Felt 2014 AR1

[mitchgixer6]

Dave.

Have you managed to glean any information from your colleagues in Germany yet?

I'm getting pretty impatient myself now. Missed out on a race today that I would've ridden if I had the AR1 frame, and looks like I'm going to have to ride my first ever Crit (March 23rd) on my old winter hack.

I know the bike shouldn't really make that much of a difference, it's probably in my head more than anything else, and that's never going to help! I was fully expecting to have been using the AR1 by now after the initial delivery estimate, and that was one of the main reasons I ordered the Felt over the new S3. If my ETA of 10th April is correct that'll be 5 months from order to delivery.

[SuperDave]

Dave.

Have you managed to glean any information from your colleagues in Germany yet?

I'm getting pretty impatient myself now. Missed out on a race today that I would've ridden if I had the AR1 frame, and looks like I'm going to have to ride my first ever Crit (March 23rd) on my old winter hack.

I know the bike shouldn't really make that much of a difference, it's probably in my head more than anything else, and that's never going to help! I was fully expecting to have been using the AR1 by now after the initial delivery estimate, and that was one of the main reasons I ordered the Felt over the new S3. If my ETA of 10th April is correct that'll be 5 months from order to delivery.

Yes, the allocation of orders for the AR1 has some countries' deliveries postponed. It isn't a question of the AR1 existing, just that the volume of initial orders is higher than the incoming initial orders.

Orders were taken in August for this frame, so if you placed your order in December, you are ~4 months behind those orders.

Sorry to have kept you waiting; I think over the life of the bicycle you'll have ample chances to race with the bike.

I understand wanting the bike, I'm waiting for my AR also but it appears I'll need to wait until 2015 now as our sales department isn't eager to give up one of their precious FRD bikes for an employee

-SD

[mitchgixer6]

Ah right, ok thanks again for the info Dave. I didn't realise that orders would have been taken so long ago for the frame. I suppose it's probably just as well I put my order in when I did!

Yeah, as I mentioned earlier once we all have our bikes and are riding them all this waiting will be a distant memory. It's just frustrating for me (and probably others too) to be hanging on and missing races and potential good results whilst waiting on the frames arriving.

You may guess I'm not very patient!

[SuperDave]

Ah right, ok thanks again for the info Dave. I didn't realise that orders would have been taken so long ago for the frame. I suppose it's probably just as well I put my order in when I did!

Yeah, as I mentioned earlier once we all have our bikes and are riding them all this waiting will be a distant memory. It's just frustrating for me (and probably others too) to be hanging on and missing races and potential good results whilst waiting on the frames arriving.

You may guess I'm not very patient!

Unlikely the difference between good and bad results is a frameset. The AR1 is the icing on the cake, but if you don't already have a cake, there's work to be done.

-SD

[mitchgixer6]

Eating too much cake is my downfall!

[mitchgixer6]

No chance that there's a 54 frame that's hiding at the back of the warehouse that you could ship to Scotland Dave?!

[Porkinson]

Yes, the allocation of orders for the AR1 has some countries' deliveries postponed. It isn't a question of the AR1 existing, just that the volume of initial orders is higher than the incoming initial orders.

Orders were taken in August for this frame, so if you placed your order in December, you are ~4 months behind those orders.

Sorry to have kept you waiting; I think over the life of the bicycle you'll have ample chances to race with the bike.

I understand wanting the bike, I'm waiting for my AR also but it appears I'll need to wait until 2015 now as our sales department isn't eager to give up one of their precious FRD bikes for an employee

-SD

Thanks for the info, I get the shortage and I'm not asking to jump the queue or anything like that. What I don't get is that they didn't think to tell the UK importer that they wouldn't get getting any until a week before they were expected. Surely at this point they would already have known exactly how many they were getting and could have told us earlier.

Thanks again for taking the time to find out what's going on,

Simon

[Mize]

I've got about 600 miles on my AR1 now. Unfortunately nearly 400 are on rollers thanks to the weather here.
I can say, however, after 200+ road miles that this bike is great. It's a bit twitchier than my Tarmac but at least as good a climber which surprised me after some descriptions of "flexy." I set PRs on both 3% (0.8 mile) and 6% (0.5 mile) hill climbs on Saturday which was only my third outdoor ride of 2014.

Very, very impressed with the AR1.

[SuperDave]

I've got about 600 miles on my AR1 now. Unfortunately nearly 400 are on rollers thanks to the weather here.
I can say, however, after 200+ road miles that this bike is great. It's a bit twitchier than my Tarmac but at least as good a climber which surprised me after some descriptions of "flexy." I set PRs on both 3% (0.8 mile) and 6% (0.5 mile) hill climbs on Saturday which was only my third outdoor ride of 2014.

Very, very impressed with the AR1.

I've only seen one report of the bike being "flexy" and reams of data that suggests otherwise. Can you point me to the others?

I recall one poster was routinely puting out 1800w and suggested the bike wasn't as stiff as he liked. If there are more I want to hear about those experiences.

-SD

[Mize]

Super Dave, it was only here in this thread. Love this bike!

Just to clarify, the bike is not flexy at all for me and I'm 170# with normal max output of 1250 watts on climbs. When I say "twitchier" than my Tarmac that's a good thing as it's very responsive.

[Twinning]

I've got about 600 miles on my AR1 now. Unfortunately nearly 400 are on rollers thanks to the weather here.
I can say, however, after 200+ road miles that this bike is great. It's a bit twitchier than my Tarmac but at least as good a climber which surprised me after some descriptions of "flexy." I set PRs on both 3% (0.8 mile) and 6% (0.5 mile) hill climbs on Saturday which was only my third outdoor ride of 2014.

Very, very impressed with the AR1.

I've only seen one report of the bike being "flexy" and reams of data that suggests otherwise. Can you point me to the others?

I recall one poster was routinely puting out 1800w and suggested the bike wasn't as stiff as he liked. If there are more I want to hear about those experiences.

-SD

I was the one who said that the bike was flexy. I used to run my zipps on my s-works tarmac sl3 with the brakes somewhat loose. But now I have to run my direct mount dura ace brake completely loose to not get the wheel to touch the brakes when during a sprint. I wanted the bike shop to loosen my brake more to avoid rubbing but they said it was completely opened already. When people ride my bike they are surprised at how loose my brakes are. The brake lever touches the bars before full braking. People that have ridden my bike have also said that it was flexy but they have all said that it is very comfortable as well. I didnt purchase the bike expecting it to be ultra stiff because aero bikes aren't known for this. I bought it because it looked cool and it has met all expectations for being cool. I get compliments all the time.


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[nathanong87]

maybe your wheels are flexing brah.

[mitchgixer6]

Twinning. Your post worries me on so many levels! Let's hope that one day you don't need to emergency brake to avoid a cat/dog/person/car/truck.

[spud]

twinning,

I'd bet you are dealing with wheel flex. I do a big group ride, and one of the guys I know has direct mount brakes on his chainstays. When we are working a pace line at moderate load, say 300 watts (an educated guess), I can see the rim deflecting towards the pads during each pedal stroke.

I suspect the rim deflection comes from two places - axle deflection that occurs as chain tension rises during the downstroke, in conjunction with the rim twisting around the hub due to the torque reaction through the spokes. My guess is that you would do better with a wheel which has crossing spokes on both sides of the hub, as well as perhaps higher spoke tension than the Zipps typically have.

I think that direct mount brake bikes put a higher premium on wheel stiffness than conventional brake position. Anecdotal evidence suggest it, and if chain tension induced axle displacement is a contributing factor, the rim deflection is maximized at the chain stay position, and nearly minimized at the seat stay position.

[Mize]

FYI I'm running Powertap-branded alloys right now (my Enve 6.7 smarts won't see asphalt until racing starts) so no wheel flex to speak of.