If you’ve stopped by the shop over the last month or so, you’ve probably seen a couple stealthy and super light bikes hanging around. Well, our stock has finally trickled in and we are proud to announce the latest addition to our AC family – Focus bikes. While we love custom bicycles, we’ve always felt that we could use a brand that offered really great out of the box packages. Of course, the frames would have to be incredible, and those packages would have to meet our AC standards. After a lot of time spent going over the options, we were impressed with what Focus brought to the table, so we decided to bring them in!
Now that you know the story, lets get into the bikes. We’ll start with their flagship road bike, the Izalco Max. Totally redesigned from it’s predecessor, the Team SL, the Max has an entirely new look and at 725 grams is one of the lightest frames in the world. We’ve got all three iterations including the 3.0 with Sram Red, 1.0 with Dura Ace Di2, and the beautiful AG2R team replica model with full Super Record and Fulcrum carbon tubulars. All models come straight out of the box with weights ranging from 13.75lbs down to the mid 12’s. That’s pretty impressive for a totally stock bike!
We always love when features come from race feedback. Team riders and mechanics were adamant that the mechanical frames had traditional cable stops with external routing. The exposed cables provide superior shifting over today’s internal routing trends and also makes the lives of team mechanics a whole lot easier. The 27.2mm seat post also shows that riders preferred comfort and simplicity over stiffness and aerodynamics.
Another big deciding factor on bringing in Focus was the new Mares CX bike. We plan to hit the cyclocross season hard this year so it was a priority to get killer cross bike in the shop.
We are more than excited to be among the first to have the 2015 Mares in stock. Redesigned with plenty of feedback from J- Pow himself, it also takes on many of the characteristics of the Izalco Max. Their top offering, the Mares CX 0.0 comes spec’d with the new Sram Force CX 1 group (complete with the hydraulic disc brakes), DT Swiss Carbon Spline 38 wheels, custom tan walled Schwalbe Rocket Ron tires, and the Rapha-Focus team colors. As soon as they start shipping, we’ll also have the Ultegra clad Mares CX 1.0 for those preferring a Shimano transmission.
A little while back, our junior cyclocross team were out there racing aboard a fleet of Mares cross bikes. We were all very impressed then, and we cannot wait to get some ride time on this brand new model. With details like the RAT thru-axle design and an improved geometry, there is no doubt that this bike is the pinnacle of CX performance.
We could go on and on about how excited we are about these bikes but you’ll really just have to come by the shop and see them for yourself. Until then, we’ll leave you with this nice photo dump.
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