This is a Focus First Expert, which has a carbon front triangle with aluminium rear end. It’s designed for XC, Marathon and trail riding and produces 110mm of travel through a Fox RP23 shock. There’s also the neat touch of internal cable routing, which not only improves the clean lines of the bike, but keeps the cables out of the way of mud, which proved valuable at SITS. It is a fantastic bike which has really converted me to full suspension as I have been a hardtail fanatic for years previously despite owning several full suspension bikes.

The kit on the bike is almost stock, though there are a few personal changes which have been made. These are the Selle Italia SLR saddle which believe it or not I find very comfortable even for 24-hour solo racing, Ritchey WCS aluminium flat handlebars, Ritchey WCS ergo grips, Cane creek ergo bar ends, 3Ti eggbeaters and a Lifeline titanium bottle cage which is very light at 22g but holds a bottle better than other cage I’ve used previously.

SITS as you may know was extremely muddy! The Panaracer trailraker 1.95″ front and Black Shark Mud 1.5″ tyres pictured are the same combination I used during the race; they proved excellent and kept me riding throughout.

Keep updated on Matt’s racing with his blog at www.wiggleblog.com/category/athlete-diaries/matthew-page