The MAIN difference between Focus and other brands offering Pro-Level frames is their business model. My Focus is everything any one of my more expensive bikes ever was and even better in areas of stiffnes and quality control. Face it, most carbon frames are more alike than not and a lot of the differences in quality and performance are perception. Swing your leg over a $5k frame and you may think it is the better bike. With carbon fiber offerings from Focus and other brands that have chosen to price their frames more affordably, more $ is often not better.

I admire Parlee, but if you want a pure race oriented frame, Focus's stiffness blows the Z5 out of the water. I picked up my Focus for under $2k. As good as any bike I have owned $5k.