Felt 2014 AR1

[emartin]

I heard some bad stuff about the Tektro performance yesterday at my race. It was from an AR owner's son...might even be one of you...

DPGP?

I have a T750 on my AR1 and have been pleased with the performance. It isn't as "grippy" as the DA9000 front but it can lock up the rear wheel with one finger on the lever and that's more than adequate for me. I'm using Jagwire linkage housing to reduce compression for a crisper feel at the lever.
-SD

I would love to have more detail to make it work. Di you used the Jagwire Road Elite Link housing? Also, did you used a flexible noodle? At last, did your caliper look like this one... This is what Tektro directly ship to me as a T750R caliper.
Thanks, I would love to love my bike again...

I was meticulous with the preparation. You need to make sure the inner wire has no kinks or bends. I use the DA9000 inner wire but I think the PTFE coated cables are just as good in this application with the Elite Link housing. I did not use the flexible noodle as that would add compression and thus a softer lever feel as some of the initial stroke would be used to take out slack in the system, not move the caliper arms.

I have the same rear brake but I changed brake pads to a slightly longer and higher profile unit from Ashima.

The one thing I did custom was reduce the spring tension by removing the set screws and using a jewelers file to open the slot slightly reducing the spring tension further. High spring tension is only useful here when the cable housing is kinked or has to make many sharp bends, such as the inside of an internally routed aerobar on a TT bike. Tektro borrows the T925 bits to actuate the arms of the T750 and I think it is oversprung with DA9070 levers. After opening the spring stop slots I reinstall whichever set screw is needed to balance the spring tension. There is no need for both screws.

-SD

Thanks for the details, I'll try the modification to the tension screws. Also, my cables cannot be twisted as I run DI2.
Just to be sure, you have the same small noodle that run on the chainrings side?

Thanks for your input, having access to someone of your knowledge is priceless

[SuperDave]

I heard some bad stuff about the Tektro performance yesterday at my race. It was from an AR owner's son...might even be one of you...

DPGP?

I have a T750 on my AR1 and have been pleased with the performance. It isn't as "grippy" as the DA9000 front but it can lock up the rear wheel with one finger on the lever and that's more than adequate for me. I'm using Jagwire linkage housing to reduce compression for a crisper feel at the lever.
-SD

I would love to have more detail to make it work. Di you used the Jagwire Road Elite Link housing? Also, did you used a flexible noodle? At last, did your caliper look like this one... This is what Tektro directly ship to me as a T750R caliper.
Thanks, I would love to love my bike again...

I was meticulous with the preparation. You need to make sure the inner wire has no kinks or bends. I use the DA9000 inner wire but I think the PTFE coated cables are just as good in this application with the Elite Link housing. I did not use the flexible noodle as that would add compression and thus a softer lever feel as some of the initial stroke would be used to take out slack in the system, not move the caliper arms.

I have the same rear brake but I changed brake pads to a slightly longer and higher profile unit from Ashima.

The one thing I did custom was reduce the spring tension by removing the set screws and using a jewelers file to open the slot slightly reducing the spring tension further. High spring tension is only useful here when the cable housing is kinked or has to make many sharp bends, such as the inside of an internally routed aerobar on a TT bike. Tektro borrows the T925 bits to actuate the arms of the T750 and I think it is oversprung with DA9070 levers. After opening the spring stop slots I reinstall whichever set screw is needed to balance the spring tension. There is no need for both screws.

-SD

Thanks for the details, I'll try the modification to the tension screws. Also, my cables cannot be twisted as I run DI2.
Just to be sure, you have the same small noodle that run on the chainrings side?

Thanks for your input, having access to someone of your knowledge is priceless

Yes, I have the same drive side version. You can find the non-drive side versions as well. I think Koga/Miyata might use them on some of their bikes. The comment about the twisted cables was referring to the shifting concerns. No problems with twisting the wires on the brake and electronic shifters, it won't affect the function because the brake has housing to route it and maintain tension. The shift wires for mechanical are banjo-strung from the inlet to BB shell.

-sD

[SuperDave]

Any chance the cables are twisted around each other inside the downtube?

-sD

SuperDave, is there any simple way to check this?

x-ray.
or
removing the fork and using a flashlight.

nothing else comes to mind.

-SD

[Mize]

Lol...I used to work somewhere that xray might have been an option. Not today.

Fork, check
Flashlight, check

Wait until tomorrow, check.

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[Mize]

SD, please let me know if you think this is a reasonable check.
FD half-shifted to maintain tension, with fingers slide the RD cable back and forth holding rear end by chainstay exit and front end by down tube entrance...feel no friction...

Is that good enough to say they're not crossed?

[SuperDave]

SD, please let me know if you think this is a reasonable check.
FD half-shifted to maintain tension, with fingers slide the RD cable back and forth holding rear end by chainstay exit and front end by down tube entrance...feel no friction...
Is that good enough to say they're not crossed?

The shifting issues you describe have me baffled. Bumps in the road should not cause shifting issues unless your B-tension spring were broken or disengaged. I wouldn't speculate on the possibility of the cables being crossed. I'd just re-run them to be sure they are not.
I think being uncertain is unreasonable.

-Dave

[Mize]

sigh.

B-tension is good...it was at SRAM spec (6-10 mm off the largest cog) and I've tried coming closer and further.
The chain spacing is a bit off...you can't get exactly 1 full link overlap. You have to go with 1.5 links or 0.5 so I'm at 1.5 because I don't want to accidentally cross-chain and dork something. I almost never cross chain (no matter what SRAM says) but in the heat of a race anything can happen.

Can the internal cable guides tolerate graphite dry lube? Just thinking if there's friction in there...

So I've never run internal cables myself, but that's on my list this week after my foreign visitors leave.

Thanks Dave. Sorry for the thread clutter.

[SuperDave]

sigh.

B-tension is good...it was at SRAM spec (6-10 mm off the largest cog) and I've tried coming closer and further.
The chain spacing is a bit off...you can't get exactly 1 full link overlap. You have to go with 1.5 links or 0.5 so I'm at 1.5 because I don't want to accidentally cross-chain and dork something. I almost never cross chain (no matter what SRAM says) but in the heat of a race anything can happen.

Can the internal cable guides tolerate graphite dry lube? Just thinking if there's friction in there...

So I've never run internal cables myself, but that's on my list this week after my foreign visitors leave.

Thanks Dave. Sorry for the thread clutter.

The internal cable guides can handle dry lube but you'd feel friction in the shifter and experience slow downshifts if that was the culprit.


-Dave

[Mize]

Dave,

Just to be clear when I look at the manual on cable routing (page 30 ish):

http://www.feltbicycles.com/Resources/M ... _small.pdf

It seems clear to me that the right, longer slot (driver's left) goes to the RD and the shorter slot is for the FD cable.

On my build it's also clear that the housing in the long slot makes a sharp turn upward while the one in the short slot heads straight back to the chainstay hollow.

In other words another gift from my LBS Felt dealer. They crossed my cables.

Lovely.



ARRGGHH!
It's worse.
there are supposed to be 3 mousetails. An 800 mm for the FD/downtube, a 300 for the RD/downtube and a 550 mm for the RD/chainstay.

I have no 300 on my bike at all. The 800 is on the FD/DT and the 550 was on the RD/DT. There was no mousetail on the CS at all.

I will never trust an LBS build ever again.

[Mize]

So SuperDave. In all seriousness, how should I deal with the LBS on this? Is there some official way to report all of this to Felt for some sort of dealership evaluation?

How do I get a new set of mousetail ferrules? I have frickin' races to worry about and now this.

Sheesh.

[Mize]

Regarding cables: can I just get Nokon and fit the newer 1.2 mm powercordz inside without a special liner?

[simon]

@superdave
you're the man!!!thanks so much for explaining the modification of the trp brake.feels very much like the sram front brake now.
also proudly announcing that the bike lost 0,01 gram of weight because of this filing and drilling(this is weightweenies 2014)

[emartin]

@superdave
you're the man!!!thanks so much for explaining the modification of the trp brake.feels very much like the sram front brake now.
also proudly announcing that the bike lost 0,01 gram of weight because of this filing and drilling(this is weightweenies 2014)

I'm about to doing the modification, I have to get a small enough file. Did you file material where the spring end sit? If yes, I assume you had to remove the spring right? At last, how much did you file off the slot?

Thanks, and BTW I'm glad you had the same success as SD, hope doing the same.

[Poopzilla]

@SuperDave: Do you know of any resellers in Europe stocking AR1 56 or 58? Everyone I have talked to are saying they are out of stock and will not be available until the 2015 models are in.

Anyone know of any resellers in the US?

What do you think sizewise? I am 182 cm with 87 cm inseam, pretty normal build. I have a hard time making my mind up over 56 or 58.

Thomas

[Twinning]

@SuperDave: Do you know of any resellers in Europe stocking AR1 56 or 58? Everyone I have talked to are saying they are out of stock and will not be available until the 2015 models are in.

Anyone know of any resellers in the US?

What do you think sizewise? I am 182 cm with 87 cm inseam, pretty normal build. I have a hard time making my mind up over 56 or 58.

Thomas

Go get a dynamic fit. Guru makes a machine called a dynamic fit unit that can calculate your fit in space so that all you need to do is upload the geometry of any bike that you want and you can adjust as you want. There's no way to tell if you fit a 56 or a 58 just by inseam. You may have an abnormally short torso/ arms or long torso/ arms.


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