Focus Launches New Izalco Max That's Lightweight And Aero

The German brand has spent extensive time in the wind tunnel tuning its new rig.

- Paul Norman

Focus has become the latest brand to launch a new aero bike that’s also lightweight, comfortable and user-friendly — and it’s aimed as much at everyday riders as it is the pros. The new Focus Izalco Max boasts a claimed saving of 1.5 minutes over 50km when riding at 200 watts compared with the previous model. It has a frame weight of just 890 grams for the range-topping Izalco Max 9, impressively light for a disc-brake-only bike.

The German brand has tested the new Izalco Max in the wind tunnel, with the wheels rotating and a set of moving dummy legs and at different yaw angles. It says that it’s almost impossible to use computer simulations — CFD — to model all these interactions.

Focus says its engineers completely redesigned every tube and improved them in several stages in the wind tunnel, coming up with a series of Kammtail profiles, hidden cables and what it calls “well-balanced proportions”. There’s no doubting its aesthetics: sharp, clean lines and dropped seat stays that run pleasingly parallel to the down tube.