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Interbike 2012: Fantastic details and nice builds from Focus

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Internal dropper post routing? Why not!

With frames and builds like these, Focus should be on bike shoppers’ radar.  Alongside some incredibly-well-spec’d road and ‘cross bikes, the German brand showed some very cool 29er hardtails at Interbike this year.  Though it was the carbon-framed Raven 29r that initially caught my eye, it’s the sub-$1,000 Black Forest that is ultimately most impressive.  Hit the jump for the dirty details.

Hydraulic disc brakes, a remote-lockout fork, and Shimano drivetrain (including cranks) makes the sub-$1K Black Forest a truly impressive package.
Full carbon dropouts and the coolest cable housing ever on the Raven 29r.
A relatively slack head tube and low BB should make the Raven 29er rail. The frame even includes routing for a dropper post, extending its comfort zone.

www.focus-bikes.com

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Nathan
11 years ago

Hey Marc, did you get to see the Super Bud 29R? Very curious about that bike, and similar (same?) geometry as the Raven. Just wondering how you think these bikes would handle out here compared to an Epic 29 or Edict Nine given those have ~ 71 deg head tube and a 73 deg seat tube vs the Focus at 69.5 HT at a steep 74 ST. They sound like very different bikes, and I wonder what would be better here in NM on something like 3 Bottles trail. I’m working on filing all the necessary domestic permits to get a dually 29er in the not too distant future, and I want something suited to all-day enduro riding (just did Taos DBT on a Lynskey Pro 29).

Meta
Meta
11 years ago

Focus cheapens their bikes by using the same fork rake across all models. Simple a terrible decision for small frames.

Steve M
Steve M
11 years ago

Maybe its just me but running control lines inside frames, especially hydraulic, is not a feature.

Mike
Mike
11 years ago

Meta-
Are you talking about mountain bikes with suspension forks? If so, what brand do you know of that uses different fork rake, or offset, on different sizes? The fork offset is specific to the casting of a suspension fork, you can’t change that based on the size of the frame.

Nathan
11 years ago

Why is it a terrible decision on small (road) frames? Manufacturers add more rake and slacker head tubes on small frames to avoid toe overlap and subsequently doom small bikes to crappy handling.

Guy
Guy
11 years ago

Meta, you are small..aren’t you?

thebikegnome
thebikegnome
11 years ago

the slacker head angle (69.5 as opposed to 71 or 70 ) should be fine for smaller bikes. ,at 5’3 i find 29 er’s simply to tall at the head tube . running a negative stem makes it more difficult to loft the front wheel but anything else is chopper like and ridiculous feeling . i’m all for 650b .

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