Focus Culebro First Look

• Aluminum is only my fourth favorite material for bicycle frame fabrication, but that's mainly because the golden age of great aluminum frames has passed. As the big brands shifted to mountain bikes in the late 1980s, the pace of aluminum innovation hastened. Butting profiles, gussets, hydroforming, tig welding methods, and even the alloy composition themselves were drastically improved. Klein and Fisher, Principia, Specialized, Cannondale, Bianchi, and even Trek experimented with ever lighter and ever stiffer frames. By the mid-90s, there were a dozen or more wonderful factory-made, vanilla-spec aluminum road bikes on the market. While they might not have afforded the mix of long range comfort and short burst speed that the best contemporary carbon frames do, they were more importantly relatively affordable, and purpose-built for hard-man style racing. Unfortunately, over the past few years, this form factor has been abandoned, replaced with either poorly executed "budget" carbon, bastardized aluminum-carbon hybrids, or worse: dirt-cheap, scrap-heap frames that now make up the pricepoint Sora-equipped entry level and Internet "brand" road bike market.

  Cervelo, among others, made a play for legit aluminum frames a few years ago -- but as soon as the designs birthed copycats, the brand moved up-market and aluminum became an afterthought. Cannondale of course continues to churn out tweaks on its fifteen year old CAAD form factor, but the writing is on the wall: between outsourcing production and introducing full carbon frames, it's hard to imagine quality not slipping there. Several boutique European brands offer pricepoint al options: Ridley, Pinnarello, Orbea, etc. -- but these too are simply cookie cutter designs ordered right out of a generic factory playbook.

  There are tiny players innovating, of course. Rock Lobster, Salsa, Primus Mootry, and newcomer Gaulzetti Cicli are producing great stuff. Spooky Bikes, a microenterprise based in Massachusetts, is churning out frames for a number of professional and elite riders in the northeast (and some not-so-elite riders right here in Chicago, now that TATI has picked up the brand). I'm excited to spend this spring on my own kermesse-inspired Spooky Skeletor...

  I still think the now-discontinued Storck Vision Light represents a pinnacle of sorts in this genre: a super durable, somewhat affordable, all-out racing frame with cornering and sprinting characteristics that surpass most carbon frames on the market. But where to turn next? At first, I didn't notice the Focus Culebro. In fact, I'd ordered one of every other model in the brand's road lineup, but not the Culebro. Who would want a $2,000 aluminum road bike?, I wondered. The Focus Variado, available in both Tiagra and 105 flavors, seemed like a fantastic value, at $1,100 and $1,500, respectively. And at only $2,300 -- the 105-equipped Focus Cayo, seemed like such a bargain... the same carbon frame that Jelly Belly races for hundreds less than the competition. Who would want a Culebro?

  

  The thing about Focus is that it's also Derby Cycles. And as such, it's one of the largest bicycle syndicates in Europe. Focus entered the British market a few years back, partnering with mail order powerhouse Wiggle. This was a moved that has been watched carefully by American observers, because no longer were we looking at a house brand (Scattante) or lazy rebrand (Dawes, Motobecane) going full mail order. Focus is a first tier, big brand, producing a range of bikes from the pro level on down, and the move appears to have been quite the success.

  And so Focus enters the U.S. market with some very interesting and original designs, pricing much lower than its competitors, and a reputation for quality and innovation rarely found outside of Germany and Japan. But back to the Culebro.

  

  Like the rest of the Focus lineup, the Culebro sports a high contrast, limited palette color scheme: matte black, gloss white, and a hint of red. Both the seatpost and stem appear to have been dipped in white chocolate (interesting, as have the saddle rails). The product designer was discliplined enough to maintain chromatic consistency down to the cable housing, tire tread, and what is often the bane of obsessive bike builders: the dreaded handlebar clamp logo. The frame geometry is thankfully not too compact, and the tubes, while hydroformed, actually seem to have been designed with some forethought as to how they might actually be joined: the seat cluster in particular is a joy to behold, with the horizontally ovalized top tube melting (via artfully smoothed gigantic tig welds) into the most interesting seat stays I've seen on a recent aluminum bike.

  

  The spec is atypically practical for what is ultimately a price point bike. While it's true that the Continental Ultra clinchers are a cop out, one is hard pressed to find another area of fashion over function or sneaky cost cutting. Of particular note are the excellent Shimano Ultegra brake calipers. I think these might be my favorite component in the new Ultegra lineup. Mirroring the organic-angular shape of the rear derailleur, these calipers are appreciably stiffer than others in the same range -- and far better than the OEM brakes generally found in this price range.

  

  The truth is that the Culebro looks like bikes twice the price, and while not the most important thing in the world, this unified design is worth something, especially in a world of cookie cutter bikes. But even though it looks racy, the bike is built with components designed for rear world use. An especially interesting choice are the Fulcrum Racing 7 wheels. At a claimed weight of 1930g, there's no pretending that these are lightweight hoops. In fact, they are a bit hefty for a reduced spoke design! But the 7s feature some good hubs with very good bearings, and excellent quick releases. And despite an unusual lacing pattern, they are easily serviceable by any home mechanic with a spoke wrench. A more common spec in this range would be slightly lighter OEM wheels with trendy bladed spoke, terrible bearings, and likely limited serviceability.

  

  It would be premature to dub the Culebro a winner without a season or two of feedback from several riders of various types. But it's rare that a (relatively) inexpensive bike that looks so good on paper surprises in person. It's been a long journey, here in Tativille, arriving for the first time in three years in the land of prefab bikes. But I would not be ashamed to recommend and build a Culebro or ten to riders seeking a bang-for-the-buck roadie with a drop of high style and a gigantic scoop of high performance. In fact, at this point, I'd surprised if it does not eventually become the best selling bike in the shop.

  In a sense, this is a little disappointing, but it's entirely understandable. Not everyone buys into the pure TATI hyper-monochrome, minimalist aesthetic. For the same ballpark, I'd personally prefer a TATI steel frame with handbuilt wheels and a Rival/Force mix. But then again, why not both?