Focus Bikes

In response to suggestions that northerners can't hack it in the mountains, Bikesport has a fitting reply at the ready: “Rubbish!”. You don't need to be based up in the mountains to be able to compete successfully on MTB courses. By way of proof, the FOCUS team has been given the title M.I.G. (Made in Germany) and has put these true northerners through their paces. The FOCUS FSL 1.0 is produced in our specialist bike factory in Cloppenburg, and its racing credentials make it a hit with the Bikesport test rider.

The summary starts thus: “The Focus FSL 1.0 is an absolutely superb full-suspension race bike. It is virtually impossible to find fault with it. It weighs a tad more than some of the other bikes in its price class, yet it is still one-hundred percent competitive.” The list of its strengths reads as follows:

• Stiff, fast, full-suspension race bike which in no way falls short of a hardtail
• Light enough to finish towards the front of the pack
• Stiff, efficient chassis

See Bikesport special issue 05/06 (March/April 2012) for the full test report.