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Frame and Fork:High quality unidirectional carbon frame built to a race-orientated geometry with stiff, oversized tubing. The matching fork is similarly engineered for rigidity. - 9/10Handling:Lightweight and flex-free where it really matters, the Cayo offers a responsive ride and neutral handing. - 10/10Equipment: Mainly Shimano 105 kit provides slick and dependable performance at a reasonable weight - great value for money. - 9/10Wheels: Light, durable and easy-to-maintain wheels built to Shimano's usual exacting standards. - 9/10
Superb frame and fork, a light and agile speed machine
The first thing that strikes you about the Focus Cayo is how good it looks. It's the sort of bike that makes other cyclists envious and that's quite something at this price. A look at the components confirmed that it had substance to back up its style. The Shimano 105 groupset is of a standard that's often seen gracing bikes costing almost twice the price, while components such as the bars and stem are provided by FSA, another respected name. The question was, did the ride match up to the high expectations or had Focus spent all its money on components and paint-job?It had not. On the open road, the carbon frame and forks immediately felt responsive and I was pleasantly surprised as I accelerated up the first hill. It felt as if my effort was being translated directly into speed and I could feel myself moving in surges of power as my legs pushed down on the pedals. The frame was solid and the carbon forks helped me take sharp bends with confidence. Gear changing was fast, solid and reliable, as you would expect from the Shimano 105 drive-train, and selecting the right gear never required any guesswork. The only minus point was over a section a road know as the 'rumble strip' I could feel vibrations right through to my bottom, leading me to conclude that it's more of a racer than an all day training machine. Upgrading to a carbon seat post would go a long way to reducing any road buzz.Focus has produced a great package for not a lot of money. The combination of components, frame and fork offer the best value of any bike on review. I was amazed at the level of performance and equipment for the money. The frame, forks, wheels and components are better than you would expect for a bike in this price range. If you spent a couple of hundred quid upgrading the wheels, this bike would be as good as some £1500 and £2000 bikes I have ridden.The Focus Cayo 105 is ideal for triathletes on a budget who are looking to train and compete in Sprint - Or Olympic - distance racing. It's lively enough for both racing and training, with a frame, fork and groupset that won't need up grading. Its good looks will make you feel like a pro and you won't be found wanting during a fast group ride either. Just don't get carried away by those admiring glances.
This was the pick of the bunch for all-round value and performance. Its combination of great equipment and impressive frame are unmatched. Although it gives a slightly bumpy ride the bike felt alive and ready to surge forward at the turn of a pedal, and its components are so good that they won't need upgrading in the near future.
We always like to throw in a bike to mix things up and put the others into perspective. This machine, direct from online e-tailer Wiggle, should do the trick. Oddly when we sourced the bike it had a £999 price tag, then the price rose to £1099 but, as we write this, it's back down to £999. Who knows what it might be when you are reading this. But for the purposes of this test we're going with £1099 which is the published retail price.So what does a grand get you on-line these days/ Well, as you'd expect, quite a lot. The cayo is the only full carbon frame on test and that makes it marginally lighter than the others at 18.9lbs although there's only a fag paper in it. The Focus is made from UD carbon fibre with an alloy steered carbon fork (carbon fibre blades, aluminium steerer inside the headtube.) The frame quality is very good, any idea that internet direct brands are of lower quality is quickly dispersed just by passing your eye over the Focus. Pasrts are, yes you guessed it, Shimano 105, this time in black finish, which looks particulary mean and moody on the carbon frame. The chainset isn't Shimano though, there's a comparably priced FSA Gossamer Pro compact (or triple option). Wheels are shimano RS10 shod with excellent Schwalbe Lugano tyres. There is other brands on test have premium branded saddles and parts that just have an edge. Remember the value that's in that carbon frame though.The Focus Cayo is similar in spec to £1500 bikes from premium brands so our expectations were preety high and the Focus didn't disappoint. The ride is as good as any brand out there with a very high conversion of energy power in equals speed out. The pickup is instant, as soon as you turn on the power the Cayo is ready to go and the forks have a very precise cornering feel. It isn't as comfortable as some other carbon bikes out there so we'd recommended this for budding racers; a long day in the saddle on typical British roads and the Focus would leave you little sore, but it performs very well as a race bike and looks the part.Again the Shimano 105 was spot on but we did notice the gear shifting wasn't as sweet with the FSA chainset with the Shimano unit and we also thought the long cage rear derailleur and touring ratio cassette were out of place on such a race-oriented bike. Our only other gripe is that the Cayo caomes specced with a 42cm bar from size 'extra small' (supposedly for riders under 5ft 5in) to the large size (supposedly for riders up to 6ft). We think a ridder of 5ft 3in, say would need a bar narrower than a fider of 6ft.The Focus Cayo is a great bike at an amazing price. The quality is very high, as good as most you'll find, but if yoou're after all day comfort then keep looking around as this is a stiff but precise frame. The parts are mostly top notch for the cash and any cheaper parts fitted to get the price so low (the sadlle for example0 can be upgraded as you go you'd still have change from the price of most brands out there.
You really will struggle to buy a better bike for your cash when you study the spec on paper.