Feather Cycles - Lugged XCR Modern Classic

Simonhi

@ugo.santalucia ...

I have found the FMB's to be great so far, they don't wear as quickly as the Veloflex Criterium that I run on another bike. I inflate mine to 85 front and 90 psi on the back and have found them to be really nice and plush. The front sqaushes a bit under out of saddle climbing but then I try to climb seated most of the time anyway.

I've not tried Vittoria tubs only because it is my understanding that they are a nightmare to repair and really not worth doing. The risk of puncturing a hardly used one would be a pain to have to bin it. In the grand scheme of things I'm quite happy to pay the extra for Veloflex and FMB's, life is too short to ride bad tubs !!!

majormantra

Gorgeous!

ugo.santalucia

Simonhi wrote:

@ugo.santalucia ...

I have found the FMB's to be great so far, they don't wear as quickly as the Veloflex Criterium that I run on another bike. I inflate mine to 85 front and 90 psi on the back and have found them to be really nice and plush. The front sqaushes a bit under out of saddle climbing but then I try to climb seated most of the time anyway.

I've not tried Vittoria tubs only because it is my understanding that they are a nightmare to repair and really not worth doing. The risk of puncturing a hardly used one would be a pain to have to bin it. In the grand scheme of things I'm quite happy to pay the extra for Veloflex and FMB's, life is too short to ride bad tubs !!!

I know they ride well, but the double explosion has really put me off the product altogether.
I routinely repair Vittoria CX tyres... there is nothing difficult... only thing the base tape is glued harder than other makes, but that's the only difference. There is also an extra silk-like layer between the carcass and the tube, which you cannot stitch back in place, but it has no practical function and you can just ignore it

Simonhi

Handy to know, thanks for the heads up :-)

One thing I will say in favour of the FMB's is that I have to routinely remove very small stones / gravel / flint for the tread of the Veloflex tubs I use on my Enigma, I don't need to do the same on the FMB's seems strange that the rubber compound could be different as not to allow the small sharp hard objects affect the tyre in the same way. Could just be an observation but one that is good for one and a requirement to check on the other.

Bootom line being, if I had the same happen to me, no matter what anybosy else said I could never trust them again. The poor response is also bad in not remedying the problem or trying to convince you that it was a one off.

I recently had a Gilles Berthoud bar tape snap halfway along it when I was wrapping my Enigma, took a few pictures and emailed Planet X. The customer services was amazing from them and, no quibbles they sent out a replacement and apologised. Can't ask for better than that and as a result will always look to but from them again due to a positive turnaround.

secretsam

What a pretty bike

For us British readers - what are "fenders"???

Simonhi

@SecretSam,

I know what you mean, I absolutely hate American words, windshield, sidewalk, tomayto, etc !!!

But, in my defence I rarely see many British bikes with mudguards and it really only seems to be the Audax community that ride with them.

I should call them what they are, as fenders in the true sense are the inflattable bag things that stop one scratching the yacht on the pontoon !!!

secretsam

<<sniggers>>

A number of my bikes have 'guards on them. Keeps yer bum dry when it's persisting down...

nice bike, nonetheless

meursault

I prefer it without the fenders/guards, but I know nothing.

mbroady

Absolute beauty, can't wait to get my Feather. Looks great with the H&Sons and guards, such a shame the anodize wears off alu rims.

kingstonian

Lovely bike.

Boring question - what seatpost is it? Am speccing a build and that's just what I am after.

bendertherobot

Timeless elegance.

Ben6899

F***ing lovely.

FransJacques

Kingstonian wrote:

Lovely bike.

Boring question - what seatpost is it? Am speccing a build and that's just what I am after.

Not sure but back in the day Nitto made these. Very Japanese: clean and satin polished, as opposed to the Italian style which was a bit more fluted and polished finish.

matt_n-2

8) stunning.

Nairnster

That is quite simply beautiful, a true work of art!!

I wouldnt be able to stop looking at that if I owned it.

Velonutter

Lovely bike 8)

As I'm reading through the posts I keep seeing the references to fenders and I thought what feckin fenders, then I noticed them, beautifully matched in.

Enjoy 8)

kingstonian

FransJacques wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

Lovely bike.

Boring question - what seatpost is it? Am speccing a build and that's just what I am after.

Not sure but back in the day Nitto made these. Very Japanese: clean and satin polished, as opposed to the Italian style which was a bit more fluted and polished finish.

Ok, thanks mate, i will take a look at what they have to offer

Simonhi

Seatpost is a Nitto S65.

kingstonian

Simonhi wrote:

Seatpost is a Nitto S65.

Thanks mate.

samsbike

Its stunning and the wallpaper on my phone. Whats the bijes geo and sizing? Also what made you decide in a longer stem?

Simonhi

Good work on the wallpaper !!! It used to me on mine too but since my wife gave birth it's baby pcitures for a while !!!

Geometry pic below, stem is 120mm so not overly long for my size, Enigma uses a 130mm which is probably 10mm too long for me but then I'm getting ever more lower on my riding position. The Feather is the comfier of the two.

samsbike

Thanks, nice long headtube

Simonhi

It's 20mm shorter than the Enigma and larger stack height on stem mean no spacers.

bencolem

Beautifully judged, clearly a connoisseur! I visited Ricky's workshop but it was in his early days when he really only built fixies and I was worried that although he could undoubtedly make a bike look beautiful I wasn't sure he would be able to 'tune' the ride of a road bike. You say it's more comfortable than the Enigma but is it a lot slower?

asjc

A wonderful thing that, skinny tubes always get me-every time.

Simonhi

bencolem wrote:

Beautifully judged, clearly a connoisseur! I visited Ricky's workshop but it was in his early days when he really only built fixies and I was worried that although he could undoubtedly make a bike look beautiful I wasn't sure he would be able to 'tune' the ride of a road bike. You say it's more comfortable than the Enigma but is it a lot slower?

Sorry for the later reply.

Slower how ? If you mean less twitchy then yes it is slightly but then that could also be attributed to the wider tyres I run on the Feather, for the most part.

The Enigma is definitely a more lively and twitchy ride (less so when I am running shallow aluminium tubular rims and 25mm FMB tubs) but the Feather does everything better for me and requires less effort when I am coming to the end of a very long ride (200km and above).

I love the Enigma for not being too much like the Feather bike in that regard, its a sweet ride for anything up to 160km, after which time I start to get back, shoulder and neck ache.

The Feather is comfortable for everything and rides like a predictable dream, The skinny tubes probably help that.

RideOnTime

8) lovely...

Robbie8787

This bike is a work of art. You can tell a lot of thought went into every detail. Absolutely love the Stem/Bars combo....in fact, I absolutely love this whole bike.

oldmuthariley

Perfect for the weather we've been having.
Any idea of the weight?

Simonhi

Late reply again, no time for iPad with ten week old baby !!!

Bike weight is 8.5 kg with Ambrosio Nemesis, Royce, FMB wheels, sans fenders.

Not bad for a steel bike, but XCR is super thin, 0.5mm thick butts on top and seat tube, 0.45mm on down tube.