And there are no plans to sell the aluminum version in the US?

--Gene

There are no AR15 models ordered for the North American market today but the reaction to the product launch at Eurobike has stirred interest in this model. Today just Europe and Japan have jumped on this model.

-Dave

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

As a current CAAD10 owner and pending Allez owner, count me among the interested.

--Gene

Originally I wasn't too thrilled about a -17 degree stem on my road bike but I've grown accustomed to the look and actually like the result.

My F1 (with PRO stem) and my AR1 with Ritchey's -17 to achieve the same brake hood position:

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Dave,

Sorry if you already answered this but what's the difference between AR FRD and AR1 frames? Is it that FRD is for electronic shifting only or more? And can the 1 be set up for either?

Funny how things come around. For the longest time I thought the "aHeadSet" was wonky and to much mountain bike for my taste. Of course at the time I was running a -17 AL Cinelli Quill stem. Now that head tubes are getting back to where they used to be the -17 stems are coming back around. I personally like the look myself.

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Heath Dotson
HD Coaching:Website |Twitter: 140 Characters or Less|Facebook:Follow us on Facebook

Dave-
Did the 3T Integra Stem that is spec'ed on the AR FRD actually show a difference in the tunnel or was there another reason for specc'ing it?

p.s. I have to admit I am a little jealous of the wheels that say "PROTOTYPE".

As shown you would need to look at a slightly longer reach bar (or shorter reach + longer stem) to match the hoods reach with either AR size. 54 AR would need a shorter stem as the extra stack hides longer reach.


Both AR sizes have essentially the same front centre as your Addict, so the toe overlap won't be any different.
Both have steeper HTA.
The Trail on the 51 is uncommonly short on that size bike and you would likely find the handling a lot quicker than you're used to. From that perspective it may be better to go with the 54, which is still going to be sharper than the Addict but to a lesser degree.
Flattening the stem and having a longer HT should improve aerodynamics (a + for the 54)


The BB Drop on the Felts will not cause any issues with whatever crank length you like. Shorter cranks on smaller bikes are based on assumed shorter legs, though as a consequence some manufacturers lower the BB on the smaller bikes.

The AR FRD and AR1 frames come from two different molds and two different carbon fiber lay ups.
The AR FRD represents the industries first use of Oxeon's TeXtreme material in a frame lay up. This incredibly strong material allows a drastic reduction in the material needed for strength. Only Campagnolo and Shimano have released products will this technology and it is only available today in their disc wheels. You'll see it used on dozens of brands in the coming years. It is a huge step forward owed to the patented process for creating the 76gsm fabric itself.

The AR1 use a mix of our UHC Ultimate and UHC Advanced carbon fibers which are then covered by Toray's 1k fabric weave for impact strength. Using 3sqm of 100gsm 1k vs. 3sqm of 76gsm TeXtreme yeilds much of the weight difference of the two frames. The AR1 mold then adds ~30g of internal patches of reinforcements at the mechanical cable entry and exit points and uses a much larger access hole in the BB for a nylon injected cable guide or junction box cover.

The FRD road models are compatible with the current electronic systems on the market from Shimano (Di2), Campagnolo (EPS) and Tiso and should work with the hydraullic shifting systems with yet-to-be-developed cable guides.
The AR1 has the same convertible cable guides that our Z, ZW, and Virtue9 bicycles use although the AR1 would still be routed through the top of the top tube if run with electronically controlled shifting as you see in my photo above. There is no need to run the wire to the downtube as it is routed on our Z and ZW models. Both the AR FRD and AR1 feature a clever integrated 2 gram BTR-2 Di2 internal battery holder.

Even the frame of the AR5 from 2014 is ~8% lighter, 30% stiffer and 25% more aerodynamic in a -20/0/20 sweep than the previous generation AR1. Today you can buy a complete AR5 for $2500 which is a better frame from every metric available than last year's $3000 AR1 frameset (!)

We'll have the demo truck through NorCal with AR4 models later this fall if you're interested in an extended test flight.

-SD

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

On all models except the AR FRD the headset features a super low 4mm cover along with a removable yet integrated +16mm cone washer for a net 20mm headset stack with the option of going down to just 4mm. This is a feaure we've used on the TT/Tri bikes for some time and just developed in 2014 for our AeroTaper 1.125" --> 1.25" AR frames.


Regards,
SD

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

Thanks for the detailed reply. You going to be at Interbike? I'm hoping <planning> on an extended test flight for all of 2014.

I'll be there at Dirt Demo and all 3 days of the show. You racing the CrossVegas or the Industry Crit or USA ProCrit series events?
-SD

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

Dave, went do you expect the AR to be available in the US? I just put my down payment on my AR4 last week and cant wait to get it.

Thanks for the great bike

Thank you for your business. I can guess when your AR4 might ship but your dealer is going to have a more accurate date based on what size you ordered, when they ordered it, and other business-to-business related details.

If you'd like to give me the details of what size and who/when you ordered the bike, I can ask about delivery allocation.

It is possible that the first production of the AR4 is already sold out in some sizes so the September production would go to customers who placed orders prior to last week. In that case, the October shipment would be the next batch available.

-SD

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

Just the show with a client, no racing for me. I'll stop by to say hi and drool over new bikes

Dave,

I ordered the Ar4 Size 51cm from Zion Cyclery. I gave them a down payment on Friday, August 30th if that helps you out.

Thanks

Good news, based on current backorders for 51cm, we should be able to fulfill his order from the first shipment of bikes. The current production is scheduled for the end of October. With ocean transit times I'd expect it before December.

-Dave

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

What an impressive spreadsheet! Way superior to mine. I would probably upgrade the handlebar to a Zipp Vukasprint, which I used on my old bike, in order to save a few watts. That would change a few mm.

Does anybody know what the drag penalty is for the mechanical set-up versus the electronic? Do the cables running to the down-tube spoil airflow in any significant way? It is tempting, otherwise, to opt for the AR4 instead of AR2 given that the price difference is large and that one might want to replace the wheels anyway.

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The best beer is the one in front of you

Is the aero bottle + standard bottle combo deliberate?

Hypothesis: I understand that the way that the air flow HITS an object is less important than the way that it LEAVES it, because the expensive turbulence arises when air leaves an object. So the thinner aero bottle should be on the down tube and the round bottle better on the seat tube. Or, you simply had just this particular set of bottles and for no particular reason they ended up this way on the photo?

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The best beer is the one in front of you

I put the bottles on that way to stir the pot. Find a pair of Elite aero water bottles & cages if you want the fastest (tested) set up.
-SD

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

Velonews has done tests over the past couple of years in the NC wind tunnel & at a lab in Boulder? The Giant Propel is the fastest aero road bike frame to date (faster than S5) at all yaw angles and for stiffness (Cervelo noodle). In the past, the S5 was the most aero and the Scott Foil was stiffest but gave up aero. The new Felt looks like it is going for all around and comfort. Will be interesting. If the bike fits, pretty hard to go wrong with anything these days. You are always trading something off. Categories aero, comfort or weight. You can get one or a mix.

What is scary and I can't explain this...but of the five engineers I have known in my life, four of them could not assemble a bike/bike car rack??? Which is why if a bike is solely developed by an engineer it makes me nervous.

Is there a link anywhere to this Velonews test? I can find the original test where the S5 came out on top aerodynamically, but not the more recent test.

>four of them could not assemble a bike/bike car rack???

Assembly is for techs and mechanics!

Dave, is the frame compatible with internal batteries for di 2 & eps?