I realize there is a bit of a price diff, but I had the opportunity to see a premier and a speedmax side by side a month ago, and hands down I'd take the premier frame over the canyon frame (assuming it fit of course)... And thats coming from someone who kind of openly crapped on the premier when it was announced a while back....(sorry!).. The rear draft box on the premier - gotta see it in person, -very- slick.

The ST group and forum users in general fall outside what most brands would link to marketing duty. The scope of questions cannot be answered by those in marketing and often eclipse the customer service team's "consumer need" understanding even those with exceptional customer service departments who meet "consumer expectation" in that realm. The two departments can reply with "buy our widget" or "We'll fix your widget" but seldom "this is why we made our widget".

I'm grateful for the platform you've provided over the years.

See you at IB?
Dave

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

i will be there, in the triathlon pavilion, and will buy you a peets if you direct your request to mr. ignorant slut.

i know brands don't have in their org charts the job title of "slowtwitch forum monitor", nevertheless i can guess what the forum has meant to trek, felt, trainerroad, zwift, sufferfest, premier, flo, and we can go down the list. this isn't to puff our chest. controlling your message on this forum works for some brands, less so for others.

still, i find it interesting how brands are all about the new ways of communicating their messages to their audiences (we hear about this all the time), but they universally omit this. i am peppered incessantly by PR firms, but those firms have no voice. they rely on the voices of media. without media (velonews, cyclingtips, etc.), brands can control their own messages only via their own social media. but trek's facebook page isn't where triathletes hang out.

carl hung out where triathletes hang out.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

At PremierBike we listen to athletes and those that have been around the industry for a while. Slowtwitch is a huge part of how we listen. The triathlon community built the Tactical and continues to play a huge role in current/future products as well as distribution models we have and will enter.
I read and listened to what forum members and contributors have written and discuss about triathlon bikes and the industry as a whole. Where else do you get this type of back and forth?
I hope I'm correct in believing that the triathletes that would consider purchasing our bike participates in technical discussions, reads a lot about the sport, understands the impact that aerodynamics play in equipment choices and thinks about all aspects of the sport; a lot – those athletes are found on Slowtwitch.

There is no better input/feedback found in one place that is both easy to access and free.

But, it’s a two way street. If manufacturers are not here to answer questions about choices and fail to participate in discussions - we are not serving those that have helped develop the products. Are Slowtwich members super critical – yes; good. If it passes mustard here it should be ok in the general marketplace.

One observation that has been striking to me is the large group of athletes that don’t know and don’t particularly want to get into the weeds on products.

Here we talk about micro inches of surface roughness in chains and how that effects parasitic drag and I have athletes that ask me if I’m sure I know how to put the velcro tool kit back on their bike because they are not sure how to do it.

This is a huge and diverse market. There is plenty of room for all kinds of companies providing all kinds of services.

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Dan Kennison

facebook: @triPremierBike
http://www.PremierBike.com
http://www.PositionOneSports.com

Does anyone know when these parts will be available. My Felt dealer says there are still waiting on a email from Felt. I have New Orleans 70.3 coming up next month and I really don't want to do it on my road bike.

Brakes were recalled? How do we find out more information on that? I have an IA4...

I'm not sure it was an official recall as much as it was a "sorry, these are terrible. We'll pay for the parts and labor"

Though I'm not sure..

Which brake was it?

Both of them.

You know you have the "old ones" if they are black. The new ones are a pewter color.

So you bought a 4K bicycle and are not contacted about 'brake issues'?

Honestly, I' really want to just buy a frame, as apparently all manufacturers can even do is vouch for a frameset....

At least this way I know I am responsible , if a part performs substandard or not at all.

FYI

Just got my second set of J2 bars after both have snapped...

In my case I bought what retailed as an 11k bicycle and wasn't contracted about the brakes. To be fair, they were not recalled and were never a safety issue. The problem was if they got dirty they would get stuck closed. Once I had the issue and contacted FELT they were very helpful and got the products to my dealer and then to me fairly quickly.

My only frustration with the process was that I knew about the brake issue when I purchased the bike and specifically mentioned it to FELT. They assured me I had the new brakes and assured my FELT dealer who was assembling the bike. It wasn't until the issue came up 8 months later that I contacted FELT and said "WTF?" They then had me take the brakes apart and give them the serial numbers. It was then that they realized that I had somehow been given the old brakes.

Wait...the new ones are snapping now?

No the J2 is the old original bracket.

Check out Dan's feature

http://www.slowtwitch.com/...listening__6413.html

Wtf ... this probably deserves it's own thread then. Any photos?

Not sure I still have broken bar.

First time I bought replacement from tris ports
come as everyone in UK was charging £40+.

The 2nd bar only lasted a few months and was bent before snapping.

Original bar is years old.

Both are used as clip ons on road bike so taken on and off a bit.

Second set I managed to get sent back to distributor as a warranty replacement.

Not sure which bars you're talking about ... I'm using the bayonet base bar woth the j2 bracket kit

http://www.profile-design.com/...ries/j2-bracket-kit/

I bought my IA a couple weeks before this thread started. After I read it I contacted my LBS about the clamps, they contacted Felt who sent out the replacement or upgraded clamps. So far I really like the bike.

I saw this on a IA 16 yesterday.

I received my new brackets last weekend and installed them this week. They look much improved. I will send a pic when I get a chance.

Great, hopefully mine show up soon.

Happy to report that Felt have sent replacement brakes and brackets :)

Once again, I have to say I'm impressed with Felt service levels.

I went to LBS and they contacted Felt, new brackets shipped that day. Have installed them and happy with Felt’s response as well as the LBS, Bike Therapy, which is a new shop in Morgan Hill.

Mine took a few weeks, but I got mine also.

Interesting...no instructions though and they are quite different.

They have updated their manual, which is online


http://www.feltbicycles.com/...s/Bayonet3_Alloy.pdf