Bring the precision of road bikes to e-road

F.I.T. FOCUS INTEGRATION TECHNOLOGY

Bring the precision of road bikes to e-road

F.I.T. FOCUS INTEGRATION TECHNOLOGY

When we started developing the carbon frame for the PARALANE², the assignment from our road bike product managers was pretty simple: make the riding performance of the PARALANE² equal to that of the PARALANE. Something that sounds simple on paper, but when you have to make a cut-out in the downtube – which has a massive influence on the stiffness of the bike – to integrate a motor and battery pack, it becomes a bit more of a challenge. Never, people to back down from a challenge, our carbon engineers went to work.

PARALANE DOWNTUBE DESIGN PARALANE DOWNTUBE DESIGN

As we expected, the necessary cut-out for integration of the Fazua motor and battery module compromised the structural stiffness of the downtube with conventional wall thicknesses under torsional loads. To compensate that, increasing wall thickness was the first step in fine-tuning the downtube design. When we prototyped this, it didn't bring us the performance we were trying to achieve for our PARALANE².

Layup-book Layup-book

The demand on having a cut-out in the frame's downtube let us rethink carbon frame development. The combination of high-strength carbon fibers with totally new fiber orientations results in a PARALANE² stiffness performance equal to the PARALANE with a weight increase of less than 600g. The additional integration of the Fazua motor led to a much more complex lay-up. Careful planning of the lay-up and a detailed book illustrating the 40% more carbon plys to that of PARALANE.

Scan Frame

FEM and CT Scanning of the frame showed us where we had to strengthen the construction and where was room for weight reductions. Only CT Scans allows us to really dive into the heart of a constructed bike and guarantees us the best quality you can get.


F.I.T. = OPTIMISING THE BENEFITS OF CARBON

F.I.T. stands for Focus Integration Technology. It describes our process to design our carbon frame structures in such a way that the structures are optimized to the riding that we want to bring to a specific model. It maximizes the benefits that constructing bicycle frames from carbon brings. Excellent stiffness at low weights with the stability that is needed for a bike's intended purposes. As such there is no 'one way' we use F.I.T. to design our bikes, all engineering and design are adapted to the requirements of that specific bike. In the case of PARALANE², this lead to an e-road bike with razor-sharp cornering abilities, a stiffness that allows spirited riding, and a low system weight of under 13kg with motor and battery pack. We wouldn't have settled for less.

PARALANE AND PARALANE² – STIFFNESS COMPARISON CHART

PARALANE² end results PARALANE² end results

The end result is nothing short of spectacular and can be noticed when you take the PARALANE² to the road. We managed to achieve an even higher head tube stiffness, for sharp cornering abilities and spirited climbing on the pedals. A similar bottom bracket stiffness that will deliver the efficient power transfer that PARALANE is known for, and also allow the Fazua motor to do its work effectively. The payoff is a slightly higher frame weight, that is partly absorbed by the higher system weight of the complete bike as a whole. We're proud to say: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

BIKES WITH FOCUS INTEGRATION TECHNOLOGY

FOCUS PARALANE²

Fast like a racing bike, strong like an e-bike

. Endurance geometry

. Removable Fazua motor/battery unit uncouples from the drive

. Road-Boost Standard, R.A.T. Quick-release axles, disc brakes, 35 mm tyre clearance and also includes matching mudguards 

 

 

 

 

FOCUS RAVEN²

Incredibly light e-MTB

. 100mm suspension fork and 29" wheels

. Holds the course record for the classic Transalp Route

. Removable Fazua motor/battery unit uncouples from the drive