Flow's First Bite: Focus SAM 1.0

The not-so-minor details

Product

Focus SAM 1.0

Contact

Focus Australia
www.focus-bikes.com

Price

AUD6,000.00

Weight

12.91kg

Size tested:

Medium

Positives

Lightweight.
Clean looks.
Fork feels incredible.

Negatives

Hmmm, we'll have to wait and see.

Click here for the full review. Boom!
SAM is a military abbreviation for Surface to Air Missile, which we guess means this bike is good at jumping and blowing stuff up.
Tests_FocusSAM0592
We first clapped eyes on the SAM 1.0 at the 2014 Focus Bikes presentation two months ago. In a room full of road bikes and 29ers, it looked like one mean bastard of a bike – matte black, angry looking geometry and plenty of travel. We knew right away that we had to get this one in for a full review.

The cables are all internal, popping out just fore of the bottom bracket shell.
The cables are all internal, popping out just fore of the bottom bracket shell.

The SAM is an alloy framed 160mm-travel all-mountain weapon, yet it weighs in at less than most similarly positioned carbon bikes, tipping the scales at just 12.91kg. Admittedly the XX1 drivetrain and Reynolds carbon wheels help keep the bike svelte, but when you consider the Pike fork, Reverb stealth post and big Schwalbe rubber it’s an impressive figure.
The 160mm-travel Pike feels very, very nice. It's actually a dual position model, so you can drop the front end for climbing.
The 160mm-travel Pike feels very, very nice. It’s actually a dual position model, so you can drop the front end for climbing.

A black anodised finish is hard to beat, and with internally routed cables it all looks very sleek indeed. We’re overwhelmed by how smooth the fork feels straight out of the box – fingers cross the Monarch rear shock can match the performance of the front end. We’ve converted the wheels to tubeless and we can’t think of another change we could possibly wish to make before hitting the trails.
Carbon hoops, smothered with Schwalbe's finest all-mountain rubber,
Carbon hoops, smothered with Schwalbe’s finest all-mountain rubber,

We’ll be taking the SAM to Thredbo this week and giving it a few laps down the new Flow track to see how it all fares, before bringing it to our home trails for some ill-treatment over the Christmas period.
 
 

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