Focus Izalco Team Milram 2010

And its innovative design doesn't just make it clear to the world that you are a road racer, it even wins prizes for beauty.

The Focus Izalco is named after a volcano off western El Salvador. Having erupted some 50 times between 1770 and 1966, the new Izalco is set to erupt in the peloton in 2010 with Team Milram

The Focus Izalco has been revamped for 2010 with feedback from the riders of Team Milram, the result is a frame that pro's have demanded, this has meant Focus's aim to provide us with the chance to ride a true pro level bike, without the price penalty associated with other Pro Tour brands has been accomplished.

Under the motto 'everything is new - everything will be different', Team Milram was launched in Dortmund on January 07, 2009. This filled a 65 year absence from the pro ranks by putting a German bike builder back in the peloton. Which is also unique, is a German professional team in the highest proffesional category riding with German road bikes! These riders are also enthusiastic about their new bikes. Linus Gerdemann said during the team presentation "I am positively surprised with the bikes, FOCUS is not a brand that has been in the road racing scene long, which the riders have, so-to-say, licked their fingers. This will change however now, I think that these are the best bikes momentarily in the market".

For years FOCUS have constructed bicycles designed by athletes for athletes, with balanced geometries which are not only suitable for the sport of racing. Excellent stiffness values (adjusted for each size) are shown; they are only two arguments which distinguish the FOCUS road racing bikes. The SSPS (stable stiffness per size) which guarantees each frame the same stiffness, is a milestone in the frame construction. This is an unbeatable argument for the pros and suits all, from the sprinters to the climbers. Additionally each individual bike for the team undergoes careful tests before delivery from FOCUS: safety, slight weight and the racing sport exclude all traces of doubt. This has been possible because the engineers at FOCUS who control the complete product development in Germany use the highest grade 'high-modular carbon'. Thus, in this way, the three Team Milram racing bikes (Izalco, Mares and Izalco Chrono) leave no wishes unfulfilled.

After a highly successful year on the Izalco, Focus listened to the riders feedback, gone are the large seat stays, integrated seatpost and external cables. Why you may ask? Well the reasons are that the pro's informed Focus that the integrated post was just a little to stiff, so a 27.2mm seatpost has been used to provide some long ride comfort, the seat stays also provided a bit to much stiffness so have been replaced with more vertically compliant stays and the extra material applied in other areas to improve power transfer. The cables have also been moved to within the carbon tubing, this is part of a new carbon layup system which means smoother tubes inside the frame to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics. The result is a frame which weighs just 1050 in a 58cm, is comfortable enough for over 6 hours in the saddle and still provides an exceptional stiffness to weight ratio.

Tapered Head Tube: Using the now standard 1 1/8" steerer tube at the top and then enlarging the steerer as it goes towards the fork crown until it reaches an 1 1/4" results in a front end that follows every input you make and transfers as much power as possible through the frame.

BB30 Oversized Bottom Bracket: The oversized hollow chamber bottom bracket provides the option for a significant increase in chain stay size, this results in a much more efficient power transfer. BB30 also has the added benefit of a narrower Q-factor which provides a more natural pedal position and results in a further increase in stiffness.

SSPS: With the new Stable Stiffness Per Size system the FOCUS engineers have come up with a real stroke of genius. Until now all frame sizes had the same tube dimensions but with SSPS the tube dimensions are exactly tailored to the size of the bike. This means that no matter how tall you are, whether 1.6m or 2.2m, your Focus bike has the same ideal ride quality with consistent rigidity, suspension and strength per size.