Review from road.cc

There's no doubt that Focus bikes have made a big splash in the UK since Wiggle introduced them a few years back, none more so than the Cayo Expert which has won rave reviews.

No wonder then that there are such high hopes for the Expert's latest incarnation for 2009, the Cayo Expert SRAM decked out in a mixture of SRAM Red, (rear mech and levers) and SRAM Force (front mech and brakes) with various other bits of high end SRAM componentry filling in any other gaps in the drivetrain.

This is a race-ready bike, although racers might would probably want to upgrade the Mavic Ksyrium Equipe wheels, that would equally serve you well on any big day in the saddle be it a sportive, longer club run, or just a weekend blast throught the hills with your mates.

Does it deliver? Yes it does. This is a good bike, no mistake – if I was in the market I would seriously consider breaking with tradition and buying off the peg especially if Wiggle offered some way for customers to vary the spec.

I looked forward to every ride on the Focus and in the month or so I had it clocked up about 500 miles. For the money it is a great buy stacking up very favourably against other complete bike packages, and looks particularly good as bike prices go up.

Buying a complete bike is pretty much always going to be a more cost effective option even if you do end up immediately changing some of the original equipment out of either performance considerations or just from personal preference – wheels are the obvious place for manufacturers to save money and this bike is no different. The plus for the buyer (or the best way of rationalising spending money on more wheels) is that you've already got yourself a set of training hoops.

Given the hefty list price of SRAM groupsets as aftermarket components the Expert Cayo looks even more of a bargain, but then would anybody seriously consider buying these components at list priceto build up their own bike?

SRAM Red is a fantastic addition to the customer choice category, it's certainly top level stuff, but it didn't perform any better than any other top spec gear I've used. Coming to the for the first time the levers took a little getting used to. It was amazing light to change down, a bit less so changing up and you couldn't drop down a number of gears at once as you can with Campag.

I also prefer having two separate methods of changing gear – not all from one lever which caught me out on a number of occasions. In a race it could be your race losing move – although I've got to admit the pros don't seem to have any problems on that score. I did find myself unintentionally changing down whilst climbing or going over rougher roads. This was due to my hand position on the hoods and my fingers tending to rest on the levers. No doubt with time I'd get used to it. I could certainly get used to the SRAM Force brakes which were superb and I really like the shape of the lever hoods which reminded me of old-school Campag.

Speaking of Campag it seems to me this bike's biggest rival is likely to be it's Campagnolo equipped stablemate - the Cayo Expert Campa which for the same money sports a fair smattering of Campag Chorus and of course benefits from the same superb frameset.

In conclusion...

An exceptional bike and a very good value package, worth checking the Campag option too.

Rating: 9/10