Spain bikecheck : Beto De Alva

Barcelona, home of many Focale 44 bikes... One more from Beto De Alva, a mexican rider living in Barcelona for 4 years.  He runs his blog here : Deathxlane.tumblr.com
What he says about the bike : "The frame rides awosome and have a sick bmx look!"

- Frame/fork : Focale 44 kit, size 58 cm, custom paint
- Wheels : Weimann DP18, Gurpil hubs, 15t sprocket, Hutchinson+Continental tires
- Steering : Thomson Elite stem, Ritchey Pro bullhorn bar, Deda tape.
- Seating : Ritchey Pro seat post, unknown seat
- Drivetrain : Sugino crank, BLB 46 chainring, BMX pedals

British Noble : Alan Cundy

A red clear coating 2012 Noble bike from UK. Owner is Alan Cundy. All stock except fancy Michelin tyres. The red/blue mix is clean choice.

2012 Noble in Austria : Bastian Bernstetter

Bastian Bernstetter from Vienna, in Austria rides a 58 cm 2012 Noble bike. Customized in full black version, this bike rocks. All stock, except grips, pedals and tires (indeed, they all are white, on stock bike).
Note the Freedom Thickslick tire on rear wheel. Soon, you see those tires on a very limited number of special Focale 44 bikes.

Relax from somewhere on Earth : Russell Nevell

Direct from Russell Nevell who live somewhere-city, somewhere-country : highly modified Focale 44 Relax bike, named Purple Rain.

- Frame/fork : 52 cm Relax frame, Leader track fork
- Wheels : Origin 8 Track Attack deep rims, Soma hubs, Halo alloy nuts
- Steering : Track Attack drop bar, purple track bar grips
- Seating : not sure...
- Drivetrain : Focale 44 crank, Hoffman Bikes pedals, Origin 8 straps, YBN chain
- Other : Skin Grows Back top tube pad, purple chain ring bolts.

some changes

now, your bikes are loaded on the "news" page.
Désormais, vos vélos sont affichés dans la page "news".

Noble in London : Oliver Ferris

Oliver Ferris from London, UK, confirms what many people think : black bikes are beautiful. His dark ride is not just a show bike for summer friday evening tours. A real communter. Read what he says : "Have loved my bike every second since I bought it in June 2010, i do roughly 100 miles a week commuting to work in London, and still going strong!".

That's true, Focale 44 bikes last long, very long. We've always created our bikes with quality in mind. We don't want you to face quality issues. Not good for you and not good for us either because we have to seriously take care of you when you have trouble. We all prefer spending time riding bikes that fixing problems.

Original bike : Noble 2010 52cm
Wheelset : Foffa Deep Dish
Stem : Bricklane Bikes
Bars : Bricklane bikes "mini me" riser
Saddle : Foffa
Pedals : Duo bmx
Straps : Big Top

2013 range : soon....

Yes, soon : end of september visible on line, end of october in stores.

New way to use a Focale 44 bike : camping...

Timo Mrukwia from Darmstadt, Germany already sent us his bikecheck on May 1st 2012. Today, we can show his new setup : camping version. Timo's cat really to be shot with the bike.
Upgrades from previous version :
- Ritchey handlebar
- FSA stem
- 80's front wheel, with Fixiepop tire (Timo's word : horrible tire, slips in every corner!)
Enjoy summer nights near the Rhein river, Timo...   .... And golf tournament as well

Another Relax from Singapore : Osman Hafiz

Osman "Haf" Hafiz from Singapore rides a custom 49 cm Relax bike. Black bikes are often (always ?) beautiful.

- Frame/fork : Focale 44 Relax, 49 cm
- Wheels : H+son rims, Paul hubs, Continental Grand Prix 4000 tires
- Steering : Cinelli Valencia bar, Mash stem, Brooks grips
- Seating :  Brooks Swift saddle
- Drivetrain : Paul Royal Flush crank, 46t

Black Relax in Singapore 2 : Roger Chua, second time

Roger Chua from Singapore updated his bike. No more stock bike lile 2.5 months ago. Once again, he took a nice picture and the bike looks great.

- Frame/fork : stock 2012 Relax, size 52 cm.
- Wheels : H+Son SL42 rims, Soma track hubs, Maxxis Re-Fuse tires (23c)
- Steering : Gravity Gap OS stem, Deda Crononero Low Rider handlebar, Endzone bartape.
- Seating : Gravity Logo seatpost, Bioflex Carbon saddle
- Drivetrain : EighthInch lockring, 14t cog, Wellgo WR-1 pedals

The new S-Express bike in show chrome finish

Time to introduce a new bike in the 2012 range : the S-Express in show chrome finish. Specs remain similar to the other S-Express bikes (black and sky blue). On that new bike, frame, fork, handlebar and seat post are highly polished before being chrome plated. Result : a very shinny mirror finish.
Available now in limited quantities.

Il est temps de présenter un nouveau vélo de la gamme 2012 : le S-Express en finition chromée. Même fiche technique que les autres S-Express (noir et blue ciel). Sur ce vélo, le cadre, la fourche, le guidon et la tige de selle sont polis avant d'être chromés. Résultat : une finition miroir hors du commun.
Disponible maintenant en quantité limitée.

Black Relax bike in Singapor : Roger Chua

No doubt about that : a nice picture always make a bike looks nicer. Look at that 2012 Relax bike. It belongs to Roger Chua from Singapore. It is a stock bike, but it looks more beautiful than any other Relax bike. Congratulations for these pictures, Roger.

- Frame/fork : stock 2012 Relax, size 52 cm.
- Wheels : stock 2012 Relax.
- Steering : stock 2012 Relax + Crank Brother grips.
- Seating : stock 2012 Relax
- Drivetrain : stock 2012 Relax
- Brake : stock 2012 Relax

Another German bike : Timo Mrukwia

Germany and Australia are the 2 main countries on this page. One more from Germany. Timo Mrukwia comes from Darmstadt (and his cat too !).
- frame/fork: Focale 44 Noble, size 58cm
- wheels: Vuelta Stylus
- stearing: Noble bar/stem combo
- seating: Brooks, probably
- drivetrain: Noble stock
- Brake : Noble stock +  Shimano 600 aero levers

Marc Lindert's Noble, version 2

We already showed Marc Lindert' bike. It was in november 2011. Still living in Berlin, Germany, he sent us his reveised Noble bike :
- frame/fork: Focale 44 Noble, size 55cm
- wheels: Noble stock
- freewheel: White Industries ENO
- stearing: Focale 44 Revolted stem and  bar + Oury grips
- seating: Brooks B17
- drivetrain: Noble stock with BLB Straps
- Brake : Noble stock + Paul Brake Lever

Australian red frame : Mark Lipski

Mark Lipski from Sidney, Australia owns one of the first Focale 44 ever : a red frame kit from the first batch of the 2010 range. Still looking good.
- Frame/fork : 2010 Focale 44 frame kit, siez 52 cm.
- Wheels : Velocity B43 wheels.
- Steering : Soma bullhorn handlebar, Pro stem.
- Seating : vintage Selle San Marco Concor Supercorsa saddle
- Drivetrain : 46-tooth EighthInch crankset, 18-tooth Surly cog.

New distributor : Norway and Sweden

People from Norway, people from Sweden, be happy ! In the coming weeks, Focale 44 will be officially distributed in your countries by Element Distribution. Based in Norway, Element is a long time partner of BMX Groupment, Focale 44 mother company. You can expect a very good service from Steinar and his working crew. See the distribution page for complete contact.

Peuple de Norvège, peuple de Suède, réjouissez-vous ! Dans les prochaines semaine, Focale 44 sera officiellement distribuée dans vos pays par Element Distribution. Basé en Norvège, Element est un partenaire de BMX Groupment, la maison mère de Focale 44. Attendez-vous à du très bon service de la part de Steinar et son équipe. Coordonnées complètes sur la page distribution.

Australian 2012 Noble bike : Ashton Papazahariakis

From Adelaide, Australia, Ashton Papazahariakis wants to introduce his 2012 Noble bike.

- Frame/fork : stock Focale 44 Noble frame and fork.
- Wheels : stock Focale 44 wheels and hubs (for the moment)
- Steering : Soma Shotwell stem, Nitto alloy straight bar, Fi'zi:k Microtex tape, Pelican dive torch
- Seating : stock Focale seat post, Brooks Colt saddle.
- Drivetrain : stock Focale 44 drive train/pedals
- Extra : Kryptonite Ulock and Knog Lights

170 km on a Relax

Keisuke Fujita from Japan rode his Focale 44 Relax bike from Toyota Aichi to Kyoto. Total distance ? 170 km. Impressive long ride for this bike and his tall owner. He is 190 cm tall and rides a 58 cm bike.
Thanks to Salone del Monte (www.salonedelmonte.com) for the info.

Le Japonais Keisuke Fujita a bien utilisé son Focale 44 Relax entre Toyota Aichi et Kyoto. Distance totale ? 170 km. Voilà un parcours impressionnant pour ce vélo et son grand propriétaire. Il mesure 1,90 m et roule sur un vélo taille 58.

Merci à Salone del Monte (www.salonedelmonte.com) pour l'info.

Taipei Cycle show

Every year in march, the Taipei Cycle show is like a huge magnet for people working in the bike business. Almost everyone goes there to finalize the work for the 2013 ranges. What we all do now will be visible in september...

Tous les ans en mars, le salon Taipei Cycle agit comme un gros aimant pour les gens du business du vélo. Presque tout le y va pour finaliser le travail pour les gammes 2013. Ce que nous faisons tous en ce moment sera visible en septembre.

Full Moon from China : Chivel Miao

Chivel Miao from Shanghai, China rides a 49 cm Full Moon bike.
Pictured full stock here (no need to write down the parts list), this bike will soon receive a England-made Brooks saddle. Thanks Chivel and stay on your bike !

Special dutch Relax : Siebe Warmoeskerken

Siebe Warmoeskerken from Bergen op Zoom in The Netherlands is not only a Focale 44 user. He is a photographer and he can manufacture parts as well. Wood parts. His handlebar is self-made. You can see the whole work here : http://goo.gl/4Dg1k

And here is his current bike setup :
- Frame/fork : 2011 Focale 44 Relax, size 58 cm, matt brown
- Wheels : Wit Industries WIT39, 16T cog, Vredestein Fortezza tires. 
- Steering : Ritchey 90 mm stem, self-made RiserAX wood handlebar.
- Seating : Selle Italia Turbo saddle, Gran Compe seat post.
- Drivetrain : BLB crank, 46T chainring, All City pedals, BLB clips.