Felt IA14 2016

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Felt IA14 2016

Postby Seasider71 » 17 Aug 2016 07:52

Ok, so first review of this bike

Ordered from Wiggle using my Gold discount - couldn't stretch to the extra £1k at the moment for the Di2 gearing so opted for the IA14 - I really wanted the IA4, but this has sold out everywhere in the world.

I previously had my first TT bike from Wiggle a Focus Izalco Tri (or something like that) - It arrived in a standard bike box, and I had to assemble the bars / peddles - remove the reflectors and bell etc.. This time the box arrived and I thought it must have contained the Space Shuttle, it was huge 3 boxes, Imagine making a giant cardboard penis out of boxes the same size as an Audi A3 and that is what turned up. I had it delivered to my wifes office which is down the road from our house, as I thought I could just throw the box in the back of the car as I went past on my way home !!!!!

My only option was to break the boxes down at the office - I opened the first of the smaller 2 boxes, this was attached to the giant phallus box, and I found that it actually contained 2" of handlebar - The bike was fully assembled and as the bars were wider than a standard box, they had cut holes in the large box and stuck 2 smaller (1.5m x 1.5m) boxes on either side to prevent them getting damaged. I removed the same box on the other side and then attempted to tackle the giant box. Now you may think I am exaggerating, but this box was about 4m long and 14" wide, I honestly thought they had shipped 2 bikes in there, but on opening the box, there was a cardboard stand thingy holding the rear wheel to keep the bike stable during transit, but there was about 1.5m of empty space behind it. Below the bike was another mystery box the contents of which I shall reveal below.

So I now had a fully assembled bike and a cardboard mountain - I managed to skip the cardboard in one of the local offices bins and ran away, ensuring my name was not on any of the boxes :twisted: I inspected the bike for any flaws - as I have seen some bikes that missed the quality checks on Slowtwich - all good, so front wheel out and into the car.

Back in my man cave and time to inspect and build, 1st job swap out the wheels, so on went the Tri-spoke with no issues, the front brake is an FSA Aero which has a quick release so no issues getting the wheels in and out. The rear has horizontal drop outs so straight forward getting the rear off too. I knew before I bought the bike it came with 11 speed and my rear disc was only 10 speed 105, but for now I can get the gears re-indexed, before looking into wether I can replace the free-hub on my disc to accomodate the 11 speed ultegra cassette from the factory wheels. So rear wheel in and give it a spin, all I can hear is a horrible rubbing sound - The bike is shipped with 23c Tyres, and my rear has 25c so I had to pull the wheel slightly back in the drops to clear the frame - I thought this was a bit of poor design as the wheel could jump forward, until a bit of research on the forums directed me to screws hidden away in the dropouts - they are tiny allen screws that you can only see if you remove the skewer and look directy from the rear of the bike, so adjusted these and got the required clearance from the frame - spun the wheel, brrrrrrrr a different rubbing sound :shock: :shock: :shock:

The tyre was now rubbing on the rear brake cable, the caliper is a centre pull FSA with NO quick release, I think this is a design issue Felt needs to address - The method of installation (below the rear chain stays) means that the inner cable exits the calipers directly in the centre of the caliper and sticks straight onto the wheel, so to be able to bend the cable to point away from the tyre, the whole caliper has to be removed - I found that the caliper was not fully secured and the tension not taken up - I guess it must have been a pain in the ass for the person that built the bike so they just left it. As there is no quick release on the caliper it is a case of trial and error to get the correct position of the caliper before putting it back onto the bike - too wide and you don't get enough contact with the wheel, too close and you can't get the brakes over the tyre - I know I could remove the blocks etc, but you really need these on to judge the required position - There is a barrell adjuster on the cable up near the stem, but despite turning this both ways it made no effect, so I think this will need closer inspection. I finally got it to a resonable point an re-installed it, which is also a b@$tard to do, as the cable is under tension and there are 2 small washers to install under the caliper which fly off if you don't get the bolts in the hole perfectly first time.

So finally got the wheels on and stoppers sort of working - on to the bars. I opened up the mystery box, and found my lovely standard peddles (bin) reflectors (bin) more reflectors (bin) some more reflectors (bin) even more reflectors :o :o (bin) bell (bin) Haribo (yum, yum) aero bar riser shims / armrests / pads and enough screws and bolts to re-build the bike - oh and also a Felt owners manual, that has nothing to do with a TT bike.

So I installed the 40mm risers, straight forward job - dis-assemble the current setup install the risers - re-assemble in roughly the position / pitch that I will want them, thankfully this was a straightforward task.

Next went on the new peddles, went for the Look Keo 2 Max carbon peddle, as I have Keo on my roadie and don't want to mess around switching shoes / cleats, again a straight forward task.

Finally for now, adjust the seat height - Stuck the bike on the turbo and undid the seatpost bolts - there are two allen bolts on either sitde of the post, that bold into a clamp that runs inside of the seatpost, its a really good design and holds the post solid. There are 2 rubber strips supplied that install along the inside edges of the seatpost that need cutting to length once the post is in the correct position.

So for now that is as far as I have got - Even though brand new, I think I will probably get the bike serviced, to ensure that all the cables are lubricated, and get the back brake sorted with a bit more bite - I will have a go at re-indexing the gears myself, but failing that we have a really good mobile mechanic in our area that services some of our local pro's.

After that it will be a bike fit, and then official test drive.......more to come later.
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Re: Felt IA14 2016

Postby Kevy427 » 17 Aug 2016 19:53

Giant penis. Big boxes. Rubbing. Mystery box. Risers. More to come. Goodness me, I don't know where to start ;)

Sounds like you've had fun and games but it'll be worth it once you're belting down the road at 26mph :D
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Re: Felt IA14 2016

Postby Sir Jibbenstein » 17 Aug 2016 21:25

Been pondering the 11 speed on 10sp wheels myself. The different spacing will cause indexing issues, but came across this work around: http://darkspeedworks.com/blog-11speed.htm I've yet to try it but might be worth looking into.

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Re: Felt IA14 2016

Postby Seasider71 » 18 Aug 2016 07:00

I wondered about removing on of the rings when I sized it up (steady Kev), but was unsure which one to remove - the above explains it beautifully. However the 10 speed ultegra cassette that I have on the disc is already configured 28/25/23/21/19/17/15/13/12/11 and I can re-adjust the rear derailleur limit screws to suit this, so not sure what the benefits of switching the cassettes would be (possibly some slightly smoother gear changes ??).

I am ultimately hoping to upgrade to Di2. If it is the case that you can no longer get 10 speed, I may have to see if I can swap out the hub on the disc for an 11 speed one, if it unbolts it is a simple swapout, but if it is sealed, it is new wheel time.

I am hoping that I can get the Di2 setup via the cycle to work scheme, but I know that the rules have changed with it now so I shall have to do more investigation.
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Re: Felt IA14 2016

Postby Sir Jibbenstein » 18 Aug 2016 07:16

The sprocket pitch has shrunk from 10 to 11 speed, (3.95 to 3.74mm i think) so it'll be noisy and wear both the chain and cassette much faster if you use a 10 speed cassette.

Interesting, if you can remove the freehub body but can't get an 11 speed replacement, campag 11 speed is the same pitch as shimano. So you can use a campag 11 speed cassette.

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Re: Felt IA14 2016

Postby Seasider71 » 18 Aug 2016 07:29

Ok cassette swap will be happening this weekend. Looks like rain anyway :D
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Re: Felt IA14 2016

Postby Seasider71 » 30 Aug 2016 12:37

Well all I can say is WOW, the rumours are true, this bike is fast even with me on board. Just had a first test run out and it was easily holding an average on the flat of 30kph with very little effort going through the peddles.

At present my main concern is getting used to the position again, I rode with a rear disc & tri-spoke, there was a bit of wind but not lots, and to say the front end of the bike is twitchy is an understatement, I was wobbling all over on this ride out, but this will only get better once I get used to riding in the TT position again, I could really do with a long straight road with no potholes to start with, but I think I may find the pot at the end of the rainbow before I find that.

I also really miss having the shifters on the brake levers so I think Di2 will be a future investment.

There is a Straight mile KOM close by so after a bit more practice, I think I could be in with a chance of challenging it - That can be my goal for this year. :D
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Re: Felt IA14 2016

Postby Ewan » 30 Aug 2016 12:55

I also really miss having the shifters on the brake levers so I think Di2 will be a future investment.


Once you get properly used to a TT position you won't need them :-)
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