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FELT IA Brakes
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For those of you with the 2014/2015 "upgraded brakes and the 2016 Felt IA...

How are you cleaning them and/or maintaining them? The felt instructions are ambiguous at best. I've contacted FELT support and all they seem to want to do is send me the manual again which basically describes how to completely rebuild the brakes. I'm not going to rebuild and recable the brakes every 3-4 rides or every time I see even the smallest hint of rain.

The issues with the integrated brakes have been well documented. I'm just curious how everyone else is working through them in their day to day use.

Thanks in advance
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Re: FELT IA Brakes [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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Since they updated the brakes, I haven't had any issues. I had a 2014 IA and had issues with the original brakes as I live in Vancouver where it's hard to avoid riding in the rain. Once they sent me a set of the updated brakes I had no issues. I'm currently on a 2016 IA1 now and the brakes work great. I only clean the brakes when I travel with the bike, I just wipe them with a rag to get any sand or grit out, that's it.
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Re: FELT IA Brakes [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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I live just south of you in Whatcom County


I had one 5 hour ride where I got stuck in 4 hours of rain. It being right after a dry spell the roads were pretty gritty and dirty. Since then my rear brake seems to hang just a bit. I ride wider wheels (the Novatecs the IA2 came with) and it can result in a bit of rubbing.

I've pulled the line and wiped down the bushings and the track but can't seem to get rid of that little hang.

Do you use any lubricant on those bushings or track?
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Re: FELT IA Brakes [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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My brakes were up graded last summer.....100 % better, but if caught in rain I blow them out with a compressor and lube
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Re: FELT IA Brakes [rhudson] [ In reply to ]
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Turns out the cable had pulled slightly from the online adjuster and was causing the hiccup in the line.
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Re: FELT IA Brakes [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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Geek_fit wrote:
Turns out the cable had pulled slightly from the online adjuster and was causing the hiccup in the line.

Correction. After getting the whole brake apart I realize what has happened. One of the bushings has (for some reason) basically worn a hole in the left brake arm. When the brake moves it's now getting caught in that hole.

Not something I'd expect from a bike with less that 2k fair-weather outdoor miles....
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Re: FELT IA Brakes [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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I had serious issues with the original brakes on my 2014 FRD. Felt sent me (free of charge) the upgraded brake kit when i contacted them about thredded brake & grub screws. No complaints on the service and very glad they offered the upgrade. Issues involved the brake rebound U-bar/spring which wasn't uniformly rebounding, nor did the carriage assembly slide efficiently enough. Another sensitive area is how the brake cable dips underneath the base bar plate and under the calpac... In short, I've never spent longer messing with brakes than I have on this frame but they are much better now (fingers crossed), although i tend to train on it only in decent weather so cleaning isn't a massive issue (delicately and with as little stripping as poss when I do). I find them a bit soft but still wouldn't change to discs even if they updated the frame this way. The beauty and performance of the frame (bar a small calpac) outweigh the brake issues imo. I would however like to see the storage box that Rinny's bike had (bottom of the downtube), Felt will you sell this?!
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