One concern is the hidden brake of the AR…I had a DA as my TT bike and that brake was a pain to work with. Is the hidden brake on the AR the same design?
It’s honestly a borderline deal breaker for the AR. I have thought hard about selling mine for that reason alone. It’s really tough to make it not rub. Felt denies this is an issue. In my opinion it’s the result of a) an overly stiff frame that doesn’t flex at all in the stays b) poor brake placement.
Nevermind that it’s a nightmare to access and work on. Go with the S5 – no nonsense, brake on the seat stays, etc. – and I say this as a Felt diehard.
That said, the better idea is to just wait for whatever Premier Bike comes out with
Well, to be fair to Felt, it’s partially “b.)”, but is really a function of rear wheel lateral stiffness. Look at this plot from Damon Rinard’s wheel stiffness data hosted on Sheldon Brown’s website:
What you’re looking at is lateral displacement measurements of a rim for a given lateral load. Zero degrees is the location of the load application, and look at what happens with the very flexible wheels at 90 degrees from the loading (this would represent the ~location of a chainstay mounted brake with the lateral load applied at the contact patch). Aside from the deflection at the contact patch, the greatest lateral displacement occurs at the 90 degree point, in a direction opposit the load direction. The rim is taking the classic “taco” shape in response to the load, and it is significantly greater on the more flexible wheels. You can also see that at the location where a brake is typically mounted on the seat stays (~120-150 deg) that deflection has reduced on the more flexible wheels, and is basically “flat” (i.e. ~same as 90 deg point) on the more laterally stiff wheels. Interestingly, on some of the stiffest wheels, the lateral deflection is actually slightly GREATER at the seat stay mounted brake location than at the chainstay mounted location.
So, in the end, it really is a wheel stiffness, or wheel selection issue. I was aware of this when designing/spec’ing my Stinner, but I chose the chainstay location anyway for other reasons (cable routing, aerodynamics, and aesthetics…in that order). The only rear wheel I can get to rub on there is my Hed Jet+ 6, which has a mere 24 spokes, and a relatively low-profile aluminum rim under the cap. I sometimes wish I’d gotten the “stallion build” version that has 28 spokes. All other wheels I’ve ridden in there have been at least 28 spokes, and there hasn’t been rubbing on any of them.
So yes, the issue can be exacerbated by the brake placement, but it’s really a wheel lateral stiffness problem.
That said, if I didn’t build my own “Aero Camino”, I most likely would’ve seriously considered the Trek Madone as a replacement for my stolen S5…and this is coming from a guy who has ridden Cervelo aero road bikes since 2004. Just another option for the OP
