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This Focus Izalco Chrono 2009 is no longer available although you may find similar or newer versions below:
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Ready 2 Ride & Free Delivery to UK mainland!
Every bike from wiggle is fully checked & assembled before despatch and will arrive ready 2 ride. Simply open the box, turn the bars, put the pedals on and the bike is ready 2 ride. Check if free delivery is available for your location. |
Focus Izalco Chrono 2009
| L 58 | Discontinued - no longer available | |||||
| M 55 | Discontinued - no longer available | |||||
| S 52 | Discontinued - no longer available | |||||
The Izalco Chrono is the ultimate Triathlon machine and is based on the new Focus/Walser TT Carbon Frame. Walser produces the most sought-after track and TT frames in the world and this is an exclusive version of the frame made for Focus.
The Izalco Chrono has been finished to a very high specification with SRAM's Red components and Zipp wheels. This aerodynamic machine is perfectly designed for speed and coupled with the 3T Ventus Team aerobars and the American Position (AM) of the bottom bracket, will give the rider the most aerodynamic position possible on this bike.
SRAM Red offers the best in shifting performance with their precise bar end levers supplying a crisp and precise shift every time, and with Zipp providing the wheels in the shape of their 808 Clincher carbon wheels you will certainly be shifting up the block with urgency as the speed increases. The Fi:zik Arione TR12 saddle with Magnesium Rails gives the rider the comfort he/she needs and is mounted on the Aero Time Trial seatpost. If you are serious about getting results and want to have the ultimate advantage over your competitors then this machine is the perfect choice. The Izalco Chrono looks amazing, rides beautifully and delivers the most comfortable ride ever. This bike will take you to victory.
When an Olympic and World Champion and a Tour de France stage winner test ride a TT bike and say it's the fastest they've ever ridden, it's an impressive statement, that's exactly what happened when Nicole Cooke and Linus Gerdemann put the Izalco Chrono though it's paces. For more on this feel free to view the Wiggle Bloggle
The Izalco Chrono is now used by the riders in Team Wiggle
Wiggle are proud to announce that Olympic and World Champion Nicole Cooke has signed a deal with Wiggle and Focus Bikes which will see her and her newly created team, Vision1 Racing, riding Focus frames this season. The Vision1 riders will be using Focus Cayo and Focus Izalco frames for training and racing.
Nicole stormed to victory at the Beijing Olympics and has set up the team with the goal of developing the next generation of cyclists ready for London 2012 - and is delighted they'll be riding Focus frames.
Nicole said: 'I have followed the development of Focus over the last two years and have been impressed with their technology and quality of bikes.'
The Vision1 team includes a mix of young British talents such as Dani King and Katie Curtis together with more experienced riders Helen Wyman and Gabby Day who it is hoped will bring the best out of each other over the coming seasons to realise their full potential.
For full details please view the Wiggle Bloggle
Note: Manufacturer may reserve the right to change the specification of that listed or shown on this page.
| Focus Izalco Chrono 2009 | |
| Specifications | |
| Frame | Focus/Walser TT Carbon Frame |
| Fork | 3T Funda Pro Carbon Fork |
| Rims | Zipp 808 Clincher Carbon Wheels |
| Front Hub | Zipp 808 Clincher Carbon Wheels |
| Rear Hub | Zipp 808 Clincher Carbon Wheels |
| Tyres | Continental Grand Triathlon 700x23c |
| Cassette | SRAM OG-1070 10 speed, 11-23 |
| Crankset | SRAM Red 2.2 Double 53/39 |
| Shift Levers | SRAM Time Trial |
| Rear Derailleur | SRAM Red |
| Front Derailleur | SRAM Red |
| Chain | SRAM PC-1070 |
| Brakes | SRAM Red |
| Stem | 3T Ventus Team |
| Handlebars | 3T Ventus Team Aerobar |
| Saddle | Fizik Arione TR12, Manganese rails |
| Seat Post | Aero Time Trial |
| Geometry | ||||||||||
| Size | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
| S/52 | 478 | 525 | 72° | 75° | 418 | 52 | 95 | 371 | 41 | 418 |
| M/55 | 522 | 550 | 73.3° | 76° | 398.3 | 71 | 100 | 371 | 41 | 1002 |
| L/58 | 522 | 575 | 72° | 76° | 398.28 | 71 | 100 | 371 | 41 | 1017 |
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Time trial and triathlon racing bikes are becoming highly advanced machines, with more and more research and development being invested in them to bring out the fastest most aerodynamic machine for the pro riders, the best thing about this is that all this is made available for the public as well. Time Trial and Triathlon bikes have come a long way in recent years with new technology and materials being implemented. The technology hasn't stopped at just the frame either, wheels and aero bars have received a lot of attention along with the rest of the components, TT and tri racing bikes are becoming featherweight, aerodynamic machines helping to reduce your times. Carbon fibre, aluminium and titanium are all used to produce the lightest, stiffest and most aerodynamic frames, wheels and components. All these materials have their advantages when used correctly and can be combined to create some truly exotic machines.
Focus bikes manufacture a range of high quality full suspension and hard tail mountain bikes, as well as road bikes, track bikes, city bikes and hybrid bikes, which offer a much higher specification for your money than any other brand available in the UK. So if you are riding a Focus bike it will offer exceptional pound for pound performance and offer unbeatable value for money! Each Focus bike is handbuilt in their factory near Hamburg in Germany where they are meticulously tested and fitted with market leading components from brands such as Shimano, Ritchey, FSA, Magura, Hayes, SRAM, RockShox, Fox, Lightweight and Campagnolo. Then once they arrive in the UK they are setup and tested by Wiggle's own team of CyTech trained mechanics in their state of the art workshop. Best of all Wiggle source the multi-award winning Focus bikes direct from the manufacturer, cutting out the middle-man and ensuring you get the very best quality Focus bikes at amazing prices!
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Designed by time trial guru Andy Walser and produced by Focus and distributed by Wiggle, the Izalco Chrono is a relatively cheap way to get a race-ready time trail bike. One of three time trial/tri bikes in the Focus range, the Izalco Chrono is the only one that is designed by Walser and sits at the top of the range. Although two types of frame are produced, a triathlon version and a UCI-Compliant version, Wiggle is only bringing in the triathlon version, which is unsuitable for UCI/BC time trials because of the position of the saddle relative to the bottom bracket.
A full SRAM Red groupset is supplied although the TT-specific outer chainrings do not come as standard. Up front, the ultra slippery and soon to be outlawed by the UCI 3T Ventus bar/stem combo keeps the air moving and ads a steady front end. Zipp 808s are one of the fastest road wheels around, although the choice of clincher version perhaps gives away the intended market of triathletes rather than roadies. Continental Triathlon tyres are a good choice and perhaps unfairly overlooked in favour of the more popular GP4000 by many people.
The Izalco Chrono was built to be ridden fast and does not disappoint. The component choices are all race proven at the highest level and when fitted to this bike have certainly produced a winner. We have written at length about how good Zipp 808s are, and the Red groupset once again provided faultless shifting braking and pedalling. The only criticism we have is the lack of adjustability with the handlebars. Only offering the bike in three sizes is always going to mean that plenty of adjustment is need to find the perfect position, especially as the front end height is the same on the medium and large sizes. Unfortunately the supplied bars can only be moved lower so this tester suffered lower back problems due to this. Were we to have purchased the bike, we would have needed to change the bars to a set that could offer a higher front position.
This bike was built to ridden fast and does not disappoint.
It seems that nowadays, a time trial bike needs to have spent a great deal of time in a wind tunnel for anyone to give it any credibility, and with good reason. A time trial isn't just a race against the clock, it is a race against wind resistance as well. The major manufacturers have all been shouting about how much wind tunnel time and testing their time trial bikes have had, all apart from Focus, who have quietly rolled out the Izalco Chrono with little fanfare.
If you think it looks familiar, you're not mistaken. The bike was designed by Andy Walser, German Aero bike design guru and maker of aero bikes ridden by many pro riders under various guises. With long waiting lists for his bikes, Focus has stepped in to offer a quick and easy way to own what was once a fairly exclusive time trial bike.
The frame is the heart of this bike and closer inspection of it does not disappoint. Flat seat and down tubes give the wind a clean route past the rear wheel and a small round top tube offers very little in the way of resistance. Rear brake and gear cables are all internally routed and travel very smoothly, with none of the hassle of feeding the cable through a nonrouted tube like with some bikes. The seat clamp is a wedge expander and is also very neat. although it's not that easy to finetune seat height. The rear dropouts face backwards which allows a tight rear wheel position, but it made quick wheel removal almost impossible, especially with the SRAM derailleur.
Focus has chosen to use 3T Funda front forks along with their bar and stem combo. The Ventus team is a very fast looking piece of kit, but it comes at a price. It also has very limited adjustability. This is highlighted by the fact that the Focus only comes in three sizes, S, M and L, with the M and L having the same frontal height but with a longer top tube. Risers for the extensions are included but any forward or rearward adjustability would require a new set of bars and stem.
The bike comes with a complete SRAM Red groupset, a sensible choice given that the frame is not especially light. This is the longest period I have used SRAM Red for and it did not let me down. Gear changes were smooth and the brakes worked well. The outer chainring had a little flex although we understand that SRAM has resolved this on later groupsets. The supplied cassette was an 11-23 which we changed for a more suitable 11-21 or 12-23, depending on the course being ridden.
We have used Zipp's 808 wheelset extensively over the past year and think that Focus fitting them as standard is a smart move. Granted, a rear disc does seem to be the tester's choice, but the 808 front and rear combination is a great wheelset for almost every condition, and can also be used out training. The choice of clinchers did seem a little strange but given the triathlon bias of this bike perhaps that should not be a surprise.
One item worthy of a mention is the Continental GP Triathlon tyres. They have lasted many miles over some not particularly good roads and are still in great condition and giving a great ride, even in the wet.
Initial set-up was very easy, it came fully assembled so all we had to do was fit the bars and some pedals. As has been mentioned previously, getting the most effective fit was a struggle, though not impossible. The front of the bike is very low which is good for some but not for others and getting it to a more comfortable height has been slightly problematic. Fitting a different bar and stem would be one solution but as the steerer is pre-cut to fit the Ventus bars there would be limited scope for raising the front end too much. Producing the bike in only three sizes to suit all is certainly a way to keep costs down but maybe the component choice should reflect this and make personal fit a little easier. Time trial bikes are built for speed rather than comfort, but despite this, the Focus gave a fast ride without feeling too harsh. The compact frame kept stiffness to a maximum without being jarring or unpredictable on technical roads. When riding in the tuck position, the bike was stable and easily steerable without feeling sluggish. Out of the saddle the rear end felt particularly responsive; it was practically impossible to ride it without pressing on hard and riding fast!
Wiggle have done it again. This is an excellent race spec bike at an ultra-competitive price with a component mix that puts many larger manufacturers to shame. We had one or two complaints about fit and sizing but this won't affect everyone and should not be taken to mean that the bike isn't suitable. For anyone wanting a modern, aerodynamic time trial bike or just taking up that part of the sport, the Focus is an excellent way to get all you need for a good price. There is very little that we would change. Once setup and on the road, the Focus was a great bike to ride. The compact-designed frame makes for a very stiff ride, especially noticeable during out-of-the-saddle efforts. In fact, the only real flex noticed is from the handlebars and that was minimal.
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