JAMES’S FOCUS JAM 6.9
MONTH 7: James fits lighter tyres to the Jam but can he let it rip without letting them rip?
£3,199 / 29in / focus-bikes.com
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It’s been a long, hard month for my Jam and there have been a few casualties along the way. It’s not that I’ve had a spate of crashes (which can often be pretty costly to both bike and body), it’s more down to the trails I’ve been riding and the speeds the Jam has been encouraging.
So far this month I’ve written off two rear tyres and, just this weekend, I’ve noticed the entire back of the saddle has come away from the base. Readers might remember that I was going to give the Focus saddle a month of riding before deciding whether to replace it with one of my preferred shapes. Well, it lasted six months, that’s how impressed I’ve been with the comfort… but it looks like I’ll be swapping to my go-to
Specialized Power saddle after all.
When ripping tyres, it is always difficult to apportion blame to just one thing. But in this instance I’ll hold my hands up and state that running lower pressures and carrying excessive speed on fast, rocky trails can often be a game of Russian roulette when it comes to punctures. I also gambled with casings, opting for lighter Trail versions on my favourite Vittoria Mazza and Martello tyres (trying to keep rolling resistance down on the chunky Jam). It was a gamble that didn’t pay off so I’m going to have to swallow my pride, strengthen my legs and get some thicker Enduro-casing Vittoria tyres so I don’t have to push the Focus all of the way home again.
WHY IT’S HERE The new Jam promises to connect you with your inner child
MICK KIRKMAN
Gone full Die Hard, by which we mean testing a series of riding vests to their sweaty destruction. Yippee ki-yay.