http://aerogeeks.com/…-ia-disc-first-look/
https://www.instagram.com/…;igshid=qs6ozwfrlb74
https://feltbicycles.com/collections/ia
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Beat me by a smidge…
https://bikerumor.com/...ue-its-winning-ways/
With optimization of the rear triangle as well, the new frame will clear 28mm tires on most rims. There’s a possibility of running even larger rubber, but Felt says riders will do so at their own risk.
I wish they’d just give us a measured width dimension. When I read 28mm… does that mean a 28mm GP4000 SII on a Jet+ rim?
Finally!!! A company takes an already great bike and mainly just adds discs!! No need to totally go off the reservation if the bike is already fast and awesome. I love it.
Nice looking bike!
I agree. My $0.02 though, the Cervelo P-4-5 appears to be the winner from the photos I’ve seen of it.
Gonna be much more expensive than the lower end Felt IA disc tho right?
No idea… I’m not holding out much hope for it being cheap though.
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I dig it!
I have been watching for this news daily! Full disclosure, the IA is close to my heart.
The good:
i like the looks of the old ia, and verly little apprears to have changed. there is no question it is the bike to beat at higher yaw angles of wind, and for less powerful riders (the rest of us).
Wider tires should help reduce rolling resistance, but at what cost to low yaw drag? Either way, might be a good option for “the rest of us†to increase comfort in training, and less than perfect roads. It sounds like you can stuff 30mm (measured) tires with a breath of clearance.
Nice to see bikes at more human price points starting next month. And the old rim braked bikes, and some nice race wheelsets should make the rim braked bikes more affordable to “the rest of us†once people upgrade and put their old gear on the used market.
The bad:
Maybe it is just me, but i do feel not much was done to alter the bike aside from adding discs. Yeah i get that the fork and rear chainstay design had to be altered, but visually, aerodynamically, not much has changed. How do you beat the old hidden rim brakes on the arro front? The discs may make a mess of the high yaw aero.
Just personal, but i like the look of the stormtrooper bike, but i like the naked textreme. The ia1 frame is a looker, but tough to stomach when 700$ gets you some training wheels and a di2 groupset.
Now… do the bars have the same adjustability/compatability issues as the old iax series?
Finally, they hint at better aero, but how much better? Like specialized, i figure if they made a competition beating rockwt ship… they would be all over it. In marketing They did not, so i think thay are happy with mild improvements, or neutralizinf/minizing losses due to disc brakes. Show me the data!!!
Disc brakes are a bit of a tough marketing job. More weight, more cost, worse aero, or and you need to buy a new wheelset. Better braking yup, but at what cost in a triathalon? A crit, maybe brakes gains are worth it, or big descents, but in triathalon, if you use tour brakes you are losing… hahah. Exaggeration, but you get the drift.
The thicker through axles will allow stiffer wheels, but also force larger, less aero hubs as i understand.
Where some of the gains will need to happen will be in the wheels where the rim brake track will no longer limit design. Those are mostly high yaugh gains though, but that is right up the IA’s alley.
Aero Geeks said the 28mm width per ISO standards which means 4mm on either side of the fork. 30 maybe even 32 would fit, as measured.
A disc design seems to Improve the shape of the fork crown, so I would expect an aero improvement there. Higher spoke count and nasty hub shape are definitely a negative. My guess is peak aero still holds because the savings and losses are offset.
I am still a rim brake fan, but you can’t discount how crappy my minimalist 3T brake levers are on my TT bike and the shitty-ness of most carbon brake tracks. Disc brakes address these issues so I won’t argue for the superiority of rim brakes. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Always could be worse, they could have destroyed their bike like Specialized…
Looks like the old one but with disc breaks…
A disc design seems to Improve the shape of the fork crown, so I would expect an aero improvement there. Higher spoke count and nasty hub shape are definitely a negative. My guess is peak aero still holds because the savings and losses are offset.
I am still a rim brake fan, but you can’t discount how crappy my minimalist 3T brake levers are on my TT bike and the shitty-ness of most carbon brake tracks. Disc brakes address these issues so I won’t argue for the superiority of rim brakes. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Roval mitigates some of the downsides to discs with their wheels: asymmetrical lacing and 21 spokes reduces the aero hit. Their AeroAF hubs are, honestly, the same size as the hubs on my 404 NSW wheels.
The bad:
Maybe it is just me, but i do feel not much was done to alter the bike aside from adding discs. Yeah i get that the fork and rear chainstay design had to be altered, but visually, aerodynamically, not much has changed. How do you beat the old hidden rim brakes on the arro front? The discs may make a mess of the high yaw aero.
My friend at Felt told me that the actual plan is to release a complete new designed IA next year in Kona. But since every single bike brand is currently upgrading their bikes to disc brakes Felt didn´t want to miss out on this.
Until they will release the new bike next year they came up with the current design and added disc brakes to it as an interim solution.
Always nice to have a pro posting 
Thanks for the shots, the bike looks epic. New Wattie Ink kit isnt too bad either.
The bad:
Maybe it is just me, but i do feel not much was done to alter the bike aside from adding discs. Yeah i get that the fork and rear chainstay design had to be altered, but visually, aerodynamically, not much has changed. How do you beat the old hidden rim brakes on the arro front? The discs may make a mess of the high yaw aero.
My friend at Felt told me that the actual plan is to release a complete new designed IA next year in Kona. But since every single bike brand is currently upgrading their bikes to disc brakes Felt didn´t want to miss out on this.
Until they will release the new bike next year they came up with the current design and added disc brakes to it as an interim solution.
That makes sense, as the ia and ar are badly due for an upgrade.
The bad:
Maybe it is just me, but i do feel not much was done to alter the bike aside from adding discs. Yeah i get that the fork and rear chainstay design had to be altered, but visually, aerodynamically, not much has changed. How do you beat the old hidden rim brakes on the arro front? The discs may make a mess of the high yaw aero.
My friend at Felt told me that the actual plan is to release a complete new designed IA next year in Kona. But since every single bike brand is currently upgrading their bikes to disc brakes Felt didn´t want to miss out on this.
Until they will release the new bike next year they came up with the current design and added disc brakes to it as an interim solution.
That makes sense, as the ia and ar are badly due for an upgrade.
The AR for sure…the IA, I dont agree.