Focus' Paralane is a bike ready for the shortcuts less travelled

Focus' Paralane is a bike ready for the shortcuts less travelled

The Ultegra-equipped version of Focus' new Paralane, which BikeRadar took for a test spin

Warren Rossiter / Immediate Media

Warren Rossiter

Published: June 9, 2016 at 12:00 pm
The Ultegra-equipped version of Focus' new Paralane, which BikeRadar took for a test spin - Warren Rossiter / Immediate Media
You can see the influence of other Focus models – including the Raven hardtail MTB – in the Paralane's tube shapes - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The fork crown is 10mm taller than on the Izalco Max, adding tyre clearance and more stack without making the bike look ungainly - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The hydraulic hose is neatly routed through the fork crown - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
Belgian company Curano provides the full fenders/mudguards that are included in the price - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The shaped and formed fenders with solid fixtures certainly look at cut above your average guard - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The Curano mudguards are custom shaped to clear the front derailleur - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The alloy Paralane, Focus claims, offers similar levels of compliance to the carbon models at the rear thanks to these heavily flattened seat stays – and it also gets commuter-friendly rack mounts - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The alloy model also uses the RAT thru-axle system on all models - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
These lumps of alloy show the number of forming processes the Paralane AL goes through just to form the head tube - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The AL Paralane, like the carbon, uses flat-mount discs front and rear - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The CPX post is a clever comfort-giving flexible post, made even more so by the reduced to 25.4 diameter used on the Paralane - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
The range-topping Paralane eTap Hydro made a short appearance (sadly we didn't get chance to ride it) - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
A quick glance at the new hydraulic disc version of SRAM's wireless eTap groupset - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media
This render shows how the Paralane's back end is designed 'pre-loaded' to allow both sets of stays to flex - Focus cycles
The diamond-shaped chainstays were designed to remain stiff laterally while allowing for plenty of flex vertically - Focus cycles
The clip-on seat stay bridge means full dedicated mudgards can be fitted (and are included in the price of the bike) - Focus cycles
The Paralane's fork is designed to remain stiff at the crown but to allow flex above the disc mount - Focus cycles
The red zones on the Paralane's frame show where comfort-giving flex is designed in - Focus cycles
The new 25.4 diameter standard CPX post works in conjunction with the seat tube to allow for plenty of fore-and-aft movement - Focus cycles
The base of the seat tube flattens and broadens, again enabling it to move - Focus cycles
The Paralane carbon 105 comes in this matt/gloss black finish or a black and green version - Focus cycles
The Paralane AL 105 comes with DT's R552DB wheels, and here is shown with the included dedicated full mudguards fitted - Focus cycles
SRAM's 1x makes an appearance on a few of the Paralanes – this is the aluminium Apex 1 - Focus cycles
The Paralane AL Donna Tiagra is the cheaper of the women's-specific models - Focus cycles
The men's AL Tiagra looks sharp in this stealthy all-black finish - Focus cycles
The top of the tree is also a showcase for the first production bike to feature SRAM's Red eTap HRD groupset - Focus cycles
The Factory model features SRAM's 1x group, Zipp 30 wheels and a dedicated 1x frameset - Focus cycles
The Paralane Tiagra carbon features Shimano's new Tiagra-grade RS405 hydraulic discs - Focus cycles
The Ultegra-equipped Paralane comes with DT R23 disc wheels - Focus cycles

Germany’s Focus has unveiled the all-new Paralane, a disc bike the brand claims can handle the rough with the smooth, whatever the weather.

The new bike falls under the ‘endurance’ banner, and in Focus’ hierarchy it sits between the Izalco Max and the much more relaxed Izalco Ergoride. R&D engineer Patrick Schmidt described it as a bike you can "take shortcuts" on – down lanes, tracks and unpaved roads – with suitably large tyre clearances and levels of comfort along with light overall weight. Interestingly though he denied that Focus had launched a gravel bike – "that's too niche", he said.

You can see the influence of other focus models – including the raven hardtail mtb – in the paralane's tube shapes: - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media

You can see the influence of other Focus models in the Paralane's tube shapes

To us the Paralane does sound rather like a gravel machine, but at the roadie end of the spectrum. It's not an out and out off-road-road monster like Open’s UP or Cannondale’s Slate, being more in keeping with Cervélo’s new C-Series (with which it shares plenty of similarities, including its approach to geometry).

The idea behind the Paralane apparently came from within Focus’ design team (and founder Mike Kluge, a three-times world champion cross-country rider).

Engineering lead of the Paralane project Fabian Scholz, who's also the current German enduro MTB champion, explained that regular long lunchtime road rides out from their Stuttgart office usually involved the team riding Izalco Max disc bikes, but that quite often they venture off the tarmac onto dirt, mainly finding shortcuts back to base as trips get a little wayward for just a lunchtime.

The hydraulic hose is neatly routed through the fork crown: - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media

The hydraulic hose is neatly routed through the fork crown

"Of course, we could use a Mares 'cross bike for this type of riding," Schmidt told BikeRadar, "but we wanted something that wouldn’t feel compromised on the road – a fast road bike should feel like just that."

That said, with mountain bikers on the design team, the inspiration for the Paralane was wide-ranging, according to product manager Andrew James.

"We wanted to bring not only technology from the award-winning Izalco Max Disc but also from our Raven Max hardtail – that’s why Fabian [Scholz] who's usually our MTB specialist, led the design on the project," he said. "With the Paralane we’ve fully opened the box on road bike design – and looked way outside of it."

Focus Paralane: familiar design language

From the outset, the Paralane was designed with only disc brakes in mind, so you won’t see a caliper option even on the cheaper alloy models.

Even at first glance you can see a lot of Focus’ design language in the chassis. The fork, equipped with the brand's excellent proprietary RAT thru-axle system, shares similar slender dimensions to the Izalco Max, and the angular external ribbed design of the head tube and main tubes bears plenty of similarities with both the Izalco and Cayo (not to mention the Raven hardtail).

The RAT system, an original design of Scholz's, has been one of Focus’ best achievements in recent years. The speed in which you can change a wheel with RAT is impressive – once you're used to the system, in fact, its actually quicker to use than a standard quick-release skewer.

The fork crown is 10mm taller than on the izalco max, adding tyre clearance and more stack without making the bike look ungainly: - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media

The fork crown is 10mm taller than on the Izalco Max, adding tyre clearance and more stack without making the bike look ungainly

For the Paralane, Focus has introduced the new RAT EVO, adopting 12mm-diameter axles front and rear, with steel inserts switched for alloy ones, and the shape and fitting of the nut improved for faster location. The new EVO system saves around 43g over the previous version.

The bike's geometry is intended to sit between race (long stem, long-reach bar, slammed front end) and enthusiast (shorter stem, short-reach compact drop bar, plenty of spacers).

To have a little more height at the front for endurance comfort, the easy option would be to lengthen the head tube, as we’ve seen many times in the past. Focus however has only done so by a few milimetres size for size, instead increasing the fork length by 10mm, which also helps with tyre clearance.

The alloy model also uses the rat thru-axle system on all models: - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media

The RAT thru-axle system features on all models

At the same time, the designers dropped the BB height by 5mm, giving a net gain of 15mm to the stack (the distance between the top of the head tube and the centre of the BB) without compromising the sporty look of the bike.

Taking a medium-sized bike (56cm), all this equates to a stack of 577mm with a reach of 375mm. The comparable Izalco Max has a stack of 537mm and reach of 390mm, the Ergoride 580mm stack and 380mm reach. Sizing is proportional across the 6 sizes (48/51/54/56/58/61).

At the business end, the head angle has been adjusted by half a degree and 3mm taken out of the fork rake. Scholz told us that this adjustment was made to make sure the steering stayed acceptably sharp.

Focus Paralane: weight and comfort considerations

Focus has always been impressive in the weight stakes, especially with disc road bikes, and the Paralane preserves this record with a 54cm, fully painted frame complete with all hardware (bottle cage bolts, rear derailleur hanger, inserts, seat clamp and cable guides) tipping the scales at 907g. For comparison, the Cérvelo C5 – a more expensive proposition – weighs in at 840g.

Weight and comfort aren’t mutually exclusive when it comes to construction, and for the Paralane’s back end Focus looked across the road/MTB divide at the Raven Max. Despite being a rabidly fast machine, and one of the lightest production hardtails on the market, the Raven is a surprisingly comfy beast as far as its rear triangle goes.

This render shows how the paralane's back end is designed 'pre-loaded' to allow both sets of stays to flex: - Focus cycles

This render shows how the Paralane's back end is designed 'pre-loaded' to allow both sets of stays to flex

Focus, in keeping with bike-industry flannel, has seen fit to give the relevant technology an acronym – in this instance CIA or 'comfort improving areas'. It's visible in long seatstays that bow downwards slightly and pass either side of the seat tube, allowing for far more movement than on a traditional double-triangle frame, and in chainstays that are flattened and bowed upwards.

Scholz described the shaping, in conjunction with the carbon layup, as creating stays that are "pre-loaded" or tensioned, meaning that compared with a straight tube they can flex far more quickly and sensitively in response to movement caused by bumps. "We investigated and tested the theory and practice with no fewer than 17 design versions since the start of the project," he said.

The base of the seat tube flattens and broadens, again enabling it to move: - Focus cycles

The base of the seat tube flattens and broadens, again enabling it to move

The seat tube too is designed to allow for more movement. It widens and flattens significantly just above the bottom bracket, and the semi-sloping frame shape (similar to that of the Cayo) allows for more exposed seatpost – again for added comfort-giving flex.

Focus has also followed in Cannondale’s footsteps in using the once-thought-obsolete 25.4mm seatpost diameter. The brand has come up with a new 25.4mm version of its excellent Concept CPX comfort post (this means Cannondale fans will have another nice aftermarket option too).

The cpx post is a clever comfort-giving flexible post, made even more so by the reduced to 25.4 diameter used on the paralane: - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media

The CPX post is a clever comfort-giving flexible post

At the front end, it's the fork design that offers cushioning. The stepped tapered legs look similar to the Izalco Max’s but the construction has been tweaked to offer a little more fore-aft compliance. Focus claims an increase in comfort of 20% over the Max (no, we aren’t sure how you quantify comfort into a percentage either).

Focus Paralane: versatility as standard

The Paralane range includes alloy as well as carbon-framed options, which share the same geometry, the same all-carbon fork, the same smaller diameter seatpost standard and the same RAT EVO thru-axles. The alloy version also has rear rack mounts, making it an interesting option for multi-surface commuters.

The alloy frame is built using Focus’ highly developed hydroforming processes, which carry over from the Cayo AL. Focus can control the wall thickness of its tubes down to fractions of a millimetre; it’s claimed this has enabled the ‘pre-loaded’ stay feature to be translated fairly successfully from the carbon bike.

The alloy paralane, focus claims, offers similar levels of compliance to the carbon models at the rear thanks to these heavily flattened seat stays – and it also gets commuter-friendly rack mounts: - Warren Rossiter/Immediate media

The alloy Paralane, Focus claims, offers similar levels of compliance to the carbon models

We were pleased to see that Focus has included hidden mudguard (fender) mounts on both the carbon and alloy frames (and forks). The bridgeless design of the carbon frame means it comes with a clip-on bridge/mount that's similar to the rubberised one available for Cervélo’s C-series bikes.

One particularly nice touch is that Focus has partnered with Belgian manufacturer Curana to make a dedicated set of mudguards for the Paralane. They're included with every model from the cheapest alloy Tiagra option to the SRAM Red eTap Hydro-equipped flagship.

The bikes will ship with 28mm rubber as standard, but there's clearance for 35mm (or 32mm with mudguards attached).

All in all we reckon the Paralane is an interesting proposition. Focus has put together a light bike that’s capable of handling pretty much any terrain you're likely to encounter, and using some of the knowledge showcased by Cervélo (geometry tweaks like those of the C-series) and Cannondale (the smaller seatpost diameter) while adopting wider rubber as standard is an approach we approve of. If the bike can encompass the best of the traits of some brilliant influences, it should be a hell of a machine.

Focus Paralane: full range and spec details

Carbon bikes

Paralane SRAM Red eTap HRD: €5999 / £4799 / $TBC / AU$TBC

  • Frame: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: SRAM eTap, 11-speed
  • Front derailleur: SRAM eTap
  • Shift / brake lever: SRAM eTap
  • Cassette: SRAM XG-1190
  • Crankset: SRAM Red
  • Gearing: front: 52/36 rear: 11/28
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept CPX
  • Saddle: Fizik Aliante R5
  • Seatpost: Concept CPX Plus, 27.2mm, 340mm Carbon
  • Brake calipers: SRAM Red, 160mm / 160mm
  • Wheelset: Fulcrum Quattro Carbon db
  • Tyres: Schwalbe One 28c Race Guard, foldable
  • Fender: Curana Paralane
  • Colour: Black/black matt

Paralane Factory €3999 / £3199 / $3750 / AUS$4999

  • Full spec TBC

Paralane Apex 1 – Factory spec, 30mm tyres, dedicated 1x frame (With a different seat tube) €2999, £2299, US and Aus TBC

  • Frame: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: SRAM Apex 1, 11-Speed
  • Front derailleur: SRAM Apex 1
  • Shift brake lever: SRAM Apex 1
  • Cassette: SRAM PG-1130
  • Crankset: SRAM S350, PF30
  • Gear: Front: 44 Rear: 11/36
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Fizik Aliante R5
  • Seatpost: Concept CPX Plus, 25.4mm, 340mm, Di2, Carbon
  • Brake calipers: SRAM Apex 1, 160mm / 160mm
  • Wheelset: Zipp 303 Firecrest db
  • Tyres: Schwalbe S-One 30c MicroSkin, foldable
  • Fender: including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: Brown/Fluo Yellow Matt

Focus Paralane Ultegra (in two colourways) €3799 / £2999 / $3500 / AUS$4899

  • Frame: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano Ultegra, 11-Speed
  • Front derailleur: Shimano Ultegra
  • Shift brake lever: Shimano Ultegra
  • Cassette: Shimano 105
  • Crankset: Shimano Ultegra, PF30
  • Gear: Front: 52/36 Rear: 11/28
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Fizik Aliante R5
  • Seatpost: Concept CPX Plus, 25.4mm, 340mm, Di2, Carbon
  • Brake calipers: Shimano RS685, 160mm / 160mm
  • Wheelset: DT-Swiss R23, CL, 622-18
  • Tyres: Schwalbe One 28c Race Guard, foldable
  • Fender: including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: Black/Black Matt

Paralane 105 (in two colourways) €2999 / £2399 / $3000 / AUS$3699

  • Frame: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano 105, 11-Speed
  • Front derailleur: Shimano 105
  • Shift brake lever: Shimano 105
  • Cassette: Shimano 105
  • Crankset: Shimano RS500, PF30
  • Gear: Front: 52/36 Rear: 11/28
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Fizik Aliante R5
  • Seatpost: Concept CPX Plus, 25.4mm, 340mm, Di2, Carbon
  • Brake calipers: Shimano RS505, 160mm / 160mm
  • Wheelset: Fulcrum CEX 7.0, 622-17
  • Tyres: Schwalbe One 28c Race Guard, foldable
  • Fender: including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: Green/Fluo Green

Focus Paralane Tiagra hydro €2499, £1999, $2500, NA Aus

  • Frame: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano Tiagra, 10-Speed
  • Front derailleur: Shimano Tiagra
  • Shift brake lever: Shimano Tiagra
  • Cassette: Shimano HG500
  • Crankset: Shimano Tiagra, PF30
  • Gear: Front: 52/36 Rear: 12/28
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Concept EX
  • Seatpost: Concept EX Plus, 25.4mm, 350mm
  • Brake calipers: Shimano RS405, 160mm / 160mm
  • Hubs: Concept SL, 12x142 / 12x100mm
  • Rims: DT Swiss R522
  • Tyres: Schwalbe Lugano 28c K-Guard
  • Fender: including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: Black/Black Matt

Focus Paralane Donna Ultegra – Women’s specific version with bar/stem/post/saddle changes €3799, £2999, $3500, AUS$4899

  • Frame: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano Ultegra, 11-Speed
  • Front derailleur: Shimano Ultegra
  • Shift brake lever: Shimano Ultegra
  • Cassette: Shimano 105
  • Crankset: Shimano Ultegra, PF30
  • Gear: Front: 52/36 Rear: 11/28
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Fizik Aliante R5
  • Seatpost: Concept CPX Plus, 25.4mm, 340mm, Di2, Carbon
  • Brake calipers: Shimano RS685, 160mm / 140mm
  • Wheelset: DT-Swiss R23, CL, 622-18
  • Tyres: Schwalbe One 28c Race Guard, foldable
  • Fender: including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: Black/Black Matt

Alloy bikes

Focus Paralane AL Ultegra €2499, £1899, NA US & AUS

  • Spec TBC

Focus Paralane AL 105 €1999, £1599, NA US & AUS

  • Frame: Paralane AL Disc, Aluminium
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano 105, 11-Speed
  • Front derailleur: Shimano 105
  • Shift brake lever: Shimano 105
  • Cassette: Shimano 105
  • Crankset: Shimano RS500, BSA
  • Gear: Front: 52/36 Rear: 11/28
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Concept Endurance
  • Seatpost: Concept EX, 25.4mm, 350mm
  • Brake calipers: Shimano RS505, 160mm / 160mm
  • Hubs: Concept SL, 12x142mm / 12x100mm
  • Rims: DT-Swiss R522
  • Tyres: Schwalbe Lugano 28c K-Guard
  • Fender: including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: MagicBlack/Green/Blue Matt

Focus Paralane Apex 1x €1799, £1599, NA US, AUS£2599

  • Frame: Paralane AL Disc, Aluminium
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: SRAM Apex 1, 11-Speed
  • Front derailleur: SRAM Apex 1
  • Shift brake lever: SRAM Apex 1
  • Cassette: SRAM PG-1130
  • Crankset: SRAM S350-1, GXP
  • Gear: Front: 44 Rear: 11/36
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Concept Endurance
  • Seatpost: Concept EX, 25.4mm, 350mm
  • Brake calipers: SRAM Apex 1, 160mm / 160mm
  • Hubs: Concept SL, 12x142mm / 12x100mm
  • Rims: DT-Swiss R522
  • Tyres: Schwalbe Lugano 28c K-Guard
  • Fender: including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: MagicBlack/White Matt

Focus Paralane Tiagra €1799, £1399. NA US & AUS

  • Frame: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano Tiagra, 10-Speed
  • Front derailleur: Shimano Tiagra
  • Shift brake lever: Shimano Tiagra
  • Cassette: Shimano HG500
  • Crankset: Shimano Tiagra, BSA
  • Gear: Front: 52/36 Rear: 12/28
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Concept EX
  • Seatpost: Concept EX, 25.4mm, 350mm
  • Brake calipers: Shimano RS405, 160mm / 160mm
  • Hubs: Concept EX, 12x142mm / 12x100mm
  • Rims: DT-Swiss R522
  • Tyres: Schwalbe Lugano 28c K-Guard
  • Fender: including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: MagicBlack/Grey Matt

Focus Paralane Donna Tiagra €1799, £1399 NA US & AUS

  • Frame: Paralane AL Disc, Aluminium
  • Fork: Paralane Disc, Carbon
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano Tiagra, 10-Speed
  • Front derailleur: Shimano Tiagra
  • Shift brake lever: Shimano Tiagra
  • Cassette: Shimano HG500
  • Crankset: Shimano Tiagra, BSA
  • Gear: Front: 52/36 Rear: 12/28
  • Handlebar: Concept EX
  • Stem: Concept
  • Saddle: Concept Endurance Donna
  • Seatpost: Concept EX, 25.4mm, 350mm
  • Brake calipers: Shimano RS405, 160mm / 160mm
  • Hubs: Concept SL, 12x142mm / 12x100mm
  • Rims: DT-Swiss R522
  • Tyres: Schwalbe Lugano 28c K-Guard
  • Fender: Including Curana Paralane fender
  • Colour: MagicBlack/Pink/Blue Matt

Warren Rossiter

Senior technical editor

Warren is our senior technical editor for road and gravel. With 27 years of experience, he’s been testing bikes since before BikeRadar and the internet existed! With an encyclopedic knowledge of bikes and what some would consider an excessive bike collection, Warren has been the mastermind behind our road Bike of the Year tests for over a decade. He has penned more than 2,750 bike tests. His words have been published in Cycling Plus, Bikeradar, Mountain Biking UK, What Mountain Bike, Urban Cyclist, Procycling, Cycling News, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, T3 and a whole host of other publications. You’ll also find Warren as a regular on the BikeRadar Podcast and our YouTube channel. He’s covered all the 21st-century innovations in cycling and ridden in Europe, Asia, Australasia, America and Africa. He’s been a judge for the Eurobike awards and judged handmade bikes at Bespoked.

  • Height: 6’2”/188cm
  • Bike size:58cm/L/XL
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