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TECH NEWS
WorldTour Team Bikes 2013: Ag2r La Mondiale's Focus Izalco Team SL Carbon
German bike brand Focus Bikes will return to the WorldTour this year by supplying bikes to the French team Ag2r La Mondiale for the 2013 race season. Focus have been a familiar sight in the pro peloton: first with Milram, then Katusha, which ended in 2011, and Team Acqua & Sapone last year.
They’ve signed a three-year deal with Ag2r, so seeing as they’ll be a very regular sight for the next few years, let’s take a look at the Izalco Team SL Carbon they’ll be racing.
The Izalco has been the company’s flagship race bike for some time. The Team SL is the latest version, introduced for the 2013 model year, and sees the frame go on a serious diet, losing some 200g. That means the frame is safely under the 1kg marker, with a claimed weight of 960g.
All tube profiles and shapes give it a similarity to the previous model, but it’s the carbon layup that has been significantly updated to achieve the weight loss. The headset and bottom bracket bearing cups are now moulded in carbon, this removal of metal surfaces helps to drop a bit more weight.
The frame has a unique internal cable routing design. Channels for the cables are laid up in the walls of the tubes and that is said to contribute to the structural stiffness. It also allows for much easier cable fitting. It’s designed with electronic groupsets in mind, and the team will be running Campagnolo’s Record EPS groupset.
The team bikes are built with a Campagnolo Record EPS groupset, Fulcrum Racing Speed XLR wheels and Schwalbe Ultremo HD tubular 22mm tyres. It’s the only bike in the peloton to use Fizik’s Cyrano handlebar, stem and seatpost setup. The team will have a choice of Fizik Arione, Antares and Aliante saddles.
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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10 comments
The Merida would match perfectly with the young riders' jersey in the Tour Down Under.
I'm not saying that's a good thing
For some reason the photos of the team bike we weren't sent don't have EPS fitted, it's just plain old Record.
The team will be racing with EPS groupsets though. I have seen a blurry pic of the actual race bike and the battery is mounted on the downtube
If you take a look at the inner ring blog and go onto Tuesdays article there's a link in there with a load of 2013 team bikes, you may wish to bring out the eye bleach for the Merida though
Yes I've seen a photo of the Merida, quite shocking isn't it? The Focus looks pretty good, to my eyes at least. We're currently writing a roundup of WorldTour bikes so look out for that soon...
Beautiful. But I have an izalco so I would say that. Looks great with campag. Where's the humungous battery pack hidden though or has it been airbrushed out?
Despite the fact that I have ridden it (badly) across the full Flanders and Roubaix courses, twice done the Haute Route on it, thrown it in many planes and now even commute through the winter on it, the BMC won't die. Maybe it's got some kind of super drug weaved through the carbon. Not angry though. Just over it.
You'll be waiting a long time for your bike to snap in half then. Does riding your BMC anger you everytime you ride it?
It's a very nice looking bike, but I'm personally going on a buyer's strike this time around: I'm no longer going to hand over my money to companies that pay wads of cash to cheaters. So Specialized is out = Vinokourov, Trek is out = Armstrong, Focus is out = previously Pozzato and Katusha, Canyon is out = the whole current team at Katusha, etc, etc. Sponsoring those teams costs a huge amount so you pay for the adverts and the wages, and not the better quality bike. I currently have a BMC ( = Hincapie, Landis, Hamilton etc), but as soon as that has snapped in half I'm going to buy a Kinesis or a Brian Rourke or something. Vote with your feet and wallets and the cynical marketing men, who no doubt knew and stood by as their sponsored athletes cheated their way to victories and aided increased bike sales, and these companies will soon stop colluding with the devil. Sorry Cav, you are a good guy, but I ain't buying a Spaecialized.
We so need a 'like' button... Dave?
How many teams have Focus sponsored in recent years? Four in five years? They better be careful or they'll get a reputation for being the "town bike" of the pro-peloton.