Bike Check: Curtis’ Focus Raven Max
Focus has been busy reworking their mountain bike line-up to bring it inline with their already stellar cyclocross and road bike range. Their efforts come through clearly in the newly redesigned XC race frame, the Raven Max. Wide, flat top tube and seat stay’s mix stiffness with a little flexibility to give the Raven Max plenty of stiffness, but also a enough comfort to keep you in the saddle all day. Since they were taking the time to redesign the frame anyway, Focus brought the Raven Max in line with their ‘Stable Stiffness Per Size’ standard. SSPS is their extremely awkward way of saying that each frame size is engineered individually, with tube diameters changing with the frame size. For those of us at the extremes in frame size, this is appreciated. Maybe the acronym sounds better in German? Either way, this is a nice touch that is often missing even on high end bikes.
Focus has dressed their new Raven Max up in a very solid build, staying away from top-of-the-line price tags without losing out performance wise. A Fox 32 Fit4 helps keep things under control out front, with trail and lock-out options controlled via their bar mounted lever thingy. The big win for the Raven Max, though, is the full 11-speed Shimano XT group. Double rings and the new 11-speed cassette gives plenty of range for racing, or for long days on the trails, and the venerable XT brakes are known for their reliable performance and minimal weight cost compared to Shimano’s top tier XTR system.
The Focus Raven Max is race ready, and looking fast
Flattened tubes are aesthetically pleasing, but also help keep the Raven Max feeling smooth
The wide, flat top tube is perfect for Focus’s understated gloss branding. And for front end stiffness…
Focus gives the Raven Max a solid, but not overbuilt head tube 
The busy cockpit of a modern xc bike: Fox lockout switch, Shimano XT bits, and ESI ‘Chunky’ grips
Focus hits the little details, like matching the Fox Float Fit4, DT Swiss rims and blue frame highlights
A full Shimano XT drivetrain adorns the Raven Max. Full, as in there’s even a front derailleur
11-speed Shimano XT, double rings for versatility, and a nice, reasonably sized bottom bracket area
Focus builds up the Raven Max with DT Swiss M 1900 Spline One wheels
Rubber from Maxxis is always a good choice. Curtis has gone with the fast but reliable IKON’s front and rear
