2012 Felt F65x Gravel Grinder

Here's my new pride and joy set up as a road/gravel bike.  There's a ton of clearance front and rear for the "27c" Challenge Parigi-Roubaix tires, though mounted onto ENVE 29 XC rims the tire measures just a hair over 30mm.  One of my favorites about running disc brakes vs. cantilever when your bike is set up like this?  You don't have to be "that" guy showing up to a road ride with cantilever brakes!

What can I say about the new SRAM Red that I haven't said in previous posts?  It's really that good...

American Classic hubs have held up great so far, but with only a few hundred miles I would expect nothing else from them.  Engagement is a little slow compared to King or I9, but they sure are light!

ENVE rims have been spot on, but again only have a few hundred miles.  The internal nipples aren't my favorite since they require removal of the tire and rim tape to true, but I'm hoping a careful build with quality spokes will ensure they stay true for quite some time.

Clearance at the fork is huge even with a tire that measures over 30mm.  Of course, it should be since it's still had clearance with a Clement PDX mounted on a wide rim that was measuring 37mm.

Glamour shot from the rear.  The wheelset really sets this bike apart in my opinion, of course they retail for more than the stock complete bike so they should make a statement!

Hayes CX-5 still don't have a ton of miles on them, but have been a solid choice so far.  Performance is there, though the weight it a little high.  The weight can't be that big of a deal though since they weigh about the same as some Avid BB-7'.

Clearance in the rear is also massive.  Again, we'd expect nothing less since this is designed as a cyclocross bike with a fat smooth tire.

There she sits, I'm a fan.  More to come when the carbon version dubbed the F1x D finally arrives, which will hopefully be later this week.

On Test: Hayes CX-5 Mechanical Disc Brake Calipers

With the approach of cyclocross and disc brakes making their way to market, I started looking for options.  I'm not sure I'm ready to go to one of the converters on the market like the Hope V-Twin or TRP Parabox, maybe sometime soon, but not yet.

The Avid BB7 road and BB5 road are both fine, they really do their job well.  But they've been around for quite some time and have gone (mostly) without a challenger.  At the North American Handmade Bicycle Show this year, Independent Fabrication came in with a Ti Factory Lightweight disc cyclocross bike to show sporting the Hayes CX-5 mated to Shimano levers.

Mounting up the CX-5 was only slightly more difficult than the BB7, which is to say pretty darn easy.  Since you can adjust cable tension with the barrel adjuster as well as pad contact on the back side of the caliper all you really need to do is get them set up close initially and use the brake's own adjustments to dial them in.

Herein lies the major difference in setup between the BB7 and CX-5, the BB7 has a dial that's adjusted by hand where the CX-5 needs a 5mm allen.  Certainly not the end of the world, but I think it's noteworthy.

The first item of note when riding the CX-5 is how smooth they are.  The BB7 almost feels as though it has something dragging on the brake cable versus a Gore Sealed system for the CX-5.  The power isn't better on one than the other once the pads are broken in, so that's a wash.  I also wouldn't say modulation is any better with one than the other since they are both really quite nice.

My personal opinion is that the CX-5 looks a little nicer.  The silver polished finish with etched logos looks great and will match any gruppo well.  I think this brake on a Ti or stainless bike would be exceptional.

The stock BB7 I have in the store weighed in at 165g without hardware, the CX-5 came in at 190g without hardware.  The BB7 uses CPS washers from Avid that the CX-5 doesn't use, but I'd guess the BB7 would still weigh in a hair less.

Clothing Sale!

We find ourselves with far too much 2012 clothing when we know 2013 clothing is coming soon.  Rather than end up with WAY too much in the store, we're going to equip you with the clothing you want now.  Help us help you, yeah, that's it!

Check it:

Don't wait too long.  The best sizes will go fast, don't miss out!  If you miss out, don't say we didn't tell ya.  'Cause we did.

This Just In: Felt's 2013 Road and Cyclocross Line Up!

Mountain bikes are fun, but they account for a tiny portion of the bikes we sell.  I love them, that's how I got my start into cycling, but being in a major metropolitan area with virtually no elevation gain, we'd go out of business focusing solely on mountain bikes.

Time trial and triathlon rigs are growing in our shop, we know them well but are just scratching the surface of what we can do with them for our customers.  Felt is killing it with their line-up, but again it's a relatively small fraction of what we do, though we do more with triathlon than we do with mountain bikes.

Which brings me to road bikes.  Road and cyclocross bikes are what we do.  Sure, we sell hybrids as well, and I think we understand them quite well, but road and cyclocross bikes are what we revolve around.

2013 is bringing a lot of new stuff to the Felt lineup.  The F-series line was brand new for 2012, so I didn't expect much of a change there, and we're primarily just seeing color and spec changes.  Much as expected since those bikes are so new and so good.

More importantly though, are the new Z-series bikes.  The carbon Z-series bikes were damn good already, but their technology was falling behind the incredible F-series and some of their competition.  So what did Felt do?  They made the new carbon Z-series bikes 50g lighter, 25% stiffer, yet more comfortable!  That's what I'm talkin' about.  They also made the carbon Z-series bikes natively electronic and mechanical transmission ready, added BB30, and gave the frames a tapered head tube for a tapered fork.

Here is the magical frame that I think people are going to love the second they ride it.  Felt knows carbon, and they've applied years of work to this frame.  Also, Felt has gone very subtle with colors this year which I am a HUGE fan of.  Though I believe this photo is of a prototype and not a stock color, you'll see what I mean in the next few photos

An image of that oversized head tube that's going to make this bike really shine.  Imagine a bike that when you stand up sprint just goes like a rocket, but also is smooth and comfortable enough to not beat you up when you hit a really bad stretch of road.

Another interesting shot of the head tube shows how far Felt has gone with their carbon mold to add ride quality while still retaining stiffness.

The Z4 will be a very popular bike for us sporting Shimano 105 and this beautiful color scheme.  Toned down is becoming very unique these days with so many brands kicking out bikes that have 12+ brand logos plastered all over the bike.

The AR-series also gets majorly refreshed for 2013.  While externally the bike remains virtually identical, internal changes net a loss of 350g (!!!!) while improving ride quality.  The weight of this frame was always the biggest detractor of it, but to drop nearly a full pound from the frame is shocking and should make this series much more appealing.  Even more, check out the paint scheme!  White with silver logos (only a couple of them) and a very small graphic.  Amazing if you ask me.

The AR does us a straight 1-1/8" steerer tube to maintain the best aerodynamics possible, whereas most of the other road bikes in Felt's lineup are now using tapered.

You've made it this far, you deserve some kudos.  And maybe a cookie.  Instead I'm giving you the Felt carbon disc CX bike.  This was shown in prototype form last year, but she'll be ready to race this fall.  Basically the F-series bike but with huge tire clearance and disc brakes.  This thing will be sweet!

The fork isn't new news to us since it's equipped on the F65x that we have in stock, but having it attached to a carbon frame is damned exciting!  I do have to say I've been surprised with the Ashima rotors so far.  In my experience light rotors are rarely round, but these have been great.

Rear dropouts were of course reworked for disc brakes, though not much.  Word has it that the current non-disc models were designed around disc brakes but cantilevers ended up being the go-to since so few road disc systems were available for 2012.

One feature I've loved since day 1 of the new F-series and the carbon cyclocross bikes is the ability to convert your frame from mechanical to internal electronic and back.  It literally takes about 90 seconds to change the cable stops to internal wiring and it integrates perfectly.

Tire clearance is huge on the disc bikes.  The last two seasons haven't seen much mud around here, but I have a sneaking suspicion that's going to change this season.  I'm picturing my disc carbon CX bike sporting some Clement PDX tubulars.  The perfect foul-weather CX bike.

There you have it, the info I have so far.  Much of the info was already there, but we hadn't received many pictures before the media day.  Luckily the guys at bikeradar.com are better photographers than I am anyway, so their pictures this time were worth what, about 1,000 words?

This Just In: Felt's 2013 Nine Line Up!

In 2005 I decided to give mountain biking a try.  I built my own bike for the experience, but within a handful of rides I realized the bike I built was too small.  When I started the search I was intrigued by 29ers, but at the time there just wasn't much available.  Tire selection was slim, wheel selection was slim, there were only a couple of forks out there to buy.  I made the plunge and picked up a Salsa, and from that day I've never gone back.

29ers offer the ability to roll over objects better than a 26er, they seem to fit me better at 6'1" because I feel like I am sitting "in" the bike rather than "on top" of it, they offer increased traction, etc etc.  But in the last 7 years 29ers have come a long way, rather than being a niche they now dominate the XC market in the midwest, and for good reason.  The frames have gotten lighter and stiffer, the geometry has been dialed to make 29ers more agile, component selection was exploded, the list goes on.

2010 brought a number of new models to market, the first one I was really excited about was the Niner Air9 Carbon.  It offered light weight, incredible stiffness, unmatched (even to today) drivetrain flexibility (single speed, BB30, PressFit30, GXP, BB90, etc), and all of the "new" mountain bike standards like a tapered steerer tube.

For 2012 Niner introduced the Air9 Carbon RDO which was a massaged version of the Air9 Carbon but shaved weight in a number of places for increased performance.

Felt saw what was happening in the market and for 2013 is not just meeting the expectations of XC racers everywhere but introducing a few new things as well.  The flagship Nine FRD frame comes in at a staggering $2900 but offers a claimed weight of 900g for the frame and utilizes TeXtreme carbon borrowed from Formula 1.

Felt was missing the boat with their previous Nine compared to the competition, even though it was a very nice frame.  It's a sell that the old frame didn't have a tapered steerer tube or oversized bottom bracket but still had a price tag rivaling the most expensive frames.

This new FRD frame, at 900g, is going to blow people away.  The best carbon money can buy, the best engineering available to our industry, and Felt has turned their F1 into a mountain bike.  This thing should be a rocket!

Niner carbon hard tail frames only gave me two real headaches: rear mud clearance and cable routing.  If Felt can nail the geometry Niner has gotten so good at, their new frame will kill Niner.  Felt's clearance around their tire is MASSIVE and comes without the "mud shelf" Niner carbon frames have.

Regarding cable routing, mechanics, wrap your head around this: fully lined and guided internal routing for front and rear derailleurs!  You riders may not care about this much, but when I spend an hour routing housing through an Air9 Carbon I tell myself I'll never do it again!  Let's hope this routing is as easy as Felt is making it sound!

I wish I could give you a first-hand ride report.  Our Felt rep said he spent some time on one and the new Nine was good enough to get him to forget he was riding a 29er, which is a huge compliment coming from a die-hard 26er rider.  It's only a matter of time before some of these new Nine frames and bikes are kicking around the store!

More info can be found here and here.

This Just In: Felt's 2013 Triathlon/Time Trial Line Up!

Felt has long been known for it's tri/TT line up, and in 2013 they'll make some big waves.  The DA started out as a concept super bike, went to a $15,000 flagship bike, then for 2012 trickled all the way down to the DA4 at $3999.

The DA had another trick up it's sleeve, though.  For 2013 it's going to be available in B12 guise for $3099 or as a frameset for $1760 with the same frame but a standard TT fork instead of the Bayonet 2 the rest of the line uses.

Looking at this bike, it's hard to argue it's value.  Sporting a frame that as of 24 months ago was only available on a $15,000 bike is now available as a $3099 complete bike with Dura-Ace.  WHAT?!

That's the big news in the line.  A number of the models actually go DOWN in price.  You read that right, DOWN IN PRICE.  Seems like a shocker in an industry that's seen a lot of price increases the last couple of years.

Beyond the B12, the DA is now available as a DAC as well as the DA1.  The DA1 still runs $4650 for the frameset, but the DAC comes in at $2580, offering up the DA frame and Bayonet 2 fork at a more reasonable price than that of the DA1.

More can be found on the tririg.com website here.

MUCH more to come on the 2013 line up soon!