Gravel bikes are a relatively new trend in the world of cycling, especially when compared to the two disciplines of mountain and road cycling. Having been into cycling all my life, I remember scoffing whenever I'd see a gravel biker on the trails around a decade or so ago, thinking to myself that these bikes would never take off. Needless to say, I was proven wrong—so much so, in fact, that I now have a bunch of gravel bikes in my collection.
What I don't have in my collection just yet, however, is an electric gravel bike, and indeed, there are now a good number of e-gravel bikes in the market. The newest of which comes to us in the form of Masi's Barolo i/O gravel bike, a bike that's so good it's already sold out. Masi, an Italian bicycle company with nearly a century of history behind its name, is currently being sold under U.S. company Haro Bikes' catalog. Suffice it to say that the new Barolo i/0 raises the bar in gravel e-bike performance.
For starters, a bike of this caliber will set you back a hefty sum of $6,000 USD—well beyond the budgets of casual cyclists, myself included. That being said, what will this chunk of change get you? Quite a lot, actually. For starters, the bike has a full carbon fiber frame which packs a Fauza Evation mid-drive motor. Fauza, one of the brightest up and coming e-bike motor specialists was recently acquired by Porsche, signifying that the German automaker sees some true potential in this company.
What makes the Evation drive system so good is that it offers the central balance of a mid-drive motor, but without the drag other systems suffer from when being operated manually. In this sense, it can be pedaled just like a standard bicycle once the battery is completely drained. Speaking of which, the Drivepack battery is claimed to be able to return 80 miles of range on a single charge, so you'll surely be able to map out your ride long before you'll need to manually pedal your way back home. As for performance, the Evation produces 55 Nm of torque and 250W of continuous power, translating to a op speed of 28 miles per hour.
Now, onto the flashy bits. Just like your usual top-shelf grave bikes, the Barolo i/0 gets a full Shimano GRX drivetrain with an 11-34T rear cassette. The bike rolls on DT Swiss rims wrapped in Kenda Alluvium Pro rubber. Thanks to its carbon fiver frame and fork, compact motor and battery, and previously mentioned Shimano kit, the Barolo tips the scales at just 14.4 kilograms—very impressive for a gravel e-bike that cranks out this much performance.
