JAMES’S FOCUS JAM 6.9
MONTH 12: Has a Jam-packed year left James with sweet memories of Focus’s 29er trail bike and would he pay to be stuck with it?
£3,199 • 29in • focus-bikes.com
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What attracted you to the Jam? The Jam 6.9 appealed to me on a couple of levels. First, it hit my sweet spot for geometry and travel: not overly long with a 480mm reach; not too slack as to kill the handling on slower speed trails; and with a Goldilocks amount of suspension travel to cope with anything I would throw at it. It helped too that the build kit looked impressive for the price, with a complete Shimano XT groupset, Fox 36 fork and a dependable Maxxis DHF/ DHR II tyre combo.
Did you change anything straightaway? I’m normally one to run a bike completely stock at the start. I don’t have any hang-ups on bar profiles or have only a single set of grips my hands can use. I’ve even got a well-calloused butt from decades of riding that works well with almost any saddle (to begin with at least!). That said, I did manage to rip a hole in the rear tyre on pretty much the first ride so I had to replace it – does that count?
WHY IT’S HERE The new Jam promises to connect you with your inner child
Was the bike easy to set up?
Fox suspension is some of the simplest to do an initial set-up on - stick to the factory recommendations and you’re pretty much 90% sorted. I’m also a fan of the lack of features on Fox’s Performance range, as it helps cut down on those nagging feelings that you may be one or two clicks away from perfection when riding a fork or shock with vastly increased adjustability. That said, I found the inline Float DPS shock on the Jam 6.9 a little too progressive, which is why I eventually switched to a coil.
How did it ride?
The Jam has an engaging ride quality but is hamstrung in the way it rides due to two things: weight and a quirk in the suspension. It’s a hefty chunk of a bike and this held it back, both on the climbs and on less-steep trails. The extra weight made it more fatigueinducing until I switched the wheels to Hunt Enduro Carbons and faster-rolling tyres with slightly lighter casings. Both changes helped to massively increase the Jam’s enjoyment factor.
Suspension-wise, the Jam is a little too eager to use up the middle half of its travel, making it feel less capable