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Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike
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Well, I posted up on Slowtwitch and the local Chapel Hill bike group areas asking if anyone had essentially a "bin job" time trial frame. Not something like shrapnel of carbon in a bucket, but maybe something that was a 5 to 10 year old frame with the components picked off of it.


A guy in CH responded "have one for free, come get it". I looked up the frame before driving out, legit frame. Went to get it, needs work, but nothing un-manageable at all. He rode it as-is for quite a while. I never would have.


Basically it's a 2008 Felt DA with bayonet fork. Also gave me an HED base bar and a pretty run of the mill 105 crank with a used Rotor Q ring.

Lots to do on the to-do list. Disassemble and clean the fork/headset and see if it needs a new bearing. New threaded BB bearings. Fix the carbon with my leftover repair stuff. Run cabling and acquire brakes. I'll try to find an OEM spec sheet so I can buy the correct rear brake.


Base bar is really nice, but, may prove problematic given it's out of production and needs the clamps for the skis. They're a weird part. I could borrow time on the BIL's milling machine and mill out a pair of clamps for about $15 in material I guess, then use the skis from my current TT clip on's.


So, here it is:








Sand/cut out the rot, put on new, wait to cure. I can see why you sand out so far. While you're teasing the fabric and resin onto the part it's not a super tidy affair. This repair will be solid, I did a patch on the spot and 3x wrap around. However, I think the edges on this one will be a bit uglier than my other repair job I've done. That job got painted anyway.

This is a fun project given the low investment. When you've dumped thousands into a brand new bike you feel really apprehensive messing with things too much. This thing? Nope. Of course I'm not going to get all ham fisted with it.

I'm probably going to get a Wheelbuilder disc cover for my spare wheels and a Superteam tri-spoke on the front. Yes, a superteam. It's a budget build. If I can find a 10 speed rear disc cheap I'll do that instead of the cover.

Next task is fabbing up attaching my skis/pads to the HED base bar. Can't decide if I want to fab a bracket or just drill the base bar. The bar is huge, and solid. It is not hollow, it's a pretty heavy hunk of carbon for what it is. There "may" be room beside the stem for the original clip on clamps, but I'd have to maybe shave a tiny bit from the clamps to fit them.

I'll likely try that first as it is less destructive.

Original:


Cut out, mostly:



While that's going on, I wet sanded the fork with some 2000 grit and threw on a new coat of clear. Once dry it won't be that glossy, to more closely match OEM, but this is kinda how it'll look.



I'll post progress pics as things happen.




Last edited by: burnthesheep: Nov 16, 18 11:25
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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I dig it. keep it coming.

USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [Once-a-miler] [ In reply to ]
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The carbon repair is looking good, photos once I do a little bit of cosmetic layer of carbon over the repair spot.

The basebar......yeah, I'm not about to hunt for those ugly clamps. I made this work instead. I mounted this in the extra little piece of wing section on the back near where the original clamp had the pads.

I dig it.

The "Stan's Special" HED basebar:





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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Finished the carbon repair yesterday/today. I laid one extra layer for cosmetic purposes and got it sanded down nicely. I use a pretty conservative grit at the expense of more time to avoid any mistakes. Owning a random orbital DA helps a lot too.

Probably about the best I could do at that as an amateur.


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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Hey. Oddly enough I am also in Chapel Hill and I think I have the same frame that I am building into a single speeder. I have a box of different length stems that I don't need if you want them. Maybe some other parts. DM me if interested.

Don't drown. Don't crash. Don't walk.
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [rotosound] [ In reply to ]
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rotosound wrote:
Hey. Oddly enough I am also in Chapel Hill and I think I have the same frame that I am building into a single speeder. I have a box of different length stems that I don't need if you want them. Maybe some other parts. DM me if interested.

It may be user error on my part, but when I click on your username to send a message the option isn't available. I messaged a guy the other day about some parts, so know I'm looking in the right spot.

But sure, once I'm on it I'll see if a different stem is needed for fit.


Otherwise, lots of progress, but waiting on the "money shot" photos once I finish tonight. Running cables was made easy by the ingenious Felt internal pathways. It was a bit difficult deciding how to terminate the rear brake cable. It's such a short distance from the brake end to the cable inlet on the frame that the cable housing doesn't flex easy enough to allow smooth caliper movement.

I ended up mounting the flexy end of the cable that would go under bar tape for a drop bar bike on that end. Worked.

I need to adjust the set screw on the dropout position for the rear wheel. Otherwise, shifting appears it will work once a chain is on it.

I went with 11spd so I can swap the wheelset between this bike and the road bike. I'll also use the road bike saddle for now. Cost consciousness.

If the test rides go well, I'll be after a used front tri-spoke and rear disc for it. It's meant to be a 1 hour and less rocket ship, not a 4 hour ride luxury barge. Probably even 1/2 hour and less seat time.

I'm a bit concerned about why an original owner had the chain scar in the first place. I repaired that nicely, but want to prevent any future issues. It really looked like a chain suck up into the stay, not a drop into the inside. Nothing a preventive black zip-tie can't help. But still.
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Presenting the finished product..................black dynamite.


No test rides yet to setup anything position wise. Pads are about 5" below seat. I took the pics sitting on the floor looking upwards.


I'm going to buy top tube bag (bento box?) for training rides only so I can do longer test rides in the skinsuit.


Specs:
2008 Felt DA, Bayonet SL fork
Giant PSLR wheels
54t big ring
Older HED basebar custom adopted to my pads/skis
Mechanical 11spd Shimano
Just some used 105 derailleurs, probably 1x setup eventually (50T compact for training rides, and 54/56T for TT)
Some old Giant seat I had in the closet for now
No Gators, shame on you all training on Gators.......GP4000's to train, Conti TT's to race






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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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I'm concerned about the carbon repair you did. Especially after sanding, that was a pretty large damaged region on a highly strained area of the frame. At the very least, I'd avoid riding it on the trainer if I were you. Do you have any experience in repairs? Should be a fast ride though, nice work on the budget build.
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Interesting project.

What made you decide the frame was road-worthy? Reason I'm asking is that I have a 2010 old Slice frame which I was riding when I crashed really bad in 2011. Local Cannondale dealer recommended that I didn't ride it anymore, due to liability concerns. I can't see anything wrong with it; as far as I'm concerned *I* took the brunt of that crash, and my shitty front wheel took a bit. The frame looks pristine.

Nonetheless, I retired it - stripped it, cannibalized the parts by selling them or giving them to friends, or threw them in a box, and I hung the frame on my rec room wall. Now, just recently I became a bit concerned about all the Zwift sweat corroding my good TT bike away, and I looked at that Slice frame and thought that it would be a nice project to built that up to a trainer bike. So I took it down from the wall, and had a good look, and I still can't see anything.

So - you think I should just build it up, see how it works on the trainer, and if I like it and it doesn't creak, maybe take it outside as well? The ultimate goal would be that I have a friend who I think would fit it very well but who doesn't have a lot of money, and I like helping friends. But I don't like seeing friends crash and burn...

Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [imswimmer328] [ In reply to ]
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imswimmer328 wrote:
I'm concerned about the carbon repair you did. Especially after sanding, that was a pretty large damaged region on a highly strained area of the frame. At the very least, I'd avoid riding it on the trainer if I were you. Do you have any experience in repairs? Should be a fast ride though, nice work on the budget build.


Yes, not the first repair job I've done. You build up the new carbon well outside of the repair area and utilize more layers than original.

I won't use it on the trainer. I use my cheap cyclocross bike on that.

Some would be shocked to know that lots of parts of modern aircraft are now carbon fiber. And, this is the same way they repair the jet you're flying on with a hundred other people at 35k feet in the air! (probably a little more sterile and exact process than the bike repair)

If you're interested, minus the vacuum bag, this is pretty much how I do it: instead of the vac bag, I use the tape/shrink method
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGizZnhV8I


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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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First real ride sucked. Very windy, low power. Threw it on the trainer to baseline drivetrain loss difference versus the roadie. Was actually 8w better.

Then checked front brake and looked it was rubbing a tiny bit from throwing the wheel on.

Idiot.

Well, looking forward to the next blast.
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Acquired some TT specific wheels. I converted the Renn disc to 11spd yesterday. I'm stretching out a tub on it right now before gluing it. HED 3c on the front.


Once all the tubs and spares are bought, stretched, glued and in waiting........I'll try a ride with the TT race wheels.



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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Ok,

How did you attach the arm rests and extensions to that base bar?

Cheers,
Maurice
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [mauricemaher] [ In reply to ]
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mauricemaher wrote:
Ok,

How did you attach the arm rests and extensions to that base bar?

Cheers,
Maurice

People won't like it, but I drilled the basebar. I found the original extensions somewhere online on a forum used, but they were so damn impractical and people also complained a lot about how they moved/slid and didn't like them.

I took my few years old basic set of Profile clip-ons and lined up the mounting holes and marked them. I then pre-drilled and stepped up the bit very slowly in size. Once done, I had some leftover carbon building/repair resin/hardener that I put a little bit in the drilled out hole.

I then mounted the cups to the original mount using longer bolts going through those two holes to screw into the original clip-ons mounting piece. The extensions/skis utilize the original clip-on mounting point it would as if you clamped them to a normal base-bar or drop bar bike.

The basebar has a LOT of material across the front side so am accepting what I've done here.

I can't claim the idea as original. Someone else I found on a forum in the UK had done a similar thing to the same basebar at some point and rode it a long time until upgrading to some crazy nice basebar.

I'll probably upgrade from that bar next year sometime anyway once budget allows.

For now, the cups have the several original holes you can use for fore/aft adjustment. I like the narrow/wide where it is.
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Once you take this to 1x, will you (or can you) remove the FD hanger entirely?
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [davetallo] [ In reply to ]
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davetallo wrote:
Once you take this to 1x, will you (or can you) remove the FD hanger entirely?

For now, it is 2x.

The hanger is permanent to the frame. My idea there is to keep it, keep the cable ran and tape the wire to the frame, keep the shifter, but if for a while I want to try it just take it off and swap on a narrow-wide 1x chainring. Then buy some phenolic and "whittle" an aero shaped teardrop I can screw to it like the piece in the FD that is threaded.

I'd still assume even with hanger, the loss of the FD and inner ring is still a couple watts. Maybe 2.

I think me keeping a spare cheap used crank with the 1x ring would be better to gain ditching the aero loss of the 2nd chainring also. But, that's just a cost/labor or laziness thing.

Actually, next priority other than gluing the stretched tubs is to acquire a used split nose saddle. Setup as-is from my "fit" topic about this bike is not UCI friendly and the saddle and bars are too forward.

So, I need to get a Tritone/ISM/Mistica and get the distance right so I can utilize the morphological exemption on the cockpit instead.

I've kind of moved from the build topic now to the fit topic with my videos. I need to adjust the position a tad, ride, and take a new video.

I rode it the other day and the reach isn't super fun, if aero (and probably not UCI legal).
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Re: Free Felt 2008 DA frameset buildup, budget TT bike [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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keep an eye on that seat clamp, there was a tendency for them and/or the carbon underneath them to crack. if you have seat height set and it cracks, you can permanently bond the post in place(provided you never plan to change saddles)
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