Focus Cayo Ultegra 2009 £1,599 www.wiggle.co.uk Stiff and light carbon race bike

Firmly aiming for the popular mid-level price range, the £1,599 Cayo Ultegra offers a light and stiff carbon fibre frame and fork with a level of kit that is hard to find at this price point.

There’s no allowance for flex anywhere on the German-designed frame, with all the key areas beefed up with additional carbon layers and hugely oversized main tubes. Focus offers a wide range of sizes and it tailors the carbon lay-up of each size frame using a process dubbed SSPS.

Internal rear brake cable routing though the top tube gives a cleaner look to the frame while neat cable guides are used where cables are anchored to the frame.

Decals are an area where Focus has really worked hard on in the past few years, and the results are good. We liked the red and white over carbon look, which combined with the colour coded bar tape and saddle gives the bike a fast and racy look – we mostly seemed to get nods of approval when riding with other cyclists.

Shimano’s Ultegra SL groupset is one of the best currently available, combining a decent weight with an attractive price. The new Ice Grey finish confers a stylish look to any frame it’s bolted to. Its shifting performance is top-drawer too, with swift, precise shifts carried out time and time again. Braking is equally reassuring.

We put several hundred miles in and found no complaints from the Mavic Aksium wheels, which were fitted with Schwalbe Durano tyres. Like the Schwalbe tyres fitted to the BeOne also tested this week, they proved to be admirably tough and provided no roadside pit stops.

You get a lot of bike for your money when buying from the Focus stable, and you might expect there to be some cutbacks somewhere to allow them to offer a full carbon frame and fork package with Ultegra SL bits, but the finishing kit offers nowhere for cheap bits to hide. FSA’s very excellent Compact aluminium handlebars were an immediate hit, and while Concept’s stem, seatpost and saddle don’t carry much kudos for the brand conscious, they got on with their jobs without fuss. It’s nice to see a healthy stack of spacers underneath the stem for dialling the position too.

It’s all stacking up well so far, but there are further revelations to be had when riding the Focus. Its ride is one of quiet confidence, with a stable footing that allows the wannabe racer or fast club rider to push hard and a light, stiff chassis that flatters those with intentions of fast riding. It’s light, too, which along with the wide range of gears makes climbing something to be enjoyed. Lastly, the inherently stiff frame gives the bike a noticeable edge over other bikes at this price point.

It really is hard to find fault with the Focus. It scores well on performance, value and looks, but it would be nice to see Focus offer a more sportive-focused bike, with a taller head tube and a carbon lay-up that provides a slightly less stiff ride quality. As it is, the Cayo is a top all-round choice.