Herein follows a post of considerable bike-fetishism, if you are not of the disposition that gets sweaty palms at the thought of carbon gussets or oily chains, come back soon, normal service will be resumed shortly…

Focus Cayo

I was up early this morning with a day off work to await the delivery of my first road bike - a rather fetching Focus Cayo, all the way from Germany. It came already complete, courtesy of the Wiggle bike mechanic, so all that was left for me was to attach the computer and pedals, spend ages fitting and adjusting the cleats, don appropriate attire and give it a spin.

First impressions:

  • It’s black. Very, very black. Complete with pedals1, shoes and clothing in matching hues of monochrome there is significant lack of colour (though the pedals do have a little red lettering…).
  • The fit and finished are damn good, with seamless joints between the tubes
  • The pedals (although the shoes are 99% impossible to walk in) are easy to clip in and out, and there were no unfortunate ’stopping with both feet clamped in place’ moments.
  • It is damn fast, last year I averaged around 14mph for the route I took, on the focus and the first ride in a few months (i.e. since September2) and I managed 14.7mph. The bike seems to jump forward whenever you put the power down.
  • It is phenomenally light, my Marin (MTB) is light by bike standards (about 27lbs ready to ride), but the Cayo is all-in at 19lbs (or 8.5 bags of sugar if you prefer).
  • Handling and braking are pretty good given it was my fist time out, no scary moments at all.

Negative points:

  • The Cateye computer has more power that the Apollo spacecraft, but has absolutely no way of logging/ downloading data.
  • I am going to have to adapt my riding style, on the Marin, traffic calming is cleared with a bit of a hop, but with 28 less spokes and razor-thin tyres I think that might have to change.
  • I am trying hard to forget that I just spent a months take-home pay.

Oh, and the hairy legs are staying - long hair, stubble and shaved legs might get some funny looks at the climbing wall.

  1. Called Keo, but pronounced Cayo - they had to be bought… ↑
  2. I am sorely missing my cycling legs at the moment ↑

Posted in Cycling |