|
|
BIKE TESTS: FOCUS IZALCO TEAM
Road Bike Action
November 11, 2009
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Focus Bicycles is one of the most popular brands in Europe, and in 2009, they are making a huge push into the U.S. market headed up by industry veteran Scott Rittschof, who is setting up the new Focus headquarters in the cycling-crazy town of Carlsbad, California. Now seen under German Team Milram, Focus is poised to make inroads in the U.S. In fact, they are bringing in 40 models of road, ‘cross and mountain bikes into the market this year. “Focus is in this for the long haul. It’s a great time for us, and we are going to offer a premium brand with German engineering and extremely competitive prices,” says Scott.
For the first time, a ProTour German team is now riding German bikes with Focus. “I think that these are the best bikes momentarily in the market,” said Milram’s young hopeful, Linus Gerdemann. We were lucky enough to get our hands on the Focus Izalco Team bike, the same bike the team rode in the 2009 Tour de France, to test out some German engineering.
THE FRAME
The Milram-decorated Focus Izalco is light. Our 58-centimeter frame weighed in at 14.1 pounds. The high-modulus unidirectional carbon frame features carbon rear dropouts, a 3T Funda Pro carbon fork and a unique frame design called SSPS (Stable Stiffness Per Size). This engineering practice allows riders to experience similar stability with “differing frame sizes due to the adaptation of tube sizes.
THE NUMBERS
The SSPS system employs three differently sized main tubes for each size: 48cm-50cm, 52cm-54cm, and 56cm-62cm. Our 58-centimeter Izalco Team featured a 57-centimeter top tube, a 73.5-degree head angle and 73.5-degree seat angle. The claimed frame weight on the Izalco Team is 1050 grams.
THE PARTS
The Focus Izalco Team comes equipped with Milram’s choice of SRAM Red components, sweet Lightweight Standard C Wheels ($5400), a Continental Force/GP Attack tire combination and a Fizik Arione saddle. An FSA OS steam and Swallow K-Force Carbon bar and K-Force Carbon post complete the package. For those of you who are now experiencing uncontrollable wheel envy, the Lightweight C’s came in at 1150 grams and have no spoke nipples, feature carbon spokes and use no rim tape. Guess what? The tubular version the team runs are even lighter. If you are a larger rider, don’t fret. The Lightweight C wheels feature a rider weight limit of 264 pounds, which Focus points out is actually the weight of two Fabian Wegmanns!
THE RIDE
The Focus Izalco Team is a bike built for racing. It is stiff but amazingly responsive and quick. It could have been the 14.1-pound weight of the bike, and probably is, but it climbed like a goat after five espressos, and it only took a few runs on our local descents to feel comfortable at speed. While light, the Izalco Team felt stable and substantial on the flats and while sprinting, and we felt like the bike had more potential to accelerate than our collective legs were able to muster up. The Milram blue with the thoughtfully sized tubing also gave the bike a panache that made it even more fun to ride. It’s a sensitive handler, meaning minor adjustments elicit a response from the Izalco Team, so people prone to over-ride certain corners or descents will need to tone it back a bit and let the Izalco take over and perform.
THE VERDICT
We were very impressed with the Izalco Team. Once we got over the bling factor of the Lightweight C wheels (to be honest, we never completely got over it) we realized that a rider can own a ProTour tested bike with great components for around $6600 if you switch out the wheels. Not that we would want to, but it’s an option with Focus to run Mavic Cosmos Carbone SLR wheels and be out the door for under $7000. Add that to precise German engineering, painting and assembling (Focus has a huge factory in Germany), and the bike becomes even more attractive. We’ve seen some of their other models, including mountain bikes, and if the Izalco Team is any indication of their other models, Focus will be met with a line of happy customers when their bikes start landing in the U.S. Welcome to America.
PRICE: $11,900
INFO: www.focus-bikes.com
WEIGHT: 14.1 pounds
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|