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12-08-09, 11:04 PM
I dealt with my 2009 Felt B2 this fall and I thought I'd report back here. I really love my Felt, but I think people should have the chance to be informed consumers.
For those who are unfamiliar the B2, it uses a unique external headtube design. I think it does improve ride quality, but the first generation - Bayonet 1 (which is what is on my 09 B2) is particularly finnicky. In particular, two bolts have a habit of loosening, and the parts wear out faster than usual(which was my problem). On Triathlon specific forums, I've seen professionally sponsored Felt riders talk about the use of loctite, etc.
I first had a problem with the headset(handlebars rocking back and forth) and took it in to a felt dealer, where they did a "quick fix" which I found out later probably made the problem worse.
I then took it to a different dealer which did a similar quick fix.
Thats it for Felt dealers in town. When the problem came back I consulted Felts online Cust service. After exchanging a few emails with Felt customer service(they got back to me quickly), they said I could work on it myself without voiding the warranty. I will say this, they were very clear they didn't want the bike sent back, but didn't know what to tell me regarding both of the local felt dealers not being able to offer a long term solution.
Well I couldn't tell exactly what I was doing wrong(I've worked on my own bikes for 6-7 years) until I got the email of a Felt Rep who was slightly more helpful than customer service. Kind of funny that I had to do investigative work to find the email of a person to truly help me.
I figured out the problem, a part of the headset had become galled which was causing my handlebars to rock back to front. (If you've never seen a Felt with this problem, the front of the headtube gets scratched to heck; it's really quite common, you can see it on the Garmin bike's when they were using the Bayonet 1 system. They are now on Bayonet 2, and have been for 2 years I think.)
Per the Felt Reps directions, I brought in the exact parts I needed replaced to a local bike shop(the galled part that was the cause of the problem, and I brought in another part that runs on the same threads and the part that it's threaded in to). I went in once a week to check on the part, and every time I was assured by the dealer that the part had been ordered. I think it was 24 days in all to get the 3 parts.
I got 1750 miles in on the Felt before experiencing any problems, and expect that it'll probably be about the same amount of time until I need additional parts again.
I've owned the bike for almost 9 months, it's been disabled for about 1.5 months of that time due to headset issues.
Felt chooses to use it's dealers strictly for warranty work, which I can respect, but quite honestly many of them seem drastically overwhelmed/uninformed by the headset issues.
I guess if you are interested in Felt B2 or Felt DA I would say you'll be better off than me because Felt redesigned the Bayonet throughout their line up. However, I think it's also a testament to the fact that sometimes you don't just shop for a bike, you shop for a bike shop. Realistically, it could be my bike shop didn't put in the order for parts for 2 weeks and blamed it on Felt's HQ.
Last point, Felt is selling their new improved fork/headset system - Bayonet 2 - for $900. I'd love to see a "cost" type offer, or trade in program; but based on my experience with Felt to this point I don't see it happening.
For those who are unfamiliar the B2, it uses a unique external headtube design. I think it does improve ride quality, but the first generation - Bayonet 1 (which is what is on my 09 B2) is particularly finnicky. In particular, two bolts have a habit of loosening, and the parts wear out faster than usual(which was my problem). On Triathlon specific forums, I've seen professionally sponsored Felt riders talk about the use of loctite, etc.
I first had a problem with the headset(handlebars rocking back and forth) and took it in to a felt dealer, where they did a "quick fix" which I found out later probably made the problem worse.
I then took it to a different dealer which did a similar quick fix.
Thats it for Felt dealers in town. When the problem came back I consulted Felts online Cust service. After exchanging a few emails with Felt customer service(they got back to me quickly), they said I could work on it myself without voiding the warranty. I will say this, they were very clear they didn't want the bike sent back, but didn't know what to tell me regarding both of the local felt dealers not being able to offer a long term solution.
Well I couldn't tell exactly what I was doing wrong(I've worked on my own bikes for 6-7 years) until I got the email of a Felt Rep who was slightly more helpful than customer service. Kind of funny that I had to do investigative work to find the email of a person to truly help me.
I figured out the problem, a part of the headset had become galled which was causing my handlebars to rock back to front. (If you've never seen a Felt with this problem, the front of the headtube gets scratched to heck; it's really quite common, you can see it on the Garmin bike's when they were using the Bayonet 1 system. They are now on Bayonet 2, and have been for 2 years I think.)
Per the Felt Reps directions, I brought in the exact parts I needed replaced to a local bike shop(the galled part that was the cause of the problem, and I brought in another part that runs on the same threads and the part that it's threaded in to). I went in once a week to check on the part, and every time I was assured by the dealer that the part had been ordered. I think it was 24 days in all to get the 3 parts.
I got 1750 miles in on the Felt before experiencing any problems, and expect that it'll probably be about the same amount of time until I need additional parts again.
I've owned the bike for almost 9 months, it's been disabled for about 1.5 months of that time due to headset issues.
Felt chooses to use it's dealers strictly for warranty work, which I can respect, but quite honestly many of them seem drastically overwhelmed/uninformed by the headset issues.
I guess if you are interested in Felt B2 or Felt DA I would say you'll be better off than me because Felt redesigned the Bayonet throughout their line up. However, I think it's also a testament to the fact that sometimes you don't just shop for a bike, you shop for a bike shop. Realistically, it could be my bike shop didn't put in the order for parts for 2 weeks and blamed it on Felt's HQ.
Last point, Felt is selling their new improved fork/headset system - Bayonet 2 - for $900. I'd love to see a "cost" type offer, or trade in program; but based on my experience with Felt to this point I don't see it happening.