By way of introduction, Focus’ owner simply said “Cyclocross is in our DNA.” And with Jeremy Powers, currently ranked #8 in the world, racing on their bikes and very happy with the frames, its somewhat fitting that they carry over mostly unchanged for 2017.
The big change is the move to flat mount disc brakes on both carbon and alloy frames. And all of the carbon forks, which are spec’d on every model, were redesigned with internal brake hose routing. There’s a foam channel inside to guide the brake hose through it. Since that required a complete redesign, they used that opportunity to switch from 15mm thru axles to 12mm, dropping a few extra grams. The exact amount of weight savings for the fork is TBD.
Other than the flat mounts, the frame stays the same really since that change didn’t require new molds. It’s still sub 900g for the carbon frame. Graphics and spec are all updated, check out the complete line below…
The top level bike is the Mares CX Force, which gets a SRAM Force 1 group and DT Swiss Spline R23 wheels. The entire line gets Schwalbe’s tubeless-ready X-One tires.
Below that is the Rival (A-Class CEX CD4.0 wheels, up front), Ultegra (DTS Spline R24) and 105 (A-Class CEX CD4.0) models for the carbon fiber bikes.
The forks spec’d on the carbon bikes use Focus’ RAT thru axle, which requires only a 1/4 turn to pull out once the lever is opened. Powers said that lets them swap wheels in the pits in under a minute, meaning the second bike can be ready with time to spare as he loops around the half lap before passing the pits again.
All of the frame, carbon and alloy, get RAT thru axles at the rear, too.
Their chain guard prevents it from dropping off the inside and originally was added to prevent things from going south as riders backpedalled leading up to the barrier dismounts. But, it weighs about 50g and can easily be removed from its ISCG05 mounts now that 1x narrow/wide rings have gotten so good.
The top two carbon bikes get their Concept CPX carbon stems…
…and CPX Comfort carbon seatposts. The post builds in measurable compression flex and is available in straight and setback designs.
The carbon frames use a larger PF30 BB shell (with adapters for Shimano-equipped bikes), but the alloy bikes get threaded shells.
The alloy bikes get two models, starting with this 105 equipped bike rolling on DT Swiss R522 wheels. Below it is the Tiagra 2×10 bike with the same wheels. All of the Shimano equipped bikes have double chainrings up front.
The alloy bikes also have a carbon fork with internal hose routing and flat mount brakes, but switch to a standard threaded thru axle rather than the RAT system. It does switch to 12mm axles, too, though. Note: The bikes shown here are all pre-production and may not have correct spec.
The chainstays are shaped to give a little.
Rack and fender mounts come standard on the alloy bikes, not the carbon ones.
Last up is the Mares AX Commuter with Tiagra 2×10 and DT Swiss R522 wheels with Schwalbe G-One tires. Fenders come stock, but it uses their alloy fork with standard disc brake post mounts.
Pricing for all is TBD but should be announced by end of April, bikes available in early August.
