Focus Izalco Max 9.8 review | Race Bike of the Year winner

SQUIRREL_13115939

The Focus Izalco Max is the latest iteration of the German brand’s all-round road racing bike.

With a mix of lightweight and aerodynamic features, plus a focus on practical integration, the Izalco Max impresses with confident handling and plenty of speed.

At £6,599 / €6,799 / AU$10,499 with a build featuring a suite of high-quality parts, it also represents good value versus the competition.

The all-round performance, quality spec list and reasonable price see the Izalco Max take the top honours in our 2024 Bike of the Year test.

Focus Izalco Max 9.8 frame

Focus says speed is the Izalco Max’s primary purpose. In fact, according to Focus, this is the fastest road bike it has ever made.

As such, Focus looked to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the Izalco Max frameset, with fewer sharp edges and more truncated aerofoil tube profiles across the bike.

It’s a familiar formula (not least because this latest version retains a similar silhouette to the previous Izalco Max), but one that makes a lot of sense for its goal of being an ideal all-round road racing bike.

The new Izalco Max frameset is also said to be stiffer and lighter, with a top-of-the-range, 9-series frame claimed to weigh 865g in a size medium / 54cm (plus 400g for its matching fork).

That's competitively light, as is the full build weight of 7.9kg for my size-56cm test bike. Our 2023 Aero Road Bike of the Year, the Giant Propel Advanced Pro 0 AXS, weighed 7.97kg in a size ML, for example.

There are lighter bikes available, though. A Specialized Tarmac SL8 Pro frame is claimed to weigh 780g in a size 56cm, for example, with a complete bike with SRAM Force AXS weighing 7.46kg (in the same size). It is, at £8,000 / $8,500 / €8,500, significantly more expensive, however.

Unusually, Focus says it intentionally reduced the comfort of the frameset, as a byproduct of making it stiffer – for improved responsiveness and handling characteristics.

Dropped seatstays, a slim carbon seatpost and relatively wide tyres are intended to help compensate for this, however, and, contrary to Jack Evans' first ride review of the flagship Izalco Max 9.9, I didn’t find the Izalco Max 9.8 uncomfortable, even on the rutted back roads around South Bristol.

The frameset is built around Shimano’s press-fit BB86 bottom bracket standard.

Focus Izalco Max 9.8 geometry

In tune with its intended use as a road racing bike, the geometry of the Focus Izalco Max is relatively long and low, with an emphasis on quick handling and responsiveness.

In a size L / 56cm, that translates to a stack and reach of 399 and 571mm, respectively.

Compared to some of its peers, the Izalco Max frameset is, on average, a touch higher and longer.

The Specialized Tarmac SL8 Pro, for example, has an aggressively low, 565mm of stack but a shorter 393mm of reach (in a size 56cm).

A size-medium Canyon Ultimate CF SL is even lower at the front end, with a stack height of 560mm. Again, though, the reach is shorter than on the Izalco Max, at 393mm.

This trend is further emphasised by the components Focus has opted for. Where both Specialized and Canyon spec a 100mm stem on a size-56cm or medium frame (respectively), Focus opts for a 110mm stem on its size L / 56cm Izalco Max.

The Izalco Max’s Easton EC70 Aero carbon handlebar also has 80mm of reach, compared to 75mm on the Tarmac SL8’s Roval Rapide handlebar, or 74mm on the Ultimate CF SL’s CP0018 Aerocockpit.

Looking elsewhere, the Izalco Max’s seat and head tube angles sit at 73.5 and 72.5 degrees respectively, with relatively short chainstays of 410mm and a wheelbase of 1,004mm.

This elicits a quick and responsive ride feel, although it’s a touch slower than the Tarmac SL8 Pro, which has a steeper head tube angle of 73.5 degrees and a tighter 991mm wheelbase.

Combined with the longer cockpit (which also has the effect of slowing the handling slightly, due to the larger turning circle), then, the Izalco Max offers slightly more sedate handling.

It’s a marginal difference – the Izalco Max is no endurance road bike – but one that is detectable when riding the bikes back to back.

Focus Izalco Max 9.8 specification

Sitting one step down from the flagship 9.9 model, the Izalco Max 9.8 substitutes a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset for the Japanese brand’s second-tier Ultegra Di2 R8100 groupset.

The drivetrain consists of a 52x36-tooth crankset paired with an 11-30t cassette out back. There’s no power meter included, however, so you’ll need to supply your own if you like to train with power.

The DT Swiss ERC 1600 DICUT 45 wheelset shares a rim profile with the 1400-series wheels seen on the Izalco Max 9.9, but uses more economical DT Swiss non-series hubs.

Though you might expect Focus to opt for something from DT Swiss’s ARC DICUT aero wheel line-up, the endurance-focused ERC DICUT rims are more on-trend, with a wider shape better optimised for larger tyres.

The 45mm-deep ERC rims, for example, have a 22mm internal width and a 28.5mm external width, compared to 20 and 26.5mm, respectively, on the 50mm-deep ARC rims.

The extra internal width spreads the 700x28c Vittoria Corsa N.EXT TLR tyres to 29.3mm wide at 55psi / 3.8 BAR, while the greater external width should provide better aerodynamic efficiency with larger tyres.

On that topic, tyre clearance on the Izalco Max frameset is officially capped at 30mm. In practice, though, there’s room to spare around the stock tyres, suggesting real-world clearance is a little higher.

Both the wheelset and tyres are tubeless-ready, but you’ll need to supply your own tubeless sealant and valves if you want to convert.

Focus specs its own D-shaped carbon seatpost, which has 15mm of setback (although the hardware on top can be flipped to enable a greater range of fore and aft saddle adjustment). Its C.I.S (Cockpit Integration Solution) 2.0 stem is available in sizes from 70 to 120mm, in 10mm increments.

The C.I.S 2.0 stem routes brake hoses and cables, where present, underneath it and into the upper headset bearing, striking an attractive balance between integration and adjustability.

Focus also includes a dedicated out-front bike computer mount, which mounts on the stem faceplate.

Focus has specced Easton’s EC70 Aero carbon handlebar. The 42cm (centre-to-centre) width specced on the size L / 56 is too wide for my taste, but with the C.I.S 2.0 stem having a standard, 31.8mm handlebar clamping area, there’s near-limitless scope to swap in your handlebar of choice.

Lastly, Fizik supplies its Vento Argo R5 saddle. This is a short-nosed saddle, with a nylon shell, alloy rails and firm padding.

In terms of value, the Focus Izalco Max 9.8 acquits itself well.

The Izalco Max is considerably cheaper than the £8,000 / $8,500 / €8,500 Specialized Tarmac SL8 Pro, with the only notable spec omission on the Focus bike being a power meter.

Giant’s Propel Advanced Pro 0 is similarly priced, at £6,399 / $8,000 / €6,900, although it also includes a power meter.

As you might expect of a direct-to-consumer brand, Canyon’s Ultimate CF SLX 8 Di2 looks to offer even greater value.

Focus Izalco Max 9.8 ride impressions

On the road, the Focus Izalco Max 9.8 feels taut and efficient.

It doesn’t have the same flat-land speed as the most aggressive aero road bikes, but ticks along effectively, while the stiff frameset doesn’t offer any hint of flex when climbing out of the saddle.

The mix of speed and slightly more relaxed handling reminded me of bikes such as the Scott Foil RC Pro and Colnago V4Rs. While these bikes feel a little more ponderous at slower speeds, they handle excellently at speed, making them fantastic descenders.

In contrast to Jack’s experience at the bike’s launch event last autumn, I didn’t find the Izalco Max to be less comfortable than other similar race bikes, such as the Specialized Tarmac SL8 Pro or Giant’s TCR Advanced Pro Disc. In fact, I’d say it compares well with those two on this measure.

I suspect the contrasting opinions could be down to tyre pressures.

In my experience, mechanics setting up road bikes for press events tend to over-inflate the tyres, but for my testing I used relatively low pressures of 50 and 55psi / 3.4 and 3.8 BAR, front and rear (it is, in fairness, hard to predict the optimum tyre pressure for riders you know nothing about, and on that occasion Jack didn’t get a chance to check how his test bike was set up).

Tyre pressure is critical to comfort on an unsuspended road bike, and with the wide rims increasing the effective tyre width, overinflating them would impact comfort significantly.

On the subject of tyres, the Corsa N.EXT TLRs impress, with excellent ride feel and grip, but there are faster options available.

At the very least, I’d look to upgrade the stock butyl tubes to a tubeless setup, or swap in a set of latex or TPU inner tubes, to maximise their performance.

The rest of the build also performed excellently. For my taste, Shimano’s Ultegra Di2 R8100 remains the benchmark road bike groupset at this price point.

I’d have preferred the wide-ranging 11-34t cassette option over the tight 11-30t one Focus opts for, but that’s a minor point.

Shimano’s latest hydraulic road disc brakes are also very impressive, with buckets of power and far less noise in the wet compared to SRAM’s Force AXS brakes.

Focus Izalco Max 9.8 bottom line

All things considered, the Focus Izalco Max 9.8 is an excellent all-round road racing bike.

The frameset carefully balances low weight and aerodynamic efficiency, while not compromising on important aspects such as adjustability.

The build spec is also well-considered, with the lack of a power meter being the only notable omission.

Perhaps the only criticism I can make of the Izalco Max is it feels a bit vanilla. It never blew me away with any particular attribute, but it didn’t leave me disappointed with any either.

This is a criticism that could be levelled at many similar bikes, though, and if you’re shopping with your head, not your heart, there’s much to like here.

SQUIRREL_13115939