Ira in Chi

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I saw one of this year's Felt track bikes last night. The owner, a mechanic at a local bikeshop, had it set up really nice with matching red and black accessories, including a (bling) red chain. We discussed a few different matters.

1) The unique shape of the tubing. Extreme ovalization in the top and down tubes for stiffness. The seatstays are a proprietary wishbone shape, very narrow and bladelike, also for stiffness. More about this later. He said that the designer from Felt actually drew up plans for this bike while sitting outside the shop he works at a few years ago. He also said that the bike rides great and has outstanding accelleration. The fact that the design is similar to the GT and Fuji Pro was mentioned.

2) The rumor that Felt track frames fall appart. Apparently this has happened to 4 frames total, and two happened to be in Chicago. You can imagine what this did to the reputation in this town, although just four frames failing isn't a damning statistic. The seatstays used to be bonded aluminum but have since been switched to a single wishbone unit that does not feature the joint that failed on the previous bikes. On top of this, the two bikes in Chicago were reputed to have been abused.

3) The equipment is pretty nice. Black Sugino 75s, Deda oversized alloy drops, Formula hubs. The rims are Alex, which I think is lame. He said that they are the best rims Alex makes, and are similar to Velocity Aeroheads. I have never seen an Alex rim that is that good, but we'll see if these turn out to be durable.

I think it is a good bike. A+ for style also. I just wanted to post this because I've always been a little sketched out by the bad rep, and apparently it's not as big of a deal as I thought it was.

roscoenyc57

I do think that an above entry level aluminum track racing frame should have replaceable inserts for the rear dropouts.

Ira in Chi

That's a very good point.

transplant

what kind of bb is on these? website doesn't say...

Rikardi151

Yeah, now that I have my first Aluminum frame, I can see what the issue is. Ive already put huge gouges into the dropouts. Is there any way to prevent this?

schloe mo

track noob question: is stiffness that disireable? i took gregg's Spicer for a turn around velo last weekend and found the stiffness very odd-feeling, but then maybe i'm just used to my relatively slack steel frame.

wangster

One of the reasons why the pista concept is great is that it has stainless replaceable dropouts... no gouges, no worries.

The Dolan has them too.

mr_tom

Chaintugs help.

same time

Big washers on the insides of the dropouts.

Rikardi151

Yeah, ive done both of those (but now the little set screws on the chain tug eats into the trackends).

roscoenyc57

Fuji Track Pro has them also.

$0.00/Gal

On the road - depends on your preference. a lot of people like some give in the frame so to absorb road shock. some don't care.

On the track - most, if not all track racers look for a frame with the least amount of flex in the frame. since the bikes will only be used on a smooth surface you don't need it to be absorbing anything. just taking the power you give it and transferring it as efficiently as possible.

sloppy robot

ive never had an alum. track frame.. whats the drop out issue? 'cause its so soft?

$0.00/Gal

Yes. Carbon and Alu road frames come with replacable dropouts. I dunno why a track frame wouldn't.

delay

I saw one of these in St. Louis a couple months ago, and was quite impressed by how it looked. The shop it was at apparently did not like the alex rims, and had replaced the wheels with a set of Mavic elipse. I liked it. Like all Felt products I was impressed by what they were giving you for the money.

No_Minkah

quanto cuesto?

Ira in Chi

$820

No_Minkah

That's fair.

baxtefer

replaceable derailleur hangers, not dropouts.

ultraman6970

CUANTO CUESTA u meant?

ultraman6970

I would like to try one of those felt bikes, the problem is the size choice...

$0.00/Gal

oopsies

transplant

where? i've seen a couple used go for that on ebay.

msrp is $1299 complete and some places sell the frameset for about that much...is that what you were refering to?

still need to find out what bb is in that thing.

$0.00/Gal

It has a Sugino 75 bottom bracket.

edit: assuming they didn't change the BB/crankset setup from 2005.

click

transplant

awesome... funny how they don't list that on their own website.