DrPete 

So, after a couple years away from road biking, my fiancee and I got a Burley tandem and have been racking up the miles on the weekends. Now I'm getting the itch to ride during the week again!

After looking at the LBS's and remembering what I get for $1000-1300 in terms of components, frames, etc., I was very pleasantly surprised to see Flyte (which I knew used to be Airborne) selling the SRS-3, a pretty nice looking Al frame with Ultegra 10 and a lot of FSA carbon and Al goodies for $1299. I couldn't find an LBS brand with similar components for under $2000. Combine that with the glowing reviews of Airborne and Flyte, and I decided to give it a shot. And unlike the bikes from Ibex or bikesdirect.com, the Flyte just looks bad-a$$. Hey, it's a factor.

Now I'm kicking myself because I asked for a shorter stem, which pushed the ship date back another week because the size wasn't in stock. D'OH! And I could've had it this week! I suppose I have to hope for rain this weekend to make me feel better, because my stoker will be at work. Kudos to Flyte, though, for changing out the stem on a bike that was supposed to be "no substitutions" (one of their promo bikes) and saving me the headache of exchanging it later.

Anyone have any thoughts on the ride of the SRS-3? I'm a little concerned about the compact Al rear triangle, but I figure that can be fixed with a carbon seatpost later--I'll have to see for myself. I'd love to hear some reviews/experiences while I wait and drool--The reviews of the Airborne Thunderbolt I was able to find sounded good. I can't wait!

DrPete

Ramjm_2000

DrPete,

Were you aware that flyte has a great military discount? 10-20% off.

JR

DrPete 

No, I wasn't! I just e-mailed Flyte to see if I can still take advantage. Thanks for the info!

DrPete

af2nr

Sometimes they may or may not allow ANY discount on the "Specials" they have. I was looking and added the military coupon code to a special and got the full amount off, then when I was ready to buy and applied the code it said "no further discounts could be added to "specials". It never hurts to ask though!

DrPete 

So, after a couple e-mails back and forth with Flyte, I did find out that there IS still a military discount on the promotional deals. I got $75 off on my SRS-3, and they offer $100 off on the SRS-2.

I have to say that my e-mail interactions with Jason have been awesome, and I'm very pleased with my buying experience so far. For now, though, I'll just keep drooling over pictures until the new baby arrives...

DrPete

TrekDen

Hey DrPete, Looking for an update, on how the SRS-3 is for you. Have you had a chance to ride it much yet? How's it feel, and handle?

Thanks,
Den

Plainsman

I've only dealt with Flyte on small parts, and I'm pretty sure I spoke to the same person you did. I was VERY impressed with them. I would love to have one of those SR-2 frames! I agree that they have a great looking product and I'm also a fan of the al/carbon blend!

DrPete 

Yeah, I've got a couple hundred miles on her now, and it's an AWESOME ride. I did put a Flyte Ti seatpost on to smooth out the rear end a bit, but otherwise it's been great. Flyte's online fit process worked perfectly for me, and the bike itself handles great. Very quick to accelerate and climb, and high-speed handling is sweet. I had a CAAD3 Prior to this frame, and the SRS-3 definitely gives a comfy ride with plenty of stiffness.

Overall I'd have a hard time thinking of any better bike for $1300.

And Flyte's customer service is awesome. When my bike arrived there was some shipping damage to the front wheel and what I thought might be a dent in the down tube. They were very apologetic and sent a new bike really quickly.

I was really impressed, but there are things about buying direct that were a little frustrating, i.e. the shipping times back and forth when returns are needed, etc.. But I don't think anyone does it better than Flyte. They were really great to deal with, and if I bought online again I'd definitely buy from them.

DrPete

EricDJ

Very hot bike. I am thinking about cyclocross a lot lately. Jason and Dan are very helpful guys.

How'd you like the kick ass packaging job they do on their bikes?

Kenal0

I got an SRS-2 when they first came out last summer. It is full Ultegra and it was 1499. I really like the Carbon Aluminum mix. The bike has been flawless since I got it. I love it. I wish I had the money for another bike. I have been looking at their Ti bikes and the Ti bike thread has been making me drool.
Kenal0

TrekDen

Thanks for the quick reply. I've been looking for a decent frame (reasonably priced), to replace a frame that is way too large for me. I also used Flyte's online fit kit to find my correct size, and ordered the SRS-3 frame. I'm going to swap out my Mercier's Ultegra component group, as well as all the other parts to the new frame. I may need to buy a new seatpost, and cables, but all the other parts should swap smoothly with a little work. I bought the Mercier basically for the components, and I'm going to list that frame on Ebay, and see what happens.
Glad to hear the Flyte rides nice for you. I've always heard good things about customer service there. The warm weather is coming soon here, and it looks like I'll have a new spring ride soon.

Thanks again,

Denny

oilman_15106

Agree. Flyte's customer service is great. Had questions on an Airbrone frame I bought from my LBS. Expected some resistance because of the whole Huffy/Airborne fracus but they were very patient and helpful. Also picked up a Flyte carbon fork off ebay. Anyone know who makes these for them? Again, quality & finish seem very good.

Would consider Flyte when buying next bike.

cuda2k

DrPete - the Flyte decal on the seatpost, does that look easily removed?? I've got another bike I've been considering a Ti post for and those look quite nice.

DrPete 

My post actually didn't come with a Flyte decal on it.

Also, I'd have to warn you about the Flyte seatpost. It was my first experience with that type of clamp design, and I wasn't very happy with it. Took a good half hour of prying and swearing just to get the saddle clamped, and then I had issues with slippage where the saddle would turn nose up/down. Not fun.

I went with the EC70 Zero and have never looked back. If I had it to do over again, I never would've bought the Ti post, FWIW.

cuda2k

Thanks for the heads up DrPete. Looks like an interesting design, but I hadn't thought far enough to think about actually getting the saddle on the post. Back to watching ebay for Record & Chorus Ti's...

DrPete 

Moots has a similar design, but I think it would be frought with the same problems as the Flyte...

blandin

I have the Airborne TI post on my TST (Flyte's brand before they lost the license to use the Airborne name) and I'm pretty sure that it's the same one. It requires a special tool to mount the saddle to avoid the 30 minutes of agony you went through; I picked mine up at Sear's. I can tell you, I'm not looking forward to changing it out anytime soon! But I haven't had any adjustment issues, it's sitting right were I put it last July when I build the bike.

CarreraGT612hp

pictures

blandin

Pictures of what?

cuda2k

I think he means of DrPete's SRS3. Which, of all the ones I know of, is one of them I dont' think I've seen.

StalkerZERO

I've seen one in person. And its a sweet ride to look at lemme tell ya. I like the looks better than the SRS-2.

cuda2k

I can't wait to get my frame. I've seen lots of examples, but don't think I've seen Pete's build (which is what I was implying).

sverrefehn

I have that same seatpost (the Airborne version) and will concur that it's an absolute pain to change out the saddle. I've had no tilt issues, though.
DrPete has posted photos of his bike before. It's pretty sweet and a great budget racer. I had one of my best races on the SRS-2, but it's had numerous problems since then. I should've gotten the SRS-3.

DrPete 

That's what it looked like new... Since then I've changed a couple things:

The Polar cs200 is now an S725X,
The seatpost is an Easton EC70 Zero,
The cranks are FSA Gossamer compact,
I threw on some Tacx Tao cages,

and the pedals are Look Keo carbons.

My camera's been dead for a while, and I crashed for the first time today, so now the nameplates are ripped off my brifters, my right pedal is all chewed up, and my rear derailleur is scratched, so I'm in no mood to take pictures anyway.

Attached is one crappy cameraphone pic from before the crank change...

sverrefehn

Sorry to hear about the wreck DrPete. Sounds like you're OK though?