With its sporty, stretched seating position, Focus' carbon crosser demands a forced riding style. The lightweight bike is nimble as a weasel on tight trails, and the acceleration is impressive thanks to its low weight and high stiffness values. Two measures help against fork flutter: A tapered steerer tube stiffens the fork; the lower steering bearing measures 1-1/4 inches instead of the usual 1-1/8 inches. Added to this is Berner's flexible carbon cable counter-holder, which is designed to compensate for fork flex when braking. This also works, but the magnesium cantilever brakes are virtually ineffective, especially in wet conditions. The rest of the equipment - a mix of SRAM "Red" and "Force" components - is impeccable. Riders with racing ambitions should swap the wheels fitted with folding tyres for wheels suitable for tubular tyres.
Web: www.focus-bikes.de
Weighted weights; **test frame size greased; ***projected dimension from centre of bottom bracket to upper edge of head tube75 ****Saddle-headtube rise at 75 cm seat height (centre of saddle frame - upper edge of headset cap)
