We recently reported on the MATE folding bike that ended up rainsing nearly $3.5m on Indiegogo. MATE touted itself as “the coolest and most affordable e-bike ever”; this Purismo folder is definitely, unquestionably, cooler. Though, at €6,300, not anywhere near as affordable.
“What if we could reinvent urban mobility?”, ask Purismo. They haven't exactly done that though, just made a very-nice-looking electric folding bike, and there's nothing at all wrong with that. Here's their artfully-shot promo vid:
The Purismo has a a full carbon fibre folding frame, that's hand-crafted in Italy. It's a fairly traditional fold, with the main beam and steerer tube getting a hinge each. The hinges themselves have a very smart circular closure with a quick-release clamp, and the seatpost quick release uses the same colours and lever design. The frame uses a mix of matt and gloss finish and the whole effect is, well, pleasing. It's a very light bike too, with Pursimo claiming a sub-14kg weight for the complete bike. That's considerably lighter than the Gocycle, which you could argue was its nearest obvious competitor.
Motor-wise the Purismo isn't doing anything ground-breaking: there's a rear hub motor and the battery is in a bottle mounted behind the seatpost. The bike uses a cadence sensor and there's a bar-mounted remote to control the power. It seems a shame that Purismo couldn't integrate the battery into the frame; it seems like there should be plenty of room as it's only a small 244Wh unit that has a claimed range of 40km. Purismo tell us that it's something they're looking at for future editions of the bike.
Finishing kit is all high-end stuff. There's a Shimano XT 10-speed transmission, Magura hydraulic brakes, Schwalbe city tyres and Brooks saddle and leather grips. All of this added to the carbon frame means a premium price: €6,300 for the standard bike, and Purismo will be doing a 5-piece limited edition run of the bike using high-grade Textreme carbon for a cool €9,500 each.
Pre-order is available now from http://purismo.net if you fancy re-inventing your urban mobility.
