This is the new Focus Vam² SL - a short travel lightweight

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Intended Use
Trails
Motor
Fazua Ride 60 (60 Nm)
Battery
430 Wh non detachable, optional 210 Wh range extender
Fork Travel
130 mm
Rear Travel
125 mm
Weight
16.1-19.1 kg (claimed)
Price
£5.099-9.699
Do you find emtbs are too similar? A full-power emtb usually has about 160 mm suspension travel. A mild, lightweight bike usually is at about 150 mm. This really is quite a lot of travel. What happened to the bikes we used to call “regular trailbikes” with around 130 mm of travel? Bikes such as the Canyon Spectral 125, Santa Cruz 5010 or Rocky Mountain Element are popular with the non-assist crowd. Focus’ response is the Focus Vam² SL, a carbon frame bike with a claimed weight starting at 16.1 kg.

My thoughts in video format


Less weight, less burly​

The new Focus Vam² SL has a 130 mm travel fork and 125 at the back. We don’t see the “super short” chainstays at well below 430 mm on electric trailbikes anymore. A light short-travel emtb should have short chainstays though, and 440 mm isn’t long by todays standards. Combined with a shorter fork, the wheelbase ends up at 1.224 mm for size L. This is less than we’re used to on the longer travel bikes, but it’s still a nice length.

Focus Vam² SL geometry
Two times Focus Vam² SL


The seat angle is 75.5*. Many emtbs have steeper seat tubes, but I believe Focus made a wise choice. Bikes that are designed for pedaling with little assistance shouldn’t have too steep seat angles, that can be stressful or even painful for the knees. The 66* head angle is steeper than what we’re accustomed to. And that’s fine, it’s supposed to be steeper on a short travel bike. And it makes for a faster steering response.

But isn’t the geometry adjustable? Adjustable frame geometry is very common these days. And yes, the head angle can be dropped to 65*. Also, the Vam² SL can be used with a 140 mm fork, further dropping the head angle to 64.5*.

The Focus Vam² SL 9.8 is the second least expensive model
Riding the Focus Vam² SL 9.0

Fazua Ride 60 motor​

Focus Vam² SL has the same motor as its bigger brother, the Jam² SL. I’ve previously ridden this motor on the Pivot Shuttle SL. The Ride 60 is among the most silent motors on the market. And it’s a very compact motor too, making it difficult to both hear and see the motor in the frame. The 60 Nm Fazua motor is paired with the non-detachable version of the Fazua 430 Wh battery. A 210 Wh range extender is available.

It's difficult spotting the motor ...
... but the charge port gives it away.
Even the handle bar remote is inconspicuous.

It feels easy pedaling the Ride 60 at above motor cut-off speeds. This is important on these new, compact, light, mild motors. On a full-fat emtb, it often isn’t worth it pedaling above the cut-off speed. It requires so much energy just slightly increasing the velocity. That’s not the case with the Fazua Ride 60. It inspires us to keep pedaling and it doesn’t feel like a waste pushing to go faster.

We’ve got high expectations for the Vam² SL. With these motor characteristics and the shorter rear travel, we expect this lightweight Focus will offer a riding experience even closer to the non-assist bikes.

Two times 2024 Focus Vam² SL
2024 Focus Vam² SL 9.8

Four versions of the Focus Vam² SL​

The Vam² has been delayed due to the situation in the Red Sea. But the bikes are on their way, and they’re expected to reach European stores somtime in March.

Focus Vam² SL 8.7 - €5.799 / £5.099​

Noone expected these SL bikes to be cheap. But the retail price of the entry model isn’t that bad. It’s got trail worthy components and a claimed weight of 19.1 kg.

Focus Vam² SL 8.7 specs
2024 Focus Vam² SL 8.7

Focus Vam² SL 9.8 - €6.899 / £5.999​

Weight creeps down on the 9-series thanks to the lighter “carbon MAX” frame. Focus claims 18.4 kg for the SL 9.8.

Focus Vam² SL 9.8 specs
2024 Focus Vam² SL 9.8

Focus Vam² SL 9.9 - €8.699 / £7.599​

At 17.5 kg, the SL 9.9 is approaching a weight that can defend the “superlight” name.

Focus Vam² SL 9.9 specs
2024 Focus Vam² SL 9.9

Focus Vam² SL 9.0 - €10.999 / £9.699​

The top-of-the-line model is noticeably more expensive. And at 16.1 kg, it’s noticeably lighter too.

Focus Vam² SL 9.0 specs
2024 Focus Vam² SL 9.0

My take​

A heavy, strong, and stable emtb is lots of fun. But back in the days, before pedal-assist, I was always eying the 130-140 mm trailbikes. Bikes that could be pedaled uphill quite efficiently. Light and nimble bikes that were fast on trails that didn’t point down. This category is about to be established among the pedal-assist bikes. Are bikes such as the Vam² and Scott Lumen what I’ve been waiting for? Well, a 140/125 mm 64.5* head angle bike sounds very interesting. And I’m starting to feel the need to own two emtbs. A light and short travel bike would match my longer travel full-fat perfectly.
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About author
knut7
Knut Nes
Main editor at emtbforums.com and owner of emtb.no.
https://emtb.no/contact/

Comments

A
Well, in answer to your original question about why many/most emtbs are longer travel and more burly...there's not much downside to riding an emtb that has a full capacity motor and the extra weight of bigger hit suspension and stout frame. I'm not going to poo-poo someone's desire to ride a lighter, less power, less travel emtb, but for me and where I ride, I can ride faster, more comfortably, and funner...yes, not a real word but a real thing...LOL!...on my Rail 7 than if I grabbed one of the shop's Fuel EXe's.

On trails that are smoother, maybe not so many rocks, few technical spots, fewer climbs, the lower power, less travel emtb's are fine. But since I find no real overall penalty riding something like a Rail over an EXe, I'm going to be riding a Rail or similar bike. This was way more of an important issue when we were talking pedal-only bikes.

And to be honest, I was a little apprehensive and thought maybe the Rail would be somewhat unwieldy on a trail with tight features and terrain. However, I found it quite nimble and easy to negotiate extremely tight turns and pick my way through slow technical spots. I do come from a dirt motorcycle background and am still heavily involved in that, so maybe these big hit emtb's just seem more natural to me.
 
T
Raid the retirement fund for that second bike Knut :)
I like having 2 bikes for different terrain; the Cube 120 is a bit tractor-like but it can climb steeper hills than the Rise.
 
Ribinrobin
Got both a SL and a FF. I love the SL but i would not want one that is XC/trail focused. Nothing wrong with my FF but i do love being able to get a workout in and customising my support on my sl2, Yes you can do it on the FF levo, but when im riding that im flat out shuttling myself, i dont want to take it easy.

There is a market tho quite small for SL's but im not sure theres many of us looking for these super light XC esq SLs.
 
A
Ribinrobin said:
Got both a SL and a FF. I love the SL but i would not want one that is XC/trail focused. Nothing wrong with my FF but i do love being able to get a workout in and customising my support on my sl2, Yes you can do it on the FF levo, but when im riding that im flat out shuttling myself, i dont want to take it easy.

There is a market tho quite small for SL's but im not sure theres many of us looking for these super light XC esq SLs.
Click to expand...
I think you make some good points about the two main styles of emtb's out there now. I'll add this thought. Real mountain biking on emtb's is somewhat relatively new for the most part. I think you have one category of serious riders who believe, and maybe rightly so, that they don't "need" more power or the bigger travel bike because they are strong riders who love the challenge...maybe even like to suffer a bit...LOL! Nothing wrong with that by the way as long as you're not one of "those" who thinks everyone else needs to suffer.😄

Then you have older serious riders who still want to rip, but time has presented other ideas...LOL! Many maybe most of these riders might prefer the longer travel, bigger suspension emtb.

Then there is that "middle ground" of the market that is harder to categorize who will likely gravitate to the more powerful, bigger suspension bikes because more is usually better, right?...especially if you ride both styles of emtb's back-to-back.

I'm not trying to pigeonhole people or riders, but there's probably a logical explanation why the more powerful, bigger suspension bikes may be more popular and at least bigger sellers...maybe.
 
Ribinrobin
arTNC said:
I think you make some good points about the two main styles of emtb's out there now. I'll add this thought. Real mountain biking on emtb's is somewhat relatively new for the most part. I think you have one category of serious riders who believe, and maybe rightly so, that they don't "need" more power or the bigger travel bike because they are strong riders who love the challenge...maybe even like to suffer a bit...LOL! Nothing wrong with that by the way as long as you're not one of "those" who thinks everyone else needs to suffer.😄

Then you have older serious riders who still want to rip, but time has presented other ideas...LOL! Many maybe most of these riders might prefer the longer travel, bigger suspension emtb.

Then there is that "middle ground" of the market that is harder to categorize who will likely gravitate to the more powerful, bigger suspension bikes because more is usually better, right?...especially if you ride both styles of emtb's back-to-back.

I'm not trying to pigeonhole people or riders, but there's probably a logical explanation why the more powerful, bigger suspension bikes may be more popular and at least bigger sellers...maybe.
Click to expand...

The Full powers will always win as fitting in with your mates is also key. Not many people own SL's compared to Full powers and alot of riders go to a ebike for the experience of hitting more stuff faster and save their energy for the downs.
I love my full power and owned my first in 2019, I've progressed more in my riding since ebikes than before due to amount of laps i can get. The first SL i got was the levo SL 1 and i ended up riding that more than any bike i owned. Solo with friends etc everything i was one of the niche market who loved the way it felt and would take the extra work for the trade off. Since that bike i didnt get another SL until the levo SL2, and like the focus one its got that same marketing of 50nm etc but i ride this bike in 50% power most time or it just wont last enough for my ride. This is fine for me and ive done 29 mile rides (w/ Range extender) etc on it but for me its kind of replaced my normal bike and i think thats where the market is, if you got a foot out door or you want a work out but with some extra help the SL's are perfect.

Im a fit rider and feel pretty much 100% after most FF power rides, upper body aches more than legs, but when i go out on my FF as stated before i just want to hit everything as fast as possible. The FF's IMO ride completely different to any MTB/SL and if you do go between bikes you do really feel it. Is it a trade off? not really just a difference experience.
 
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