Falling in love with my Focus Izalco Max

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reedplayer
Posts: 816
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:10 am

by reedplayer

wow, it looks so good, i really like this bike!
i wish much success on saturday (tomorrow)!

by Weenie


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cjnl
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:01 pm

by cjnl

After a lot of training and three Gran Fondo's: Trois Ballons, Marmotte Valais, Marmotte Pyrenees, I can share some experiences on the bike.

After riding only on aerodynamic bikes, I never expected much for the so-called comfort, a bike could have. I never experienced any inconveniences on eg. my Canyon Aeroad or Shiv/P3. So why bother? But after riding biggest part of the year on the Focus I really enjoyed how smooth it felt, besides the obvious feel when you pick up a bike of this weight. I was even a bit reluctant switching back to the Aeroad on the flats. So that was an eyeopener.

Descending from the big mountains was amazing and really became a lot of fun. Even in the Swiss where we rode almost a full day in the rain I was confident on the bike and descended amongst the fastest. I did have some issues - chain drops - with my front derailleur, but I must blame the mechanic for that one. And I am not really happy with Sram Red like I am with Dura-ace 9100.

I don't like the looks of the Schmolke handlebar much, but it handles great being that wide. I do prefer something a lot narrower, so that will be something I will be probably changing. The saddle and seat post are holding up fine.

I rode on the Zipp 303's clinchers even in the Marmotte Pyrenees what was a bit of a shame, since the 202's with tubulars would have been quite a bit lighter. Especially that race it could have mattered. But I do really like the 303 a lot and with the tubolito's they hit a sweet spot in versatility for me and still being able to handle a flat tire.

Below two pictures of the bike in action:
5284_20190810_125924_175289888_original.JPG
3. 9PMX0013.JPG
So still very much in love! :lol:

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Kayrehn
Posts: 1776
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:06 pm

by Kayrehn

Really happy for you, great work in transforming the bike into something else altogether! Very nice pics above by the way!

Do look around and EE brakes will pop up for sale ever so often (is there a pair on sale right now here?), they are really nice and I highly recommend them!

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michel2
Posts: 1144
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:47 am
Location: somewere floating between here and the other side

by michel2

hi,
I havent ridden my new stem yet ( have to build the frame first ) but im gathering parts for a new build and have bought an extralight stem but the one that i suitable for 31.8 handlbars, i do wonder what part os the flex you mention is from the bars and what is caused by (the relativly short) stem? very nice build you got there, my brother rode one of my other bikes a couple of days ago and said it was so nice to ride something that doesnt have high aero rims and isnt equiped with high and flat tubing.

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cjnl
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:01 pm

by cjnl

michel2 wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2019 8:42 am
im gathering parts for a new build and have bought an extralight stem but the one that i suitable for 31.8 handlebars, i do wonder what part os the flex you mention is from the bars and what is caused by (the relativly short) stem?
Don't worry too much about the flex in the stem. I had a wobbly type of sensation in the front-end. I found it to be the upper bearing of the headset. I replaced the original with a FSA-sl. Changing back to the original one made it go away.

There is some amount of flex in the handlebar, never that much that I lost any trust in the handlebar. I did not use it much for real hard sprinting. I can understand sprinter type of riders would not enjoy the flex. But for descending mountain roads and climbing it is no issue at all.

reedplayer
Posts: 816
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:10 am

by reedplayer

cjnl wrote:
Thu Oct 03, 2019 5:02 pm
After a lot of training and three Gran Fondo's: Trois Ballons, Marmotte Valais, Marmotte Pyrenees, I can share some experiences on the bike.

.....
Thanks for sharing your experiences, which correspond with mine. Thats the terrain the Izalco is made for, here it can exploit its strengths.

One question to the Extralite-Stem: Any problems with marks on the steerer tube? Thanks for short info, Regards,

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cjnl
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:01 pm

by cjnl

reedplayer wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:02 pm
One question to the Extralite-Stem: Any problems with marks on the steerer tube? Thanks for short info, Regards,
None whatsoever, but my Schmolke handlebar has a rather ugly silver protection sticker on it.
So I cannot say much about it for unprotected handlebars.
barsticker.jpg
barsticker.jpg (5.36 KiB) Viewed 3552 times

reedplayer
Posts: 816
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:10 am

by reedplayer

ah, sorry for being unclear, i meant the steerer of the fork! there have been quite a lot of reports about extralite-stems causing marks on the fork-steerer. most likely a problem of the past, but thats why i asked. (....and because i want to purchase one as well)

Mep
Posts: 516
Joined: Fri May 28, 2004 4:11 pm

by Mep

reedplayer wrote:ah, sorry for being unclear, i meant the steerer of the fork! there have been quite a lot of reports about extralite-stems causing marks on the fork-steerer. most likely a problem of the past, but thats why i asked. (....and because i want to purchase one as well)
That hasn't been an issue for a while now, since they chamfered the edges on the stem-steerer interface. I've had no issues with mine for the last 2 years and taking it on/off multiple times for changing my fit.

reedplayer
Posts: 816
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:10 am

by reedplayer

Hello Mep,
perfect, thanks for the Info! Meanwhile i received this confirmation from different people, so obviously we can be certain, that "Extralite" completely solved this problem.
Cheers,

rexyi1990
Posts: 258
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:05 pm

by rexyi1990

cjnl wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:42 pm
Image

Some changes: the wheels 303 clinchers, quite heavy at 1560 grams for the 2019 version. Viewspeed quick release, 2,5 mm bar tape and now with the Darimo goodies. With slightly heavy bottlecages from Tacx it weighs in total 5,6 kilo’s. As pictured I will ride it on Saturday: les Trois Ballons gran fondo. Dry, from 10 degrees at the start to 20 degrees in the afternoon.


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WOW!! That is pretty awesome!

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cjnl
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:01 pm

by cjnl

Some updates:
- Darimo handle bar 126 gr.
- Farsport KAZE wheelset with extralite hubs 1220 gr.
- Vittoria Speed G2 TLR total 450 gr.
- Titanium cables
- Camilio G20 SL brakes 147 gr. + 23 gr. for the pad holdres
- Xpedo pedals 165 gr.

Getting closer to sub five! Will update with some pictures when all is assembled.

reedplayer
Posts: 816
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:10 am

by reedplayer

cjnl wrote:
Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:02 pm
......
Getting closer to sub five! Will update with some pictures when all is assembled.
looking forward to it!

cheapvega
Posts: 388
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2019 1:12 pm

by cheapvega

Damn, some really smart part choices here. But that frame + fork! Great build. Def hope to get one of these framesets one day.

LackOfWatts
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2021 6:10 pm

by LackOfWatts

Back from the dead please, really enjoy these older Izalco Max builds. Any updates?

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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