My unfiltered opinion
Honestly, leaving behind this brand and the project we created together has been one of the hardest and most painful things I’ve done.
But just because something is painful doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do.
Now that I no longer have any contractual ties with Forestal, I feel free to share my real, unfiltered opinion about this bike: the Forestal Siryon.
An opinion born from experience, hundreds of kilometers, and genuine love for the project.
As a bike, it’s simply amazing
Honestly, I think it’s a damn good bike.
I love how it feels, I love how it descends, and I love the way the geometry and kinematics work together.
It’s just an incredible bike.
And, of course, it’s beautiful. One of those bikes that even people who don’t ride turn around to admire.
Besides my personal bike, I also worked with seven other Forestal bikes for a rental project I set up with them.
I’ve seen many different people try this bike, and they all said the same thing:
👉 “You get on it and it immediately feels like yours.”
No awkward “this isn’t my bike, I need to get used to it” phase.
You just jump on, and it feels right from the start.
Downhill, it’s just insane
The Siryon descends like an absolute beast.
In technical descents, it’s incredibly stable. At high speeds, it stays straight, firm, and fast.
Super stable.
At slower speeds, yes, it can feel a bit more unstable, but it’s something you can easily compensate for with a bit of balance training.
At first, I needed a couple of rides to get used to it because it’s a bit longer than my previous bike.
But honestly, after two rides, I was fully adapted.
The bike weighs around 19-20 kg, which for me is perfect.
It grips the ground beautifully, providing tons of confidence, but it remains agile enough to jump and move around easily.
This year at Vallnord, I had an incredible time with it.
Especially on the tabletops — it even felt better than my downhill bike!
“Wow, it floats perfectly… lands perfectly.”
In enduro riding too, it performed spectacularly.
I really wish I had the chance to try it with a double crown fork — I bet it would be next-level!
Electric vs Muscular Siryon
Last year, I raced with the muscular Siryon prototype at the Sant Andreu de la Barca race.
The geometry is similar: just half a degree steeper head angle and a slightly different seat tube angle.
They told me, “You won’t notice it.”
Spoiler: you absolutely notice it.
But the main difference was the weight.
The muscular version felt a lot more nervous and unstable.
The electric Siryon, with that extra bit of weight, is way more stable and confident downhill.
For me, it hits the perfect balance between weight, geometry, and handling.
About the kinematics: simple on the outside, complex underneath
The rear suspension uses a single pivot with linkages, and even though it looks simple, the underlying kinematics are actually very sophisticated.
Rather than using a classic triangle design with lower stays, the Siryon’s swingarm is built as a single rigid piece.
The leverage ratio and suspension behavior are driven by the specific path of the rear axle and the precise design of the linkages.
These linkages act like a virtual pivot, providing a progressive and non-linear suspension feel — super stable, especially on fast and technical descents.
Overall, the sensation is very similar to riding a downhill bike — but even better, because it still pedals very efficiently.
The motor and assistance: smooth, but not perfect
The motor was developed by Forestal in collaboration with Bafang.
They were pioneers in bringing out a lightweight e-bike way before anyone else even thought about it.
Massive respect for that.
It delivers 250W and 60Nm, and the feeling at the pedals is excellent: no lag, fast response, and smooth, progressive assistance.
Are there things to improve?
Yes.
Occasionally, very rarely, the assistance cuts off for a microsecond.
Since I had the motor upgrade, this issue has become much less frequent, but it’s still something to be aware of.
The battery: the Achilles’ heel
Here’s where things aren’t as shiny: the battery.
It’s a 360Wh unit, but realistically you get about 310Wh.
And in races… that really made me suffer:
“I was always stressed about battery life, always managing it carefully, while competing against full-power e-bikes.”
A few months ago, they launched an “upgrade” supposedly offering more autonomy…
but I honestly haven’t noticed any improvement.
If anything, it seems worse: it takes longer to charge, and now when the battery hits zero, it cuts off immediately — no extra 1-2 km safety margin like before.
That said, when the bike is off, it pedals surprisingly well.
Thanks to a system that fully disengages the motor, there’s no drag at all.
The screen and app: looks amazing, functionality needs work
The integrated screen is absolutely gorgeous.
Honestly, whenever I ride another bike, I miss it.
But in terms of features… it’s still a bit weak.
It has a map, supposedly geolocated, but it has placed me in the middle of the ocean, in Africa… pretty much anywhere but where I actually was.
It should be able to record routes, but it never worked for me.
(Although, to be fair, I never chased them for a fix.)
“It’s cool to have, but for me, what matters is how the bike rides. And it rides really, really well.”
There are four assistance modes: eco, sport, race, and nitro, plus the walk mode.
Honestly, eco mode already provides a lot of assistance.
It would be awesome if we could tweak the levels through the app — it was promised in future updates, but so far, nothing yet.
Not an e-bike for long rides — a bike for pure fun
This is not an e-bike for long endurance rides or technical uphill trails.
It’s not that kind of machine.
It’s a bike meant to climb fire roads comfortably and have an insane amount of fun bombing down.
I did one full “e-bike” ride with it — and yes, it handled it.
But if you do a lot of technical climbing… the battery won’t last.
“This is a bike designed to enjoy more and suffer less.”
Repairs and maintenance: reasonably good
With my personal bike, I’ve been lucky.
I only had two major issues (both battery deaths), and Forestal replaced them.
With the rental bikes, yes, I had to replace motors, screens, controllers…
I spent hours updating software.
But honestly, nothing beyond what’s normal when you deal with this level of tech in bikes.
Final thoughts: would I recommend it?
Yes. I love this bike.
And I probably always will.
It has given me incredibly frustrating moments…
but it’s also given me some of the best riding experiences of my life.
If Forestal manages to fit a bigger battery into this bike — without changing anything else —
they’ll have a truly unstoppable machine.
Because the assistance is good.
The behavior on trails is addictive.
It just needs more range to be perfect.
“I truly hope Forestal keeps moving in this direction, because the Siryon deserves to be at the very top.”
