I believe Felt has a deal in place with Shimano to be the first company out with 7970 on a bike. Never forget the American headquarters for Shimano, and Felt's home office are a stone's throw away from one another here in Irvine. They work very closely together. I've now seen 7970 up close, and played with it. I was surprised at how well thought out it is, and also how much testing has been done. They really don't want another Mektronic on their hands, and have been slow to bring it to market. They'll always be issues, but it's been around longer than most people realize, and tested beyond what you might know. The price tag on this bike is very, very high - I doubt many will be made. You should also note that Felt has pre-wired the AR for Electronic so you simply plug in the wires behind the stem, and then near each derailleur. Other manufacturers are doing this too.
As for other Q's, I'm not sure how much to give away, but Felt will have a line of high-end aftermarket goodies that look very good, including the aerobar we've seen, which is super slick, but pricey (no msrp has been settled on, so I don't know the exact figures).
The bikes look amazing in person, including the AR2, which is my favorite, as well. I have the wind tunnel numbers, which I'm not sure I can give away, but I think I'm safe to say that the AR more than doubles the Soloist in drag savings over a traditional round-tubed bike. It won't come with the Bayonette fork, but you can put one on if you choose. I'll check to see if I can release pricing tomorrow.
Ah heck, I'll post one price: the B16 has an msrp of $2249! Very cool - we'll sell a lot of those, for sure.
Jim Manton /
ERO Sports
