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FEATURES: RBA MINI-VIEW: JIM FELT TALKS BIKE & AERO TECH
Zap
July 29, 2010
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Earlier this week we were invited to Felt Bicycles for a presentation of their 2011 line-up which included an all-new road and tri-bike. After all the fresh tacos were eaten and while the 2011 presentation turned to the dirt bikes, I snuck away with Jim to find out more about the latest in new road bike technology.
Look for a breakdown of the new Felt road line, plus a chance to win a Felt t-shirt and a Garmin team jersey autographed by the team in two days. Until then, may I present to you, Jim Felt.
Jim Felt (L) circa 1978 as a factory Yamaha wrench for 125cc National Champion Broc Glover.
RBA: How about a quick history of Jim Felt?
Jim: You know the motocross part, a factory mechanic for Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki. I started making bike frames in the late 80's and really got into the tri scene. Over the years my bikes have won at Kona eight times. We started Felt eleven years ago and now we're a fully stocked bike company and the bike sponsor for the Garmin/Transitions team.
RBA: Today you’re showing us the F1 which is a traditional road frame and Felt still offers the AR series aero road bike. In fact, the performance benefits of the aero frame were extolled quite a bit during the presentation. Where do you define the differences in performance between the two frame styles?
Jim: Both carbon fiber and aero technology remain the two biggest breakthroughs in the world of bicycle design. I’m really excited about the material and fabricating advances we achieved with the F1, but to me, aero sis still so fascinating. There’s nothing like going into a wind tunnel with all your latest and greatest ideas and getting beat up – it’s absolutely the one thing that keeps you going.
To me, the F1 is 90% the ultimate bike, but the tube shapes of the ASR do have an impact in the wind. The problem is that the aero shapes do affect the ride quality and you also lose some lateral stiffness. I think a bike’s ride quality is the most important priority, but it’s also the hardest thing to nail. I know it’s not very sexy like a new set of wheels, but the uniform wall thicknesses we have in the F1 frame and the new monocoque carbon dropout it uses are prime examples of what the contribution of good carbon manufacturing can have on a bike's ride quality.
RBA: Where are we at in terms of the continuation of “breakthroughs” in bicycle technology?
Jim: I don’t see many more “breakthroughs” coming along on a yearly basis anymore. All too often the industry latches on to something as a fashion to fill a new niche on the dealer’s floor. I hate that. I prefer to put my energy into big leaps. I think our new F1 frame is a big leap, Shimano’s Di2 was a big leap, and I think some kind of motor assist would be a big breakthrough. I’m not sold that everyone needs a 13 lb. bike. In fact, I’m sure that a 16 lb. bike that lasts for ten years would be a good thing, but unfortunately that’s not the way the industry approaches things.
RBA: Getting back to the wind tunnel, what’s the latest with all your testing there?
Jim: Like everyone else we spend our time chasing the magic numbers in drag reduction. Seven hundred grams of drag used to the number we all wanted. If you were at 700 grams (frame only, 2500 grams with a rider) you had something, but that number has been reduced significantly over the years and now we’re down to 500 grams. My preference is to make baby steps. I’d rather do a variety of changes, say, three or four sets of five gram savings that get me the numbers I’m after versus big dramatic steps.
RBA: What about the wind tunnels themselves and how they’re used for marketing?
Jim: A lot of people don’t know that there is no objective number there because there are so many different conditions, like an open cell design versus a closed cell tunnel and at each tunnel you can get two completely different sets of numbers. In fact we recently went to a tunnel overseas and the numbers we got were so good that we left in a state of disbelief. Sure enough we came back to our local wind tunnel in San Diego and the numbers were much closer to what we thought they should be.
With tunnel time costing upwards of $1000 a hour, that where our investment in a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) system at Felt has paid off because we can get so much of the flow information we need on our computers now.
RBA: When we were talking in Brussels before the start of stage four of the Tour you were commenting on how the triathletes suffered in terms of new technology since the tri-bikes are intended the team interest first and they are limited by UCI restrictions.
Jim: Sure, I mean we built the DA for the triathletes, but the design of it really is at the service of the team. All of our time in the wind tunnel is really for the team. Still, triathletes will benefit from the team influence despite the disconnect.
RBA: What about the team, what role do they play in all of this?
Jim:
It’s easy to complain about the team and how much energy and
material they consume – it can be a real vacuum at times, but I can tell
you that the impact is real. Our R&D for bikes like the F1 and TT
bike are totally driven by team input. In terms of promotion and
marketing you really can’t measure the amount of people you touch
outside of the bike industry with the team.
VALUE ADDED JIM FELT
Long before the Felt name became associated with Kona Ironman & Tour de France stage winners, he was of course a certifiable star in the world of professional motocross where he used his notions of performance technology and race winning attitude as an accomplice to two of America's greatest motocross stars: Broc Glover and Johnny O'Mara. I only bring this up, well, for two reason actually, because 1. Felt's history on the MX circuit is inextricably linked to his role in the development of his bicycle business, and 2. Just to remind all those snitty dweebs who balk over and decry any talk of motorcycles in a bicycle forum, that in fact, there is a component of much in the bicycle world that has to do with motorcycles and it's really okay to talk about it on occasion.
To that end, here is just a brief photo gallery capturing Jim Felt in his days that preceded the likes of Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriske.
In typical high intensity fashion, Jim aka "The Commander" urges on his first star rider, three-time 125cc National Champion, Broc Glover. MX buffs will note the pit board mis-spelling of "Motes" which was actually referring to Marty Moates.
Here's Jim many years later when he was wrenching for 125ccc National Champion Johnny O'Mara - and he's still yelling! It was during his time wrenching for the "O'Show" that Jim's interest in bicycles was formed. Johnny would go onto to be a multi-time national champ on the mountain bike circuit.
In his heyday, Jim Felt was one of the most successful mechanics on the AMA National circuit. From tuning motors to holding the stopwatch for Glover at the start line, Felt was on the ball and dedicated to winning - just as he is today.
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