Focus Cross Disc Review

This is the bike I am going to JOGLE on. I have had it about 6 weeks now and thought it was time for a mini review. I cannot compare it to other cross bikes as I have never ridden any others. This is just my impressions of the bike in comparison to the rest of my stable.

The Jogle was a good excuse to get a new bike as my Pinarello has a good frame but the kit on it is mostly about 11 years old and a reliable shift is something of a rarity. As I had fancied getting a cyclo cross bike after seeing the Kona Jake The Snake at the HONC a few years ago I thought this might be just the right excuse to get one. Cyclo Cross Bikes are not too dissimilar in geometry to tourers so it did make some kind of sense. I narrowed my search down to Focus bikes as I own and love a Focus Raven MTB and had seen stellar reviews of their cross bikes. It also helps that they are amazing value. In the end I went for the cross disc despite its hefty weight of 23.6lbs because of the disc brakes. I fancied disc brakes in the hope that my rims might last a bit longer than I am used too. Usually I get though a set each winter due to the brakes wearing through. Obviously this is not an issue with the discs.

My first impression of the bike was that it felt very stiff after being used to a whippy steel road bike, this did not make for an uncomfortable ride at all though, just awesome acceleration! The bike gives a really "direct" feel in a way I can only compare to my rigid single speed MTB. It just goes, no flex or fuss. On the road it handles fine although requires a bit more confidence on the fast descents, not quite tucking in like my Pinarello Sestriere. This may feel different with road tyres on though. At the moment all my riding on and off road has been with the Racing Ralph Cross tyres. Off road I was surprised by the bikes ability, the narrow tyres provide an amazing amount of traction, far more than I anticipated, time and again on a steep climb or a muddy trail I would expect the back to slip or step out but it remained true. Very impressive. The bike cannot get near to a mountain bike off road but still it copes far better than I had imagined. The one area there is a clear deficit to the the mountain bike is on fast, steep, loose descents. The bike just does not have the stability to handle these (at least with me riding) at any great speed. There is also a fear of pinch punctures with the relatively narrow tyres.

The finishing kit is all good stuff for the price although I have changed the saddle for a Charge Spoon, upgraded the chain (which was one of those bottom of the line sucktastic shimano jobbies) to a decent KMC one and fitted my MTB's USE SUMO suspension post.

All in all I am chuffed to bits with it. The only downside for me is the brakes. They are ok, they stop the bike and they will protect the rims but the stopping power is quite disappointing. Definitely no better than 105 calipers in addition to this they have a difficult to remove and often embarrassing squeal.

Reviews usually finish with pros and cons so I won't buck that trend:

Pros :
Stiff and quick
Very versatile
Comfortable
Amazing value
Disc Brakes ease wear on rims

Cons :
Disc Brakes squeal and are underwhelming
Weight

So my marks out of ten would be 8/10. Go for the non disc version!