Slipstream/Felt's new road bike for TDF

donrhummy
donrhummy Posts: 2,329
edited June 2008 in Pro race
They've adapted the TT bike to be the regular road bike. Personally, I think they're asking for trouble with the rear profile. If there's debris on the road it could easily get caught in there and pop a tire.

Felt_AR_seat_tube.jpg

Also, it looks a little cramped. On a TT, that's not a big deal, but day after day of 150 KM rides, and that could be a big problem.
Felt_AR_in_wind_tunnel.jpg

Comments

  • drenkrom
    drenkrom Posts: 1,062
    That photo can't be right. The seatpost is reversed, yielding a pretty steep seat angle. The top tube looks rather shortish as well. That looks more like a triathlon bike. I wouldn't want to ride the Tour with that geometry, that's for sure. then again, that hardly looks like a bike ready for the Tour.

    Felt make really good bikes, but have yet to learn how to make a really good-looking bike. The adaptation of the TT model is an interesting idea. I'm curious to see what other companies could do that.
  • JC.152
    JC.152 Posts: 645
    edited June 2008
    Looks good to me, similar to what Cervelo have been doing for a few years with the Soloist but another step forward with the curved seattube
  • donrhummy
    donrhummy Posts: 2,329
    drenkrom wrote:
    That photo can't be right. The seatpost is reversed, yielding a pretty steep seat angle. The top tube looks rather shortish as well. That looks more like a triathlon bike. I wouldn't want to ride the Tour with that geometry, that's for sure. then again, that hardly looks like a bike ready for the Tour.

    Felt make really good bikes, but have yet to learn how to make a really good-looking bike. The adaptation of the TT model is an interesting idea. I'm curious to see what other companies could do that.

    The photo is right (or real, not sure if that's what you're saying). It's from cyclingnews.com.

    Felt_AR_side_view.jpg
  • aarw
    aarw Posts: 448
    since when do slipstrem ride on mavics??
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    I don't think the dead tube looks too bad. The drop looks pretty undramatic compared to many pros. The seat angle doesn't look great though.

    Overall however, I think it's an interesting looking bike. I don't think the felt bikes are ugly, they manage to look different which can be difficult
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    Yep Slipstream do ride Zipps for races, but pros will use alu clinchers for training and recon rides. I know Zipp do their own alu wheel, but in reality the pros'll use anything wheel wise for training so long as it's durable.
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • drenkrom
    drenkrom Posts: 1,062
    I don't doubt the existence of the bikes or whatever. The bike in the wind tunnel has a pretty funky position for road riding. That photo in your second post looks much better. Proportions are more what I'd expect.

    Once the paint is on, I admit the Felt bikes take on another life. On bare carbon they look... functional. That bike looks much nicer than the current F1.

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