Focus cayo frame finish. cayo owners please view

stegee

HI all, Ive just received my cayo 105 yesterday and i was really disappointed with the frame finish. Ive taken some pictures and sent them to wiggle. They say its normal for it to look like this.
Could all you cayo owners please look at the below pictures and tell me if it is normal or have i got a duff one.










Thanks steve.

solboy

completely normal for the cayo - check the high resultion image on the wiggle website.

personally i dont like the finish but it wont effect the performance or ride. you need to make your own mind up about if you can live with it. The other option is to pay loads more for a trekalisedale

bails1310

I also received my Cayo yesterday and I do have an element of the finish that has been discussed, but only very slightly, looks like condensation in a couple of small places and there is a light seam on the head tube but overall a lot better than I thought it was going to be after reading reviews on wiggle.

I think each one is individual and the finish can be very different from the next. Without sounding smug, I'm more pleased with mine than the pictures but as has been posted.

It is normal, but there are varying degrees of severity, if you cant live with it then maybe send it back - to be fair the Wiggle photo and yours are very different.

bails1310

Ps - the marks on the tyres, is that from you or how it came?

stegee

Yes, that's how it came out of the box, the tyres do looked used but this was the least of my worries. when i got the bike out of the box i thought someone had spilt chip fat all over the bike. not impressed.

mike ives

The finish on that frame is awful and I definitely think you should send it back. I've got a Planet X SL Pro and if it had arrived to me like that, it would have gone back to them immediately. However, I don't think they would ship a frame out like that.

I think Wiggle must be having a laugh.

cornerblock

That looks terrible, really poor finish. If you had not have said it was new I would have sworn it had been crashed. I would send it straight back personally.

There was another guy on here a while ago who had some problems with Wiggle over a frame, his name escapes me. Speed...... something.

I know who I'd blame.

nicklouse

totally normal for the raw finish. it is the pay off for losing about 200grams of weight.

EKIMIKE

Get educated people! (important bits in bold)

This is an entirely normal finish for a Uni-Directional (UD) carbon fibre frame.

All carbon fibre frames are made this way. The carbon fibre 'weave' people are familiar with is merely an aesthetic layer applied over the top of a UD construction. The 'patchiness' seen on a UD finish comes partly from 'lay-up' or sheets of UD fibres and the epoxy resin which essentially glues the fibres together.

In short, your frame is 100% of solid construction and as intended by the manufacturer. The idea is that no paint = less weight or it is simply a different finish to a painted one. The idea of less weight due to no paint finish isn't particularly sound as paint usually accounts for no more than around 100g, which is truly negligible in regards to performance.

The same question was asked on this forum a few months ago regarding a Cayo. If you read the description of the bike on Wiggle it clearly states that the frame had a "UD (unidirectional) carbon finish" and then goes on to provide a preview image of the finish.

nicklouse

here is a pic I took at the focus factory last year.

Carbon frames. and you can see that is the way it is.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

click for full size.

bails1310

Photos of mine which in comparrison do look very different.

Understand the UD comments, but you've still gotta like the look of what your riding.

meanredspider

The lighting makes the world of didference but this is exactly how the Cayo is supposed to be. Personally I think it's a lot of fuss about nothing but then I see the bike as a tool - I know some people are very precious about their bike's appearance. Each to their own

EKIMIKE

bails1310 wrote:

Understand the UD comments, but you've still gotta like the look of what your riding.

No no, you don't understand.

His frame is normal. The lighting is simply different in your photo's. The finish 'gleams' and looks almost silver in colour under direct light. So if you use a flash on your camera your pics will look like the OP's

PS For what it's worth, my good friend got one of these bike this July in the TdF sale and it is exactly as the OP's is. I've seen it with my own eyes. Plus my Canyon frame has the same UD finish (same bike, two photo's, one 'shiny', one plain black):

petemadoc

It seems to be the latest fashion in carbon, you should be pleased, the messier the finish the more bling!

Someone asked a similar question about the Boardman team carbon a few months back and got flamed

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... sc&start=0

double u tee

This finish is definitely normal with UD carbon, just wait until you see it in the sun it looks awesome!! ALL UD carbon frames are the same, don't worry!!

galatzo

Do you still get 30 day test rides with Wiggle and or Focus ?
Just email Wiggle and they'll arrange for it to be collected.
UD does look like that, I had a painted Cayo a few years ago with some exposed UD bits and it did look like there was some condensation in it. They exchangedmy frame after a few months when the paint/laminate started to look like a mosaic around the headtube.
You've gotta like what your riding so I'd say send it back and get something else.
Canyon, Planet-X, Boardman, Ribble all do similar spec bikes for the money plus at this time of year people are clearing stocks for 2012 models so there should be a bargain out there for you.

Frank pole

I got a Cayo - Normal finish, but it will grow on you!

snakedoc

My specialized tarmac expert SL3 in which the UD carbon is clearly visible just like the photos in this thread - depending on the angle you look at it, the more noticeable it is. I have come to like it more and more - it looks raw!

on-yer-bike

With windsurfing boards its called minimum finish. The rougher they look the more expensive they are and the lighter they are. It also shows off the fact that the board has a bit of carbon in it. Think of all the money that can be saved by leaving a bike frame raw, I wonder if its passed on to the consumer.

RowCycle

on-yer-bike wrote:

With windsurfing boards its called minimum finish. The rougher they look the more expensive they are and the lighter they are. It also shows off the fact that the board has a bit of carbon in it. Think of all the money that can be saved by leaving a bike frame raw, I wonder if its passed on to the consumer.

Would be nice. But it tends to be that they'll charge you more for not painting it )

In rowing boats, those with a clear carbon finish are more expensive, as you can see the craftmanship of the work, so they have to be more careful about the manufacture.

btw I've a Cayo with a similar finish, as someone else said, in bright light it looks like this, but in dull light it doesn't

Avezius

No expert but don't think it would bother me.

This thread reminds me of a trend in surfboards in the 90's.

They called it "speed finish" & there was some blurb about rougher finish reducing friction (probably scientifically correct but negligible at best in practical terms).

All they actually did was put a "speed finish" decal under the fibreglass & didn't bother polishing it up once hardened.

Anonymous

Its an age old conversation (wrt windsurf boards, anyway). Its harder to make carbon laminates thinner and use less resin in order to save weight without compromising on strength, stiffness and durability. Therefore it costs more to do it.

You dont pay for the materials, per se, you pay for the construction, shipping, fx exposure, time delay of sending production spec to china as they cannot make immediate adjustments (unless they employ someone skilled out there), CEOs flying back to china business class, flooding in the factories etc.

dcj

i love your finish.

when i renovated my old trek, before sending it away for a gloss lacquer it looked awesome to me

rockerhopper

Hey, I bought a Focus Cayo 105 Ltd in October 2011 and had exactly the same issues with the finish. I was very disappointed at first but thankfully discovered this is standard on with this type of finish and the ride has been fine. But what seems to have happened now is a little concerning. See pics. Patches of white spots on the top tube have appeared after a ride in the sunshine. Any ideas what might have caused this?. Is the finish just naff?

Frank pole

Seems strange if only appearing on top tube as rest of bike would have been exposed to weather/Sun - have you emailed wiggle to see if they have any reports of similar problems?

rockerhopper

I've just given another look and it's appearing all over the frame! I've contacted wiggle and Focus. Focus' have replied and suggested going to a dealer, which I'll do...

Silly Old Hector

My 2012 Cayo 3.0 has similar, but improved version of this finish. I say improved, because it appears more evenly "raw", if you know what I mean - less inconsistency.

Personally I love it. I did have carbon weave wings on my Caterham 7 (that's a car ) before, which came up a treat when polished, and same on my 1992 Trek road bike, but this feels more up-to-date.