Norwegian Fara Cycling adds a new F/RD aero road bike to their adventure-ready bike line-up, mixing all-day geometry and a hint of the integrated features of the fast gravel bikepacking-ready F/AR all-road bike. Developed for road cyclists looking to ride further, the aero endurance F/RD still leans towards all-road, but does it faster & lighter than ever…
Fara F/RD aero carbon endurance adventure (all) road bike
Fara’s earlier all-road bike already blurred the lines between all-road & fast gravel versatility at the start of this year, with generous tire clearances and integrated strapless bikepacking bags. Now, this new F/RD road bike does essentially the same, dialed back lighter and more aerodynamic with (slightly) smaller tires and a smaller frame bag…
What’s New?
The biggest outward difference between the original all-road and this more road-focused F/RD is more aerodynamic optimization – without going into full aero road bike cookie-cutter mode. The new bike is built with aero-optimized NACA airfoil profiles throughout, using “truncated tails” for a good balance of weight, stiffness & decreased drag. New wide-set legs on the fork also provide big tire clearance and reduce turbulence around the spinning front wheel.
Fara says UCI approval of the new frame is pending, expected before bikes start shipping in early 2022.
The other major shift from the F/AR to this F/RD is downsized tire clearance, but it still is firmly in the all-road department with room for 32mm tires. It’s surely not a gravel bike, but there are plenty of hard surfaces you can tackle comfortably with a 32mm wide road tire.
The new aero road bike still carries over Fara’s Integrated Bikepacking System (with its unfortunate IBS acronym), now in a new IBS Light iteration for fast & far road riding. The F/RD gets two standard-spaced bosses with Fidlock magnetic mounts under the toptube that let riders quickly snap into place the Aero Box mini frame bag to carry a packable rain jacket, snacks, spares, or even a small camera for longer rides.
Tech Details
Fara’s new endurance aero road bike features Token’s A-Box full internal cable routing solution, that keeps the cables outside of the bar where they are easier to manage, then tucks them into the frame through the headset. And bar & stem setup can be used, with some F/RD builds using one-piece cockpits.
Fara says they developed the made-in-Taiwan carbon frame together with pro race input from former World Champ Thor Hushovd for a mix of race-ready speed and comfort.
The result is a “precise handling” fast endurance road geometry paired to all-day compliance. The bike gets optimizes for improved vertical compliance from the relatively small fork blades, back through a tapered toptube, and into a set of dropped & slightly curved seatstays.
The bike also features a hidden wedge seatpost clamp, a reversible aero seatpost with 0 or 24mm setback, plus a T47 bottom bracket.
The result in the end is said to be “extremely lightweight” with the Fara F/RD frame weighing less than 845g. An ideal bike for racing one weekend, or exploring further from home the next week.
Fara F/RD – Pricing, options & availability
The new Fara F/RD road bike open for pre-sale today, with deliveries slated for next spring, 2022. Five stock sizes will be offered (48, 51, 54, 56 & 59cm) in four standard colors – Fjord Green, Winter Sky Blue, Wet Asphalt & Morell Red – plus a limited Signature series of Carbon Black with Red Morell logos. The Fara F/RD is available only as a complete bike, with Ultegra mechanical builds starting at around 3437€ (34,990kr).
