Felt IA fit woes - New bike.

Oct 22, 16 13:36

Post #1 of 19 (2880 views)

Having just sold my Speedmax CF, I am now in the market for a new bike.
Really, for me it is between the IA 1 and an IA 10 frame set.

As I intend to build a bike with eTap, and I like the IA 1, then I'm considering the full build on that. Only main swap would be to install a P2M Rotor crank.
To buy the IA 10 frame would allow me to build a very similar bike, without the hassle of swapping a couple of bits out...

After inputting my data in the Felt frame fit spreadsheet, it came up with a 'Best Fit' of 51, seconded by a 48.
This was expected as I had a Small Speedmax, but wanted to lower my stack further, but couldn't.

Today, I went to my LBS, who had a 54 in stock. I appreciate that this was too big, but wanted to get on it, to get a rough idea of fit, to then compare dimensions with the smaller sizes.
I was then quite shocked to sit on the bike (in a turbo) and find that it felt short, to me! I appreciate I'd need to drop the arm pads a fair bit, as they had around 40mm of spacers below, but still...
I'd hate to get the 48 and then have to ram the saddle right to the back, then not be able to put power down!
The shop are trying to get the 51/ 48 models in for me to demo, but in the mean time I thought I'd seek some advice from the knowledgeable ST forum.

My stats, form my last fit are:

Pad reach (centre) 456mm.
Pad stack (centre) 585mm.
Saddle height (170mm cranks) 728mm.
My height 169cm.

TIA...

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [hopper1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 22, 16 13:40

Post #2 of 19 (2872 views)

You should buy the 51

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [PubliusValerius] [ In reply to ]

Oct 22, 16 13:49

Post #3 of 19 (2853 views)

Yes, that comes out on top of their fit spreadsheet. But, the 48 would allow are to go lower, if I wanted...
Having said that, I am going to change crank size to 155mm, which raises my saddle, so having a similar effect to lowering the front!...

Cheers.

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [hopper1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 22, 16 13:51

Post #4 of 19 (2849 views)

The 51 IA goes down to 565...The IAx 51 will allow you to go even lower (~545) with the right after market bar

It's not even a question you're a 51

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [PubliusValerius] [ In reply to ]

Oct 22, 16 13:56

Post #5 of 19 (2843 views)

Thank you... That clears that up.

Much appreciated.

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [hopper1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 22, 16 18:13

Post #6 of 19 (2672 views)

We have found the spreadsheet inaccurate for the IA 1. We have found it pretty accurate for the IA 10.

The IA 1 in a 51 sets up about 15 mm off from where the recommendations are. So a "slammed" position (5 mm armpad spacers) will come out to +15 in the tool.

We have measured over and over (manually and with retul zin) and get the same results. Felt disagrees with us, so take it as you will.

Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [hopper1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 22, 16 19:48

Post #7 of 19 (2594 views)

Thanks for posting. I have virtually the exact same size/fit coordinates, within about 5mm, except my saddle height is I think just under 720mm. I am currently on a XS Argon 18 and want to switch into an IA10/51cm. I've messed around a lot with Felt's spreadsheet and started playing with Zipp's Vuka fit tool as well - surprisingly the latter is recommending either a medium or a large Vuka Stealth, which I find strange. I'm also currently riding 170mm cranks and want to go to 165mm when I eventually upgrade.

What saddle are you riding, and do you plan to keep the stock front end?

Last edited by: jeremyebrock: Oct 22, 16 19:49

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [jeremyebrock] [ In reply to ]

Oct 23, 16 0:22

Post #8 of 19 (2478 views)

The plot thickens!...
I'm riding on a Specialized Sitero.
I'm considering the Tririg Alpha X front end.

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [hopper1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 23, 16 0:52

Post #9 of 19 (2461 views)

The Alpha X was my initial choice too. I'm sure it will be awesome. Tons of fit options and from what I remember, the Sigma stem/Alpha X fits perfectly on the steerer tube as a replacement for the stock Felt stem. (I don't even know if the Vuka Stealth is compatible, now that I think about it).

Last edited by: jeremyebrock: Oct 23, 16 1:30

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [jeremyebrock] [ In reply to ]

Oct 23, 16 1:00

Post #10 of 19 (2454 views)

Well, you'd better qualify that... Could be an expensive error!

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [hopper1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 23, 16 1:31

Post #11 of 19 (2441 views)

Indeed it would be! Just spent some time digging through other threads and I believe the frame set comes with a longer steerer, vs. the IA10 complete bike which only fits the Felt and tririg stems.

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [jeremyebrock] [ In reply to ]

Oct 23, 16 1:54

Post #12 of 19 (2430 views)

There's an IA 10 in my LBS that has an uncut steerer.

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [trentnix] [ In reply to ]

Oct 23, 16 14:26

Post #13 of 19 (2262 views)

trentnix wrote:

We have found the spreadsheet inaccurate for the IA 1. We have found it pretty accurate for the IA 10.

The IA 1 in a 51 sets up about 15 mm off from where the recommendations are. So a "slammed" position (5 mm armpad spacers) will come out to +15 in the tool.

We have measured over and over (manually and with retul zin) and get the same results. Felt disagrees with us, so take it as you will.

So, you are saying that the actual AI 51 stack would be 15mm higher than the spreadsheet says?...

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [hopper1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 23, 16 14:28

Post #14 of 19 (2258 views)

The opposite. You'll need to set up the IA 15 mm lower than what it says. Sorry if what I said earlier was unclear.

Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [trentnix] [ In reply to ]

Oct 23, 16 14:39

Post #15 of 19 (2238 views)

trentnix wrote:

The opposite. You'll need to set up the IA 15 mm lower than what it says. Sorry if what I said earlier was unclear.

Ok, that should be ok, as long as I can get to my required stack, by using pad spacer to raise to my dimensions.

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [trentnix] [ In reply to ]

Oct 24, 16 12:31

Post #16 of 19 (2035 views)

Trent, agree with you. We have the same issue. We have had IA's set up in a way that was not possible according to the calculations from the spreadsheet but there was no argument since we had the bikes in front of us,

Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [trentnix] [ In reply to ]

Oct 27, 16 12:04

Post #17 of 19 (1850 views)

Ive just come across this, in the IA owners manual!... Puts the 51cm IA almost at the limit for my stack, at it's lowest measurement!!

I hope that attachment works.

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [hopper1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 27, 16 12:19

Post #18 of 19 (1834 views)

We measured around 590 mm for the minimum stack on an IA in a 51 (top mount) and about 565 mm for an undermount. We put EVO 110s on the undermount and it turned out great.

If you put a 590 armpad stack into the Felt fit tool it will tell you a 51 + 10 + 5 gets you there. That's a 15 mm delta.

Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)

Re: Felt IA fit woes - New bike. [trentnix] [ In reply to ]

Oct 27, 16 12:50

Post #19 of 19 (1795 views)

Pretty close to my Speedmax (small) stack, with aero bars underneath base bar.
Currently using 40 degree D2Z extensions.

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