Felt B16

As a triathlon coach and certified bike fitter I am always looking at bikes. As a rider of- and recommender of bikes, I pay attention to where the best value and bang-for-your-buck lies in the spectrum of price points. And this brings me to the Felt B16:





As described by Dan Empfield on Slowtwitch.com:

"The price Felt hits with the B16 is $1999, the same as QR's Seduza, and this is a discount from last year's MSRP of $2300 for this bike. Few if any all-carbon complete tri bikes come in underneath that price....As a consumer, I'm always drawn to that place in a company's lineup where they're really straining to make a margin—where the company's bean counters wince as they look at how much money they're not making on an item, and just shrug their shoulders and say, "We'll make back our margin on the other models." That's the soft spot where, as a consumer, I figure I'll get my best value. If I was to guess, I'd say the B16 is that soft spot. This might be the most Felt for the least dollars. Full review here.

If I was wanting to get on a tri bike in 2010 and on a limited budget, I would take a long, hard look at this bike. Come to think of it, I would probably get on one and ride it around the parking lot. This bike has everything you want, and nothing you don't want. It has the "steep" triathlon geometry, carbon aero frame, and hidden rear brakeset.

My next temptation would be to swap out some 105 for Ultegra parts, maybe upgrade the saddle. But now it is starting to look like a B12 or B2, and pretty quickly swells to the $3K+ price point. As a bike fitter I am always conscious if the stock aerobars are adjustable enough to get you into a good fit position. Work with your fitter to make sure you can get dialed in, or swap out the OE bars for something by Profile Design which will get you into a comfortable position.

You can explore the full line of Felt bikes--as well as the other tri-specific brands of Quintana Roo and Cervelo--at ACME Multisports.