Before we look at the Ride 60, it’s good to remember where Fazua comes from. Beyond its pioneering side on integration into the frame and lightness from every point of view (4.6 kg battery included, 250 Wh and 60 Nm), its predecessor the Ride 50 was intriguing with its modular design. Indeed, the system was in three parts and not two as we are used to: the motor was separated from the “bottom bracket” unit, which was in charge of transmitting the power to the cranks.
You could therefore not only remove the battery but also the motor, to keep only the “bottom bracket” part on the bike and “transform” your AE mountain bike into a classic mountain bike. A surprising concept which, however, did not work at all. Admittedly, we gained more than 3 kg but the friction remained higher than that of a mountain bike without assistance because the gears of the transmission part were still present. In our Lapierre E-Zesty AM test (read Test | Lapierre Zesty & E-Zesty: natural or boosted, a cocktail that is always tangy!), we wrote “it’s good to have this possibility “just in case” (participation in an event that does not accept pedelecs,…) but in practice it is very likely that it will be used very little by owners” and 4 years later, we don’t know of anyone using this feature.
On the interface side, the Ride 50 has had two lives. Between 2017 and 2020, the behavior of the assistance could clearly be improved: (very) reduced autonomy, little punch, very linear. Fazua then released the “Black Pepper” update, which completely overhauled the assistance management to make it more in line with the expectations of a mountain biker. That said, the system remained limited by design and faced with increasingly pressing competition, Fazua had to modernize its offer.