Focus Launch The 2016 Raven Max Rocket!

A quick peruse around the race pits at some of the recent World Cup XC rounds is all the evidence you need to see that the hardtail brigade is back on the march. Only a week ago we reported on the release of the new Trek Procaliber, and back in May MarathonMTB brought us the story of the new BMC Teamelite 01 softail racer. Other brands are also in the process of refining their flagship 29er race bikes, as new technologies and standards become more widely available to manufacturers. Frames are becoming stiffer in the right spots, while offering more compliance than ever before, so that World Cup athletes can elect for the lighter hardtail option without fear of being beaten up on technical race courses. Geometry is also evolving. Steep head angles and short top tubes are out, while short chainstays and long front-centres are in, and cockpit setups are favouring wider handlebars with shorter stems. Throw all of these advancements in with component improvements such as lighter wheels, stiffer suspension forks, bigger brakes and faster high-volume rubber, and the modern 29er race hardtail is more capable than ever before.

One brand that is capitalising on this evolution is German brand Focus, who recently released the brand new Focus Raven Max. While we’re still anticipating full pricing and spec details for the available Raven models that will be making their way Down Under, I had the opportunity to spend some time aboard the brand new 2016 Raven Max Team bike during the PressCamp event in Utah. Here’s our first look of this sharp new race weapon.

Based out of Cloppenburg in Germany, Focus is a company that is well known for their range of road and cyclocross bikes, but perhaps less so for its off-road range. That reputation has slowly begun to change over the past couple of seasons thanks to the higher visibility of the Focus name on Australian trails. The Raven hardtail has been a common sight in both its 27.5″ and 29″ forms, but it’s the 160mm travel SAM Enduro bike that has captured many riders imaginations with its burly single-pivot frameset and big-mountain geometry. Thanks to the commercial and racing success of the SAM, Focus is beginning to build its profile on the dirt so that it isn’t just known amongst the drop-bar crowd.

Having just been released after several years of development (the current Raven frame has seen few changes since 2013), the new Raven Max is entirely new from the ground-up. Impressively, it’s 30% lighter than the outgoing model, with the new 29er frame coming in at just 885 grams. Focus leave the frame with a raw carbon finish to keep weight down, with only a few graphics giving the bike its colour.

As with the previous model, Focus will be offering the Raven in both 29″ and 27.5″ versions. The big wheeler is likely to be the more popular option due to its rock-smoothing abilities, and you’ll see frame sizes from Small through to X-Large. For shorter riders, the 27.5″ bike will be offered in an X-Small size, but you’ll also be able to get the little wheels through to a Large frame too. Geometry has been massaged across the board to stay in line with current trends. That sees the head angle kick out to 69.8-degrees on the Raven Max 29er, and the effective top tubes get slightly longer. Focus wanted to maximise the new bikes climbing abilities, so they pushed the seat tube angle steeper to 74.5-degrees, which allows the rider to get their weight further forward on steep tech climbs. With the seat tube pushed forward, it’s allowed Focus to bring the rear wheel in closer to the bottom bracket, with the chainstay length shrinking from 447mm to 435mm on the 29er model. Compared to the 2015 Raven 29er, the new model is just 6mm longer in the wheelbase.

Check out the profile of that top tube. Focus’s carbon engineers have chosen to flare out the top tube where it meets the head tube to create an oversized hollow junction that’s super stiff.

To match the new geometry, Focus have built the Raven Max around a modernised cockpit that is free of skinny flat bars and road bike stem lengths. In fact, Focus have designed the entire size range around a 90mm stem length, rather than the traditionalist approach that would see smaller frame sizes matched to short stems, and larger frame sizes paired with longer stems. Focus are convinced that every rider should enjoy the same steering dynamics whether they’re 5’5″ or 6’2″, and I would tend to agree with their sentiment. And while the enduro crowd would pass off that 90mm stem as being way too long, it’s about spot-on for XC racing, where the rider needs to be able to get sufficient weight onto the front tyre for cornering traction, without being so far over the front end that the bike feels ungainly. The other factor at play is the steeper head tube angle used on an XC race bike. If you throw a 50mm stem onto a race hardtail, chances are the steering is going to be way too twitchy for anyone to ride technical trails with confidence. Focus are aiming for a balanced ride quality with the new Raven Max, as climbing ability needs to match descending confidence for true XC domination.

The Raven Max gets neat internal cable routing through the asymmetric head tube. There’s even a cable routing option for a dropper seat post to suit the rowdier XC riders out there.

Unlike a mullet, the new Raven Max is business up front, as well as business out back. Focus have reworked the seat stays to completely bypass the seat tube, and instead they flow directly into the top tube. The idea here is for the bumps and vibrations being experienced at the rear wheel to be transferred into the frame, and not up the seat post to the riders derrière. Further enhancing this bump-soothing ride quality, you’ll be able to see that only the front half of the seat tube actually connected to the top tube, which allows the seat post to flex a certain degree. It’s not quite like the IsoSpeed technology found on the new Trek Procaliber, but it’s an arrangement that encourages flex without the use of a pivot and bearings. When prompting Focus about the development of the new Raven Max’s back end, they told us that their designers initially looked at the soft-tail design, but decided against it in favour of lighter weight and simplicity. Instead, they’ve relied on carbon layup trickery and the tube architecture to encourage flex without need for pivots or mini-shocks.

Further enhancing the Raven Max’s compliance is the tapered seat tube that thins into a leaf-spring down at the PF30 bottom bracket shell. Oversized chainstays aim to mitigate back-end flex under power.

Another key development for Focus has been the progression of their in-house component brand called ‘Concept’. On the Raven Max, the new Concept CPX Plus seat post is another piece of the puzzle in smoothing out trail buzz. Brands such as Canyon/Ergon are using split seat posts to offer increased vertical compliance, though Focus have used a simpler tunnel in the top of the CPX Plus post. The 27.2mm diameter seatpost is claimed to weight just 192 grams, so there is minimal weight penalty for the increased compliance.

Focus will offer the top-level Raven Max frames in both 1x and 2x specific versions. The Raven Max Team issue that I rode featured a 1×11 SRAM drivetrain with carbon fibre crank arms and a direct-mount chainring.

Moving further out back, Focus have finally updated the Raven Max with a 142x12mm thru-axle to help boost stability between the rear wheel and the frame. Rather than using a Shimano E-Thru or a RockShox Maxle however, they developed their very own. Called the R.A.T (Rapid Axle Technology), the new axle combines the benefits of a thru-axle system with the convenience of a quick release. Simply open up the lever, rotate a 1/4 turn, and the axle slides out of place for quick wheel changes. Given punctures are still an occurrence at the World Cup level, this kind of time-giver could be the difference between a D.N.F, and a second chance at a solid result.

Initially developed for Focus’ disc-brake cyclocross bikes, the R.A.T axle makes perfect sense for the Raven Max. Just open the lever, rotate 90-degrees, and the T-Shaped axle end slips out of position for you to remove the axle from the frame.

A contemporary cockpit setup for a contemporary frame. All frame sizes are built around a 90mm stem and 720mm handlebars. The cockpit items are provided by Focus’ in-house component brand called ‘Concept’.

Riding the Raven Max

Having spent some trail time aboard the new 2016 Focus Raven Max Team, I came away with positive first impressions of this very fast-looking machine. Equipped with the RockShox RS-1 fork and carbon DT Swiss wheels, the Team model is the same spec as what Florian Vogel is riding on the World Cup circuit. In this guise, the complete bike weighs in at a staggering 8.1kg! Though given the high-zoot build kit and 885 gram frame, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. As you’d expect of a bike at this weight, the Raven Max lurches forward with so much as a sniff of a pedal stroke. It accelerates quickly, with those short chainstays helping to lay down the power, while assisting with tight uphill switchbacks. Compared to the current Raven frame, the new Raven 29er feels sharper and more direct in its handling – and that’s even compared to the current 27.5″ model. Focus have gotten the geometry right on the big wheeler, with the added stability and control coming without compromise to the bikes ability to carve up the turns. What you do get with those larger volume tyres and the reworked seat tube junction is a much greater ability to take the edge off square-edge hits on the trail, allowing you to stay seated in the power position for longer. It’s definitely no full suspension bike, but the new Raven Max does eliminate much of the high-frequency buzz that you’d normally expect when scooting along rocky singletrack at racing speeds. For riders who are on the fence between a race hardtail and a race dually, the Raven Max will surely provide a valid option that will help in the decision making process.

At the time of writing, AMB is awaiting confirmation as to which models of the new Raven Max will be making their way to Australia. We will update this article with availability and pricing information once it comes to hand. In the meantime, you can contact Focus Australia for more info and to find your nearest dealer.