Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

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Mububban
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Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby Mububban » Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:29 am

It's a bit of a "plain jane/ugly duckling" of a bike, no visual wow factor but online reviews rave about how good they are.

Does anyone here own one? I'm after a lightweight climbing bike that won't beat the hell out of me
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edsa
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby edsa » Wed Oct 18, 2017 12:11 pm

I have one, I upgraded from an Izalco Pro to an Izalco Max recently.
Very nice bike, very light too. The Max has noticeably less road buzz than the older Pro but still very stiff.
Great in the hills.
The good thing about the Izalco Max is that, I think I read it somewhere, all the frames are the same, so you could get a lower specced model and upgrade bits.

I don't know about it not being flashy.. I think mine looks ok (but then again everyone loves their bike)

Image

The 2018 range also has some funky color schemes https://www.focus-bikes.com/au_en/road/izalco-max

The Cayo range is also pretty light and I believe the 2016-17 models are on sale at the moment as they are renaming it to Focus Race.

https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /103036123 (similar color scheme to my Max)

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Derny Driver
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby Derny Driver » Wed Oct 18, 2017 12:31 pm

I don't own one but the NRS team I work with have them as factory sponsors. All the boys are on Focus Izalco frames with SRAM Red electronic shifters. They seem to like the bikes.
The 'climber' of the team has swapped a few parts and got his bike under 6kg.
Last weekend at the Melbourne to Warrnambool one of the guys had a small crash in the neutral zone at the start. The top tube cracked right through and he had to ride a spare bike. That's the downside of having one of the lightest frames on the market. (No downside if you get them for free I guess).

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flex5150
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby flex5150 » Thu Oct 19, 2017 8:18 pm

we have broken seat stays on a few, they are ultra thin.
My medium came in at 5.8kg with 202 tubs.
Very light responsive bike, BMC SLR01 15 is more comfortable IMO however.
BMC SLR01 '15 RED22
Giant PROPEL SL RED22.
BMC SLR01 '18 E-TAP

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Mububban
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby Mububban » Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:48 pm

flex5150 wrote:we have broken seat stays on a few, they are ultra thin.
My medium came in at 5.8kg with 202 tubs.
Very light responsive bike, BMC SLR01 15 is more comfortable IMO however.
Haven't managed to ride a BMC yet.

Have you ridden TCRs before? How do you compare them to the Focus?

I've got very little experience, thus my rating of different bikes so far is all about how I feel on them. The TCR put the biggest smile on my face and seemed to react the best to my inputs compared to the other bikes I've ridden so far. Possibly that's down to the 1300g carbon wheels?
When you are driving your car, you are not stuck IN traffic - you ARE the traffic!!!

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flex5150
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby flex5150 » Tue Oct 24, 2017 5:49 pm

never ridden a TCR but the top of the range get good reviews. The SLR0 wheels get good reviews too.
The TCR geo is more akin to the Madone SSL or Emonda SLR than BMC Focus CannonEVO group. That said Madones and Emondas are good company to keep.

If the TCR gets you good vibes go with it. Theyre good bang for buck. Make sure its an Advanced SL not a lower end bike. Shop around Giant are giving away 2016 and 17 model. Or go 2nd hand for even better value
BMC SLR01 '15 RED22
Giant PROPEL SL RED22.
BMC SLR01 '18 E-TAP

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Mububban
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby Mububban » Tue Oct 24, 2017 11:57 pm

flex5150 wrote:If the TCR gets you good vibes go with it. Theyre good bang for buck. Make sure its an Advanced SL not a lower end bike. Shop around Giant are giving away 2016 and 17 model. Or go 2nd hand for even better value
The next level down 2018 Advanced Pro is what I've tested. $3.5k for Ultegra, $5.3k for Dura-Ace and slightly upgraded wheels.

The cheapest Advanced SL1 model is pushing $6k, more than I wanted to spend. Is it really that much better?

I'll check out more local stores and see what they've got in older stock, it'll still be far more bike than I could ever fully utilise :)
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Aushiker
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby Aushiker » Wed Oct 25, 2017 3:43 pm

edsa wrote:The Cayo range is also pretty light and I believe the 2016-17 models are on sale at the moment as they are renaming it to Focus Race.
Ahh that explains why I couldn't find any details on the Cayo ....
Andrew

edsa
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby edsa » Thu Oct 26, 2017 10:30 am

Oops I just noticed a small typo, its Focus Izalco Race..

Link to the 2018 models https://www.focus-bikes.com/int/bikefin ... amily/286/

Yeah.. focus has done some reshuffling with their categories, their Cayo was always a borderline endurance bike, more in common with a race bike compared to their ergoride.
Now they have reshuffled the categories and put the Izalco Max and Izalco Race under the race category and are marketing the Paralane as their endurance model (makes sense I guess, still racy but with bigger tyres for more comfort) and got rid of the ergoride model.

Too bad Focus doesn't sponsor AG2R anymore, would have been interesting to see them use the paralane in Paris-Roubaix with 30-32c tubeless tyres. :D

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flex5150
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby flex5150 » Sat Oct 28, 2017 12:24 pm

Mububban wrote:The next level down 2018 Advanced Pro is what I've tested. $3.5k for Ultegra, $5.3k for Dura-Ace and slightly upgraded wheels.

The cheapest Advanced SL1 model is pushing $6k, more than I wanted to spend. Is it really that much better?

I'll check out more local stores and see what they've got in older stock, it'll still be far more bike than I could ever fully utilise :)
Can speak for the Giants but in Trek terms i noticed a fair bit of difference between 700 series carbon and 600 series.

I might have a new TCR avail shortly ...pm me for details
BMC SLR01 '15 RED22
Giant PROPEL SL RED22.
BMC SLR01 '18 E-TAP

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Derny Driver
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Re: Focus Izalco Max - anyone got one?

Postby Derny Driver » Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:24 pm

edsa wrote:
Too bad Focus doesn't sponsor AG2R anymore, would have been interesting to see them use the paralane in Paris-Roubaix with 30-32c tubeless tyres. :D
28mm tubulars are the choice for all the teams. Larger than that are too slow on the tar .. which makes up the majority of the race.

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