- Designed for: Flat out hauling ass.
- Defining Characteristics: Crazy. Sexy. Fast.
- Materials: Carbon Fiber, Aluminum
Simply put, Felt is a pioneer in driving aero-dynamic design. This is an area in which Felt absolutely excels. What we love about this is that Felt does not stop at one or two TT bikes. (In fact, go back up to the AR series bikes and you will see how far they truly take aero as a back-bone to their philosophy). Rather, Felt has an offering of TT bikes that is bigger than some company’s total line of road bikes. Seriously. Felt makes 8 bikes in this category. And they are stinking fast.
And that’s why we chose them.
We love a drop dead sexy TT bike. Our wish list of TT bikes includes names like the Giant Trinity Advanced SL 0. The Cervelo P4. The Trek TTX. The Stork A2.
And the Felt DA. Every one of these bikes brings absolute cutting edge TT technology to a level akin to F1 or MotoGP. As much as I hate to be cliché like that, I really don’t have a better way to put it. It’s a reserved group of products for the absolute fastest riders, where shaving every conceivable amount of time off the clock is paramount. When the body has been maximized, then the equipment has to follow suit for balance.
However dreamy fast the rest of the world may be- the fact is that a $10,000 TT bike is not necessarily the best option for everyone…and a watered down road bike with clip-on aero bars is not either.
This is where we look to Felt to take very good care of a very large population of actual, real-world TT and Tri-bike users. We’ve selected the B12, B14 and B16 model TT for you.
The B12
The B12 is arguably the best value in TT bikes on the market today. At $3,000, it is just so well balanced in terms of the total build, from frame construction, geometry and components. I get excited when I think about this bike because it showcases what Felt does so well. It’s one of those things where a company that makes ultra-high-end products actually does take it down into less eccentric prices that real world athletes can benefit from.
Felt starts the B12 with their High Modulus carbon fiber as the foundry. But the medium is worthless without the proper shape and geometry. So Jim Felt took his years of TT expertise and fashioned an incredible aero frame built for long distance time trialing. The B12 is so well suited for Triathalon where the athlete may not need to be completely compressed for a sub-one hour TT…but instead, needs to be more comfortable for a longer, less aggressive TT. If you look at the bikes in Kona, it’s almost comical how some of the riders will go to extremes to get all tucked in and crunched up for a century-plus length TT, and then go on only to spend more than half of it sitting up with the hands resting on the aero bars. The research is there (and riders to prove it) that for longer distance tri’s, you probably should be more comfortable on the bike. If that is you, then look toward the B12 design as a starting point. If you are all about a sub one hour TT and nothing but the most aggressive matters…then steer yourself back up toward the B2 or DA.
The B14
The B14 is the exact same frame as the B12, only de-tuned a bit in the area of components for the sole purpose of bringing the price down by $500. The crank and bottom bracket gets an FSA Gossamer (from the Ultegra on the B12), the shifters are generic and the fork gets an aluminum steer tube. Even the cosmetics are almost identical.
The B16
The B16 completes the “good/ better/ best” of this TT line up. Starting with the frame material, it is the same construction and geometry specs as the B14 and B12…but they were able to bring the price down by going with a painted finish rather than the natural 3K carbon weave finish of the others. From there the bike is set up with a blend of Shimano 105 and FSA components. The re-blend of finish and parts brings this bike down to a very affordable $2,000 without sacrificing ride quality. (Again…just a testament to how seriously Felt takes the aero TT bike and how they work to ensure a model specific to every buyer.) You just don’t see this same level of attention from the other manufacturers. Rather, you end up with either full blown exotic race machines (which we love), or poorly spec’d road bikes with clip on bars. And that is frustrating. The B16 does not leave us frustrated. We don’t think you will find a better time trial rig at this price.
