I just ordered a 2011 Felt B16 and unfortunately won’t get it until mid-September (when the bike shop gets it in). I also have in my possession this aerobar, however I don’t have the armrests. Will the armrests that come on the B16 work on this aerobar, and if they do will they be just as adjustable. If not, will I be able to buy the armrests from Felt directly?
I have a 2011 B14, which have what looks to be the base bars you’ve pictured.
There are a lot of excellent pictures of the B16 in this review:
http://university.tri-sports.com/2010/06/29/2011-felt-b16/
Based on the pictures, you will not be able to use the bayonet bars without doing some cobbling or getting a fit that is very different than that for which the bayonets are designed.
The B16 armrests mount to the extensions.
The B14 armrests mount directly above the base bar, and in fact the bolts holding the armrests in place are the same bolts that hold the extensions in place.
With all that said, the actual forearm cups look very similar, and could in fact, be identical. All you may be missing is two bolts and two aluminum spacers. New bikes come with two sizes of spacers (a short and an even shorter 
). I don’t recall whether or not they come with two length bolts. In any event, if the forearm cups are the same part for the two bars, you will need very little new hardware to complete the bars you have.
Thanks for the response!
So you’re saying the fit of the bayonet basebar will be different?
Thanks for the response!
So you’re saying the fit of the bayonet basebar will be different?
I’m not 100% sure what you are asking, but I will try to answer anyway…
Look at the Bayonet bar you have. See the two holes on each “wing”. Bolts go through the arm pad bases, through a spacer, and into those holes, to both secure the extensions and the arm pad bases. Those two holes run in parallel to the stem and perpendicular to the base bar.
Look at the picture of B16 bars. The two holes holding the arm pads run perpendicular to the stem and parallel to the base bar. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the arm pads are different, since, if I recall correctly the base is composed of a 4x4 grid of holes. They will just “fit” differently.
Another shot at the answer. Assuming you get some bolt to lock the extensions you have in place, you could mount the brackets with your new arm pads onto the extensions they way they do on the B16. They will just “fit” differently, since the bayonet bar is deeper and you will need to mount the brackets either in front or behind it, while it is designed for them to be over it. The in front of it option works for the B16 since it is designed that way, and the round B16 base bar is not nearly as deep. I don’t know if you can get an acceptable fit as far as reach to both pursuit bars and armpads if you try to go that route. Your best bet is to see if you can get the bolts and spacers to use the bayonet bar as it is designed to be used.
I just ordered a 2011 Felt B16 and unfortunately won’t get it until mid-September (when the bike shop gets it in). I also have in my possession this aerobar, however I don’t have the armrests. Will the armrests that come on the B16 work on this aerobar, and if they do will they be just as adjustable. If not, will I be able to buy the armrests from Felt directly?
Actually, I use the B16 arm rests on my track bike with this base bar. It is possible to use them, not not a direct installation. If you are interested, I can walk you through all the changes that are needed to be made or you can order the correct Bayonet arm rests.
-SD
Haha, I understand you now. I was looking at the pictures and it just wasn’t clicking. Pretty much as long as the base is composed of the 4x4 grid of holes I should be ok.
If you could walk me through it that would great! Although, would it just be easier to pay the money and get the right arm rests? I couldn’t find a price for them anywhere.
If you could walk me through it that would great! Although, would it just be easier to pay the money and get the right arm rests? I couldn’t find a price for them anywhere.
You’ll need to use the mounting bolts from the B16 and get 4 short rear brake nuts from dual pivot brake calipers. These should be available at your LBS pretty cheap.
On the underside of the base bar, install the brake nuts up into the arm rest mounting holes. Run the M6 countersunk bolts that mount the B16 arm rest through the desired spacer height and into the brake nut.
tighten to 7Nm.
I use this set up on the track because I’ve got a very high arm rest height with some custom risers and I’d prefer the M6 bolt to the M5 that comes stock for my 200# size and track use.
If you would like a couple photos I can send those as well.
-SD
If you could send those pictures that would be very helpful. I appreciate it!
Make sure you really stick the pads on with something that will hold. Mine do not stick anymore and the bike is only 2 weeks old (B12)
If you could send those pictures that would be very helpful. I appreciate it!
I’ll need your email address. It isn’t in your profile.
-SD
This is somewhat off topic, but speaking of the B16 arm rests, I was looking at the 2011 B16 link and the aerobar pads definitely caught my eye. I have a 09’ B12 and didn’t have any real problems with the aerobar bads but they’ve kind of gone ‘flat’ after going on 2 years of abuse as could be expected. I ordered a pair of the B2 gel aerobar pads from the Felt site as a replacement and I must say… I was not a fan. I love everything else about my bike, but those pads just seemed awful to me; hard, super slippery when wet, I just couldn’t figure out how those things were greenlit. Friend of mine recently got a 2010 DA and he said the same thing, we both pulled them off and went with CeeGee’s.
Not trying to complain just for the hell of it but rather to offer some constructive criticism, as I alluded to those pads just struck me as atypical for the thought and considertion to details that goes into felt bikes. The ones on the new B16 look different than the previous gel ones, hopefully different in a better way.
If you could send those pictures that would be very helpful. I appreciate it!
I’ll need your email address. It isn’t in your profile.
-SD
Sent it in a message. Sorry about that