some sort of assist, but got nothing. Once we got to the top, dropped into our descent and the drive unit cooled off, it seemed to return to normal operations for the remainder of the ride.

We emailed Forestal, who in-turn reached out to Bafang for some insight as to what may have happened. We will include their full response below, but the short version is that the unit has a built-in “Safe” mode that kicks in and drops power when the drive unit reaches a certain temperature. The drive unit is currently en-route for a full tear down and diagnostic evaluation to check all the data from which power modes we were in and for how long, as well as what temperature the Safe mode kicked in at. While they’re happy it worked and prevented permanent damage, they suspect it may have kicked on a bit too early and want to find out why that may have happened.

CLIMBING | We felt comfortable and capable while climbing the Siryon. It was a solid bike to get up and over most terrain, however the length and height of a 170mm 29er is notable when climbing the steepest and tightest switchbacks. If you’re willing to drop the saddle 25% and maybe do some out of the saddle finessing, it’s nothing that can’t be overcome, and for riders who normally spend time on longer travel 29ers will be well accustomed to the concessions made on techy climbs. Aside from that, the bike was comfortable, had a nice suspension platform that blended traction and a relatively efficient rear end with a spacious reach.

DESCENDING | Where the Forestal Siryon is designed to shine! As much as we didn’t love the Ohlins suspension spec on our bike, we saw the capabilities and impressive performance that the Siryon possessed. Our testers particularly liked the Siryon on the jump trails and flow lines as the light weight of this big mountain bruiser left the ground effortlessly and in a controlled manner.

When it came time to get low and let the Siryon plow over the countless rock gardens we sought out, our riders felt the length, confidence and stability were standout features. With the current suspension spec we felt that riders were rewarded when it was a straighter section and you could really let the speeds stay high. If you got off-line or slowed down a bit, the bike, especially the front end could get a bit cumbersome and resulted in hand fatigue.

Similarly, the front end was harder to manage on loose-over hard pack flat corners and areas where traction was scarce. The fork lacked the suppleness we needed to keep that front tire glued to the ground and feeling confident to push hard.

FINISH AND VALUE | From a fit and finish perspective, the Forestal Siryon stands out from the pack when it comes to aesthetics, attention to detail and overall “wow factor”. From the boutique Braking brakes, Ohlins suspension and AXS drivetrain, Forestal offer some impressive options that are competitively priced compared to the other brands and relative price points.

The paint color and finish are eye-grabbing and the Siryon was regularly the first bike people noticed when we were out on the trails. Forestal have done a good job delivering a boutique, crafted machine that owners will be proud to pull up to the trail with.

The Wolf’s Last Word

We will base our summary off the assumption that the drive unit we had in our test bike had some sort of an issue that caused it to engage the Safe Mode earlier than it should have. With that assumption made, the climbing performance was on-par with other SL category eMTBs albeit with a bit more noise than Fazua, TQ,  and Shimano RS units. The handling, playfulness and descending capabilities of the Forestal Siryon are very solid all-around but we couldn’t quite tap into the full potential as our testers just didn’t jive with the Braking brakes and especially the Ohlins fork. Overall, the Forestal Siryon is a good bike that has plenty of good traits, but we’d likely opt for a lower-tier model that comes with different suspension and brakes that we’d likely get along better with.

For a small brand to offer such a unique and well-detailed bike with class-leading technical integration with their top tube display and a relatively competitive price, the Forestal Siryon is a cool lightweight eMTB, but ultimately with this spec, not one that we’d rush to buy over some of the other bikes we’ve ridden.

WHO’S IT FOR?

Aggressive, enduro-type riders who want to jump and shred hard, but don’t need a big battery or range and like to tune Ohlins suspension. We’d wager that other suspension spec’d models will be more user friendly for a wider audience and that it would untap the bike’s potential quicker. Tech geeks who love the touch-screen and riders who love owning that unique, attention-grabbing bike will also love the details and finish of the Forestal.

Price: $10,750 (Diode)
Weight: 42.8lbs
Website: Forestal.com

SPECIFICATIONS

CHASSIS
Frame: Alpha Box Carbon | 170mm
Fork: Ohlins RFX36 M.2 | 170mm
Shock: Ohlins TTX Air | 230x65mm

DRIVE SYSTEM
Motor: Forestal EonDrive | 250W | 60Nm | 1.95kg
Battery: Forestal Aurora Performance | 350Wh | Integrated | Rapid Charge | 1.8kg
Display: Forestal Smart Dashboard | Touchscreen | 3.2” HD Transflective Display
Remote: Forestal Smart Trigger | 3 Buttons | Wired | Battery and Mode LEDs

COCKPIT
Brakes: Braking Incas 2.0, 200F/180R rotors
Handlebar: Forestal Oxydon Carbon | 800mm | 15mm Rise
Stem: Forestal Oxydon | 31.8mm clamp | 45mm Length
Headset: Acros Integrated | Internal cable routing | Blocklock 150°
Seatpost: Rockshox Reverb AXS | S: 125mm, M/L: 150mm, XL: 170mm
Saddle: Fizik Aidon X3 E-MTB

WHEELS
Wheels: Crankbrothers Synthesis Carbon E11
Front tire: Maxxis Minion DHF | 29″ x 2.4″
Rear tire: Maxxis High Roller 2 | 29″ x 2.4″

DRIVETRAIN
Cassette: SRAM XG 1299 | Rainbow | 10-50T
Cranks: Praxis Carbon | 170mm Q-Factor | S/M: 160mm, L/XL: 165mm
Shifter: SRAM Eagle AXS Controller | 12s
Derailleur: SRAM X01 Eagle AXS | 12s