Foldable Bikes Party: Focus Paralane Ultegra review (first ride)

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Focus' new Paralane disc-brake bike is apparently the fruit of long lunchtime rides by the German brand's design team – which often necessitated a few crafty off-road detours in order to get back to the office in time to do some work.

Focus' Paralane is a bike for the shortcuts less travelled
Focus Izalco Max Disc Dura-Ace Mix review

Accordingly this is a modern go-anywhere kind of machine, though Focus reps were at pains to insist that it isn't a gravel bike, honest. We took it for an early June spin near Berlin – so how did it measure up in comparison to the ever-expanding all-road competition?

Deceptively racy appearance

The Paralane’s endurance-adjusted geometry, with its longer fork and lower bottom bracket, means that at first glance the Paralane looks far more racy than its riding position actually is. On the XL test bike we rode, that meant shipping a fair few spacers above the stem to get a suitably low position, but the height difference of around 30mm over an equivalent and racy Izalco Max is in no way extreme.

Our test ride involved 100km around and to the north of the German capital, taking in tarmac, vicious angled cobbled sections, gravel and even some out-and-out dirt (which with the torrential rain we experienced for more than half of the rides distance were reduced to slick, slippery segments of singletrack through the woods).

On the road, where the Paralane is destined to spend most of its time, it feels like a seriously well-sorted modern disc ride. The use of thru-axles, in the shape of Focus' suberb and user-friendly RAT units, gives a real feel of solidity to how the bike reacts, and shod with deep-section Fulcrum Racing Quattro carbon wheels the sturdy feel was further enhanced. (It's worth pointing out that these wheels are nonstandard to this Paralane model; Focus told us it had equipped the test fleet with these super-stiff wheels so we could really feel the chassis doing its job in the comfort stakes.)

Meanwhile the fat 28mm Schwalbe One tyres, which were running at 6 bar (88psi), offer superb levels of grip on tarmac even in the wet.