Focus Bike Quality and stiffness!

bridboy

Can anyone advise me regarding the quality of these bikes as the value is good but I want a stiff frame with little BB movement and frame flex. I am looking at the Izalco Team with sram red and fulcrum one wheels for £2399.

Anyone who owns a similar model or have just got one of these please let me know what you think. The weight is awesome at 6.6kg so it is a strong possible. The only concern is that they only offer a three year warranty when alot of manufacturers offer lifetime.

Thanks and I look forward to your replies.

Eat My Dust

I think if you are going to spend that kind of money then you have a lot of really nice bikes to choose from!! I have a Cayo which I think for a grand you can't beat (I'm sure the planet x is just as good!) but, when you get over the 2 grand mark, I think even I (a Focus lover) would be looking elsewhere!!

I wouldn't actually mind seeing the sales figures for the top end Focus bikes, as I would be surprised if people were choosing Focus over some of the top brands.

bridboy

Yes I know what you mean but the problem with the established brands is that for the same sort of spec on a bike you are looking at £3000 plus. That price is not a problem but the value for money is good as the retailer wiggle is also the importer and you save money for the middleman. If the quality is there then why bother paying for the name? Another worry is there sizings. My current bike is a 60inch and there models only goto 58!

Monty Dog

60 inch - wow a five-foot frame! You must be big bloke - play basketball too?

colint

I'm pretty sure that there was a review of the Focus in procycling a few months ago, it was the top of the range model with the lightweight wheels, but it should give you some pointers

redddraggon

I've not heard any negativity from reviews or from owners on this forum. I'm convinced enough that it's a good chance that I'll be getting a £1000+ Focus as my next bike.

If they were poor quality you'd probably hear about it on this forum, and a quick search Google would probably bring up any complaints about Focus if there were any.

cougie

I'd probably not spend upwards of 2k on a bike that i hadn't sat on.
What abou tthe planet x bikes - you can at least try them out in a couple of shops.
And I'd rather go with Campag or Shimano - to me SRAm hasnt proved itself yet on the road and i wonder whether it will still be around in a few years ?

nickwill

cougie wrote:

I'd probably not spend upwards of 2k on a bike that i hadn't sat on.
What abou tthe planet x bikes - you can at least try them out in a couple of shops.
And I'd rather go with Campag or Shimano - to me SRAm hasnt proved itself yet on the road and i wonder whether it will still be around in a few years ?

I'd second that first sentence, How do you know whether a bike fits properly and feels right unless you sit on it? Its a gamble I wouldn't take.

dcj

I bought an end of line Exalco Extreme in September to get my hands on the Carbon Sports Lightweight wheels (with the intent to swap them over to a 3 year old campag Record equipped Litespeed Ghisallo). The Focus is a superb bike.

I should point out, for various practical reasons I need 2 bikes. The 07 model Extreme used last years version of the Frame to be found on the 08 model top end Focus bikes.

Wiggle give a seven day refund on Focus so you can ride and return it if not to your liking. That's very low risk.

The Focus Extreme is stiff and fast and the Dura-ace kit is great - it is a perfect spec for racers. All I needed to do was swop to a longer stem.
The wheels offer exceptional speed.
Looking to see where they might have cut corners for the price I gave up after seeing the fork even had a carbon steerer when I swopped the stem, which I really wasn't expecting.

A big name branded bike with this spec would easily top £6 - £6.5k
The fact that wiggle did not sell out immediately of the Extreme is surely down to the power of well known brands to turn us into 'discerning' customers when actually we become dismissive.

They only netted me when I did the sums on the wheels and worked out the rest of the bike was being sold for the same price as an entry level branded carbon frame elsewhere. As decisions go, once the penny dropped this one was a no-brainer.

I picked up a Focus catalogue at the Earls Court show - the new Izalco team looks excellent value.

cougie

Oh they're great value definitely, but I'd be hesitant about buying a set of those lightweight wheels too. You saw what the dog did to them in the tour ? And I dont think they came out particularly well in the Comics tests a few weeks back ?

If I were a top flight pro then maybe I'd pay for a set, but otherwise I cant see how they can justify the performance against cost ?

wildmoustache

lightweights actually have a reputation for great strength, though once they are busted you need a new (discounted) set from carbonsports.

i wouldn't buy them unless i came into serious wedge (god, please make it happen), as I think there are wheels that are much better value for money out there, but yes i would love a set of the new 1080g lightweight clinchers!!

anyway, to return to the izalco extreme, i reckon it looks great value, and focus's 2008 range looks even better than 2007 and should IMO make the brand more attractive. one point on that bike is that i would take the 6.6kg with a pinch of salt, any bike with racing 1 wheels would really, really have to go some to get down to that weight and I don't see that the componentry on the Focus would hit that. I reckon it actually weighs about 6.8kg 6.9kg without pedals. not much difference, admittedly, but don't base your decision on it being a 6.6kg bike.

dcj

wildmoustouche is right about not basing a buying decision on 6.6kg - There is no way the Team can be that light unless they weighed it without the back wheel

giant_man

[quote="cougie"]I'd probably not spend upwards of 2k on a bike that i hadn't sat on.
What abou tthe planet x bikes - you can at least try them out in a couple of shops.
And I'd rather go with Campag or Shimano - to me SRAm hasnt proved itself yet on the road and i wonder whether it will still be around in a few years ?[/quote]
Yes, you're right about SRAm, it hasn't proved itself, and neither have Focus who are a relatively new frame brand. yes I know C+ have tested a few Focus frames, but so far there have been no returns or frame failures, but if I had 2 grand i have to say I wouldn't be looking at a Focus.

wildmoustache

to be fair Focus are big in deutschland and AFAIK there are no big issue with them... i reckon they pass the reliability / build quality test no problem.

the brand doesn't really do it for me, but on the other hand, the low price would allow you to get some really nice aero clinchers on the thing, and sell the F1s to part finance them.

apparently SRAM red has sorted the main issues there were with Force, though it is unproven stuff in a sense yes (when compared to DA and Record). I really like the look of Red actually. neat cassette design as well.

I'm not sure a big name bike with that spec would be £6k !! But on the other hand it's hard to think of much better value for £2400. I'd say perhaps the 2008 Canyon range is preferable in terms of groupset options and also their frames are very highly rated if you like stiffness.

Maybe a Canyon Frame (£700), with DA (£650), and some american classic 420s (£600)
and then high end finishing kit would make a better bike. If you wanted to drop more weight then add on another £300 for Record, and you are still only asking a bit more than the Focus.

dcj

wildmoustache - sorry for the confusion, when I said a big name big with that spec would be £6k I was talking about the Izalco Extreme !

SteveR_100Milers

i'm 6ft 1" and I was 16.5 st when I got my Cayo last year, and although my weight has dropped well below that now, my strength has increased. I have used it for to TT, and track racing, and I have found it plenty stiff enough ooer. It easily reveals the stiffness between wheelsets which is a pretty good indicator.

cougie

Ayyy caramba ! 16 stone ! Sounds like you are a good test of a bike.

Iannerurkar

I went for a ride this Saturday around the Barnsley Hills / Peaks with 2 brothers - 1 on a Scott CR1, the other on a Cayo Expert. Both seem very happy with their steeds...both with shimano ultegra componentry. I am in the same boat deliberating over spending approximately £2K on a carbon bike... I would prefer Campag - ( Chorus in all probability) - and so would look at the Expert Campa 2008 ( £1.7K), or bike builder via ribble - Ribble Scuro HCR Carbon Road Frame...
I have a Ribble Alu Road winter bike which has been great...what are your thoughts?
Ian N :?:

BUICK

Don't know if this makes any difference, but when I went to the Track World Championships in Manchester this year the German team were all riding Focus bikes and I believe some members of other teams were as well. I only bring it up in order to illustrate that Focus aren't just the 'cheap bikes on Wiggle'! That being said, after much deliberation I decided not to buy a focus Cayo expert myself, partly because I have had difficulty in the past with getting the fit of a bike right and didn't like the idea of buying without trying (although focus have since done some 'trial' days so that people CAN try them out) - and partly out of an irrational fear of carbon! :oops:

wildmoustache

dcj is right about the value on the lightweights.

i honestly think it is worth buying the version with them, ebaying them (you get v. good money for 2nd hand lws) and then choosing a cheaper wheelset of your choice (w.g. why not shamsls rather than r1s - shamals are better)

i like the high end foci. if i was after another high end i might get one myself.

one thing is that the listed weights are balls. the red and r1 equipped bike weighs more than 6.6kg for sure.

aracer

Nickwill wrote:

cougie wrote:

I'd probably not spend upwards of 2k on a bike that i hadn't sat on.
What abou tthe planet x bikes - you can at least try them out in a couple of shops.
And I'd rather go with Campag or Shimano - to me SRAm hasnt proved itself yet on the road and i wonder whether it will still be around in a few years ?

I'd second that first sentence, How do you know whether a bike fits properly and feels right unless you sit on it? Its a gamble I wouldn't take.

By checking geometry spec against your current bike - generally those figures are published, and if you have a tape measure it's easy to compare. I happily bought my current frame and even the stem to go with it based just on the published figures, on the basis that the important measurements (top tube length, seat angle and headtube length) were pretty much identical to what I already had.

Regarding the doubts about SRAM - it's proven itself on the road in much the same way as Shimano and Campag, with pro-tour teams riding it, including taking the top two places at this year's Giro.

andrewgturnbull

cougie wrote:

I'd probably not spend upwards of 2k on a bike that i hadn't sat on.

Hi there.

This is something I've always agreed with.

But then, thinking about it what use is a 10 minute test ride?

Last time I got a new bike I spent literally days adjusting stuff until I felt happy with it, and even then most of the difference was down to having a different saddle...

If you could hire out a bike for a whole weekend's riding before you make a £2k purchasing decision, then that might make a difference.

Otherwise, having the shop mechanic adjust the saddle height then send you off on a lap of the block is pretty much a waste of time.

Cheers, Andy

SteveR_100Milers

IIRC You can use a bike for 14 days and return if to wiggle if its not what you wanted. Then again how many LBS' will lend you an Addict or Prince for a weekend?

aracer

I agree with Andy - meant to add a very similar comment to my post. You might as well buy based on the spec. sheet and reviews (or even just what you like the look of and has sufficient snob value for you - there are very, very few bad bikes in the >£1k price bracket). Though I guess it's obvious that if I bought having not even seen the frame in the flesh that I'd certainly not ridden it!

On that basis, the Wiggle 14 day return policy is pretty good if you're worried about not liking it. When we bought our tandem from SJSC many years ago they had a similar policy - no test rides, but you could return the bike within a certain period if you didn't like it - was reassuring, but we didn't return it! (I suspect from a business POV it stops people test riding then buying from somewhere else).

SteveR_100Milers

Just remember to buy a bucket load of spare mech hangers, as once you have bought the bike they mysteriously become unavailable. Oh, and Focus UK and DE never bother to reply to your emails (5 and counting). Sadly for this reason alone I will not consider buying a Focus bike again.

RidinTukker

SteveR_100Milers wrote:

Oh, and Focus UK and DE never bother to reply to your emails (5 and counting). Sadly for this reason alone I will not consider buying a Focus bike again.

I will finally get my hands on a Focus Cayo Expert tommorow, which I ordered thru a German dealer in June! Had some quality issues that I won't go into detail on in this post - will wait until I see my bike tommorow. What I will already say is though that the customer service support from Focus Germany has been very, very disappointing..

andyrr

Canyon seem to be similar in a way - can buy direct from the company, mega stiff/light with a good rep in Germany.
http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/

If you have a race licence then you can also get a discount :
http://www.canyon.com/_en/service/spons ... ?hptclc=17