2012 Felt F3 got the razor blade treatment... Pics on page 5

[Imaking20]

I have an assortment of TiN coated parts on my motorcycle that look very good... I couldn't really picture how this chain would look on my Felt but I'd hope it would work... it definitely doesn't. I'll probably see if I can pick up a black version.

[Imaking20]

Well it's boredom season (aka: it's raining... A lot) so this happened...










Took a (lot of) razor blade(s) to the frame, fork, and new to me '12 Speci crankset and some acetone to the C260 stem. My goal was to simplify the looks a bit but the weight savings was cool as well; ~4g from the fork, 8g from the cranks, and 28g from the frame. I'll get some more pics up of the crankset weight etc.
Now I'm thinking about stripping the toupe saddle and I need to clean up the stem a little more.
Also threw on some sealed Gore derailleur cables, new lizard skins tape, as well as a new BB. If I don't sell or trade the bike ill probably get a DA cassette and some new rings.

[jmilliron]

That looks good!

I hear the Ritchey stems are great, but I'd personally want a Thomson X2 to match the post.

[Imaking20]

I'm not thrilled with the stem, honestly - the only reason it's still on there is it weighs 102-103g

[OwenN]

Nice work. That really looks good. I recently finished my F5 make-over. I too found the decals to be a bit much. I sanded instead of using blades. I also re-sprayed clear to bring the glossy look back. Did you re-spray? How is the texture after using the blades?

[Imaking20]

Thanks, Owen! I'd been thinking about stripping the bike for awhile and your project helped put me over the edge.

Kudos to you for having the patience to sand everything, just the small bits I sanded drove me nuts. T razor wasn't even what I'd call speedy!
My frame was matte to begin with so I did not respray... I also didn't feel like messing with a Matte clear. The blades were more forgiving than I expected, I could really lay into them to get through to top coats then just used a bit more finesse as I got down to carbon - at which point it becomes very obvious that you're at carbon and you'd have to try pretty hard to nick it. The surface is smooth from the blade but you could see stray lines which I didn't care for - hence the brief wet sanding afterwards.

[nathanong87]

u comfy on that saddle angle ?

[Imaking20]

Yup. It doesn't look quite as drastic in person but nevertheless I nose my saddle down a touch. It was recently suggested to me to set the nose angle to be comfortable while in the drops and everything else will sort itself out - it's been working quite well for me.

[DartanianX]

Do you have any weights for the original seat post? What do you think of the ride?

I just got a F3 today as a team bike and need to drop as much weight off it as possible for the NZ nationals champs.

[Imaking20]

The original post was in the 220g range i believe.

The ride is much better than the tarmac sl2 it replaced. The bike climbs pretty well, descends great, and will really handle a sprint.