Felt Virtue issues, opinions please folks

appy

Just a post to see if anyone else has the same frame and issues and get peoples opinions

ridden for approx 170miles doubt that much tbh

Bike is two months old kept indoors in the warm and very well looked after

A, This bottom linkage pin/shaft/pivot fell out whilst riding
B, The rear brake cable is cable tied at the factory to this link bar.It has rubbed through on here about 2mm deep, 10mm long so obviously ruined the hose and weakened the linkage. If i hadnt of spotted this then the hose would of burst soon.

Also the "stainless steel" :roll: linkage bolts have all gone rusty



Its not the bike in the pic just used that as dont have a close up of mine



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currently waiting for Felt to see the bike and comment but tbh ive lost all faith in it and want my money back. What are my rights? Luckily my lbs are being great about it and having seen the bike arnt happy with it either. Im under no illusions bikes get cable rub and wear but for major suspension parts to fall out that should be factory locktighted, stainless bolts to rust after a couple of months and major design faults (brake pipe routing) surely im not over reacting? Such a shame as i love how the bike rides and looks

Should of stuck to Ghost!!

diy

Replacement of faulty parts with minimum of disruption to you, partial refund on top if they have to repair things. realistically you need them to start screwing you around before you can claim a refund.

Raymondavalon

Very similar set up to my (now sold) Felt Compulsion, I know the setup quite well as I've stripped mine down and refitted new bearings.

Right, those bottom linkage bolts don't just "fall out" or come loose either, they are fairly long, the bottom one is the shorter of the two at +- 95mm and passes through the swingarm and Eqilink bar. They also have torque settings screened on them, 17NM if I recall correctly.
These should be inspected before every ride without fail. This comes down to nothing more than general maintenance. Invest in a torque wrench and check all those bolts on the rear suspension

Another thing I do recommend is a bearing replacement after circa 18 months, Felt supply the bikes with El-Cheapo no name brand bearings, these literally fell apart when I pressed them out. Another area of great concern is the 4 needle bearings in the Equilink bar. Mine had collapsed by the time I replaced them (The LBS had to press these out and fit the new ones as I didn't have the right tools to do the job, they had signs of rust when removed)

I also recommend packing the Equilink bar needle bearings with grease every 6 months to keep moisture out too, they have a habit of accumulating water usually from hosing the bike down.
As for the replacement bearings, I replaced mine with SKF including the needle bearings, not expensive and if you're not up to the job, the LBS can do it

As for the "Stainless Steel" linkage bolts, the two bolts that connect the Equilink bar to the suspension are actually bronze with a hard chrome coating. The rest of the bolts are mild steel with what seems to be some form of galvanised type coating too, so no stainless steel parts on the rear suspension at all and I've not seen anything in the bike's owner manual or specifications to claim that they are.
They do rust once they've been tightened as the hex key tends to remove the protective coating

Most importantly keep an eye on all those bolts on the rear suspension

appy

Cheers for the input however and i get what your saying but in the real world we both no 99% of bikes dont get properley checked before each ride.

I know the equilink bar pin thing cant just fall out as it has a retaining bolt but riding along cannock a few days ago thats just what it did. So its either not been locktighted, the bolt wasnt tightened up or the retaining bolt wasnt fitted, just the pin thing.
And i dont believe for one second you check every bolt before a ride and wouldnt expect you to do so, if it was the case that everyone needed to check every bike before a ride you wouldnt be able to move for bikes falling apart. Your saying every bolt should be checked for torque? before each ride? come on im a vehicle technician and once a bolts locktighted up i dont ask my customers to check them before every journey.

Its the 3 bolts on the rocker that have gone rusty and not just where there have been tightened, yes im aware water could of got underneath the coating but im sorry this is the only bike ive had that has deteriorated like this and seeing as my other bikes have been owned for years and this one 2 months thats not acceptable for a £2000 bike.

Raymondavalon

appy wrote:

.

I know the equilink bar pin thing cant just fall out as it has a retaining bolt but riding along cannock a few days ago thats just what it did. So its either not been locktighted, the bolt wasnt tightened up or the retaining bolt wasnt fitted, just the pin thing.
And i dont believe for one second you check every bolt before a ride and wouldnt expect you to do so, if it was the case that everyone needed to check every bike before a ride you wouldnt be able to move for bikes falling apart. Your saying every bolt should be checked for torque? before each ride? come on im a vehicle technician and once a bolts locktighted up i dont ask my customers to check them before every journey.

So, it just fell out, yes it wasn't tightened, but more importantly it wasn't checked before the ride.
The "cost of bike" doesn't come into play here, just a new bike, fresh paint under the bolts and a "I can't be @ssed to check" approach, which can lead to problems like you've experienced.

When my Compulsion was new I also had suspension bolts work loose, so that's why I do, (or did) a pre ride check over, plus it takes under a minute with my BBB precision torque wrench. I am pleased to say I'd not come across any that had come loose for many years or any suspension bolts that mysteriously loosened themselves after a pre-ride check as my Compulsion 2 has done many miles around Cannock without anything dropping off, other than my good self when I take a tumble.

A little like never checking tyre pressures on a car then whining when you don't get good handling, mileage or suffer a blowout..

supersonic

I check my bolts before every ride, it just makes sense, and almost all manufacturers, retailers and guides will say the same or have specific regimes. 'Periodically' like FELT suggest is a little vague though, but I'd still check before every ride. Some bolts may go a lifetime and never go loose - many DO need checking, and is paramount new bikes are checked and readjusted very soon after the first ride as parts bed in.

Check the bearing bolts, if any are loose tighten them to the torque spec
that is conveniently laser etched into the dust shields. In some instances it
may be necessary to reapply a thread locker before you retighten the
bearing bolts.

Mountainbikes could be made with bolts that need checking very infrequently but the weight would be extremely high. Many fasteners on bikes are 4,5,6mm allen head bolts from torques as low as 4nm. I guess we could replace the lot with 1/2 inch bolts fastened to 100nm, but weight is an issue. And paradoxically it is more expensive bikes and lighter weights that often need checking more.

This is not to say problems do occur such as collapsing bearings. Either way your first port of call is the retailer.

diy

I assume its had it 6 week check up?

appy

well Felt agreed with me and my lbs and gave me a full refund

Raymondavalon

appy wrote:

well Felt agreed with me and my lbs and gave me a full refund

Hopefully your next bike's rear suspension linkages will be assembled with cold rivets and Oilite Bronze bushings so you don't have to ever reach for a spanner...

appy

thanks for your useful post and merry xmas.

diy

I know a lot of this is subject to patents, so they all have to come up with something unique or pay royalties, but that does not look like a finished design in terms of rear linkage. Surely there is a better solution to the physics than needing a brace strut to link the two joints.

While I agree that a bike needs regular checking I too would not expect it to fall apart after 170 miles.

ilovedirt

Just learned a lesson that you probably should check pivot bolts etc fairly regularly, lost a flange nut off one of my pivot bolts while riding the other day. Pretty annoying, now having to wait for a new one.

Robowns

I get out my torque wrench and check every bolt on my bike before every ride. By time im done its gone dark and my riding mates have gone home.

Raymondavalon

diy wrote:

While I agree that a bike needs regular checking I too would not expect it to fall apart after 170 miles.

When a bike is new is when it's most vulnerable to parts coming loose

When I lived in the Souther Hemisphere I raced motorcycle enduro at regional and national level. The first thing I (and most other riders) did (and still do) when taking delivery of a new bike was remove every nut and bolt and remove the paint from the frame behind the said nuts and bolts with Emery cloth. When the paint wears through vibrations, it can cause a minute bit of slack on a LocTited or nylocked nut. I was once convinced I'd cracked my frame during an event due to vibrations that came about on the second leg of a 500KM event. We inspected it at the refuel point and there were not visible cracks. It turned out to be an lower cradle engine mount bolt being a little loose.

I believe the same applies to mountain bikes, although it can take a little longer for things to work loose.

supersonic

diy wrote:

I know a lot of this is subject to patents, so they all have to come up with something unique or pay royalties, but that does not look like a finished design in terms of rear linkage. Surely there is a better solution to the physics than needing a brace strut to link the two joints.

While I agree that a bike needs regular checking I too would not expect it to fall apart after 170 miles.

It is not a brace strut, look at how the linkgage moves. It is a 6 bar system with multiple instant centres. Complicated yes, but far from a 'brace '.

diy

Yes I understood why it was there. I just thought it seemed a daft design. Generally speaking the more connecting points in a movement the stiffer it will become.

compositepro

felt don't really do patents ...this was hotly debated when it was suggested they stole the design from Kavik

diy

While a horst link can be a right pain to maintain, I think I'd prefer that to this push rod design.