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SOC14: Felt Goes 650b with Compulsion, Retro with American Pickers’ Mike Wolfe, & Electric with new LebowskE Fat Bike!

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Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0919

According to the interwebs, to be Enduro you need 650b wheels and something in Enduro blue – and maybe a fanny pack. With the introduction of the Compulsion 27.5, Felt is checking off two of those boxes. Developed in conjunction with their Enduro team, Felt is finally offering a 650b Compulsion which has been tweaked to work with the bigger wheels. Shown above in the top of the line Compulsion 10, the 160mm travel bike will be offered in a few builds with the 10 ranging from $4,999-5,499.

More details plus a collaboration with American Pickers’ Mike Wolfe and big changes to their fat-e bike after the break…

Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0920

Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0921 Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0922

Carrying the Equilink suspension platform forward, the Compulsion 10 runs 160mm travel front and rear through a Rockshox Pike RC fork and Monarch Plus RC3 rear shock with a custom tune. By the numbers the bike runs a 66 degree headtube, 73.7 degree seat tube, and 436mm chainstays and will be sold in 16, 18, 20, and 22″ frames. The frame uses a hydroformed double butted 6061 aluminum front and rear triangle with a tapered head tube, internal dropper routing, threaded 73mm bb, and 142×12 rear axle.

Felt wins the award for best use of an empty front derailleur direct mount with their bottle opener cover. Machined from a piece of aluminum, the clean looking cover adds some functionality to what is becoming a seldom used mount in the world of enduro. Felt has no plans for production of the bottle opener cover, but we think they should – it’s better than just a flat cover.

Available early 2015.

Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0912

Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0917 Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0913

Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0916

Fans of the show American Pickers will be familiar with the fact that Mike Wolfe is a bike nut, but may not know he actually has some deep roots in the industry. According to Felt, he has been a shop owner, a rep, and can now throw bike designer in his repertoire after working with Felt on the limited edition Red Wolfe Cruiser.

After approaching Felt himself to do a collaboration, Mike apparently knew exactly what he wanted his bike to look like from the tires, to the color. The result is the Red Wolfe Cruiser which pays tribute to his Antique Archaeology shop and the number of vintage cruisers that he has found and restored over the years.

Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0915 Felt 650b compulsion disc brake road thru axle cross mike wolf antique archeology20140411_0914

Featuring a hydroformed steel tank frame and a double crown fork, Mike chose 50mm color matched rims laced to a 3 speed Shimano coaster brake hub with 12g stainless spokes, all wrapped in Felt’s 26×2.125 Quick Brick tire. Offered only in red and in an 18″ frame, the cruiser will be limited to 250 pieces and retails for $749.

Felt Lebouske fat e bike electric20140413_0944

Felt Lebouske fat e bike electric20140413_0940 Felt Lebouske fat e bike electric20140413_0943

Felt Lebouske fat e bike electric20140413_0947 Felt Lebouske fat e bike electric20140413_0941

After making a splash with their Fat-E bike at Interbike last year, Felt was back with some big changes to their fat electric bicycle now amusingly called the LebowskE. What’s changed? For starters, instead of an offset 135mm rear end, the bike now uses a 190x12mm rear axle and a 150x15mm front axle – the same standard as the new Rockshox Bluto. While the LebowskE won’t come stock with a Bluto, the frame does feature a headset that will allow for a switch to the suspension fork that accounts for the change in geometry.

Felt Lebouske fat e bike electric20140413_0945

Felt Lebouske fat e bike electric20140413_0948 Felt Lebouske fat e bike electric20140413_0946

The rear end can be designed around a 190mm axle thanks to the fact that the Bosch Power system applies power through the crank rather than a rear hub motor. This also means there is much less rotational weight for a bike that actually pedals somewhat like a normal bike if you remove the battery pack.

Bosch E Fat Bike Felt LebowskE first impressions

First Impressions:

Thanks to the Bosch Happy Hour at Laguna Seca, we had a chance to ride a Felt FatE and while it wasn’t the revised frame, it did give us a pretty good impression of what a Bosch Powered fat bike is like. Blasting around the track at Laguna Seca was fun, but the real test came when I attempted to ride up the corkscrew on the extremely loose runout on the side of the track. The picture doesn’t really do it justice, but it is steep. And Loose. Even with the fat tires, the wheels dug into the loose gravel but I was able to make it to the top. It wasn’t easy, but it was possible unlike the electric mountain bike I attempted it with. So there does seem to be some merit to a fat e bike whether it’s helping you climb super steep, loose slopes, or just providing some extra juice. With that said, the bike is extremely heavy and probably won’t be cheap. Was it fun though? Absolutely.

feltbicycles.com

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Ilikeicedtea
Ilikeicedtea
10 years ago

Boooooooo! More motorcycles on Bikerumor.

walljw
walljw
10 years ago

Get those stupid e-bikes outta here

matt
matt
10 years ago

I agree, enough with the e bikes….

Mike
Mike
10 years ago

Why didn’t you show the LebowskE in action?

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

The real question, Zach, is once you got to the top of the corkscrew, did you turn around, pin the throttle, and drag a knee through that famous set of curves?

wheel-guy
wheel-guy
10 years ago

e-bikes are technically motor-bikes. Please stick to human-powered bikes. Thanks.

LMStuff
LMStuff
10 years ago

I like the e-bike news and all the other MTB and road bike news keep it all coming! Thank you! I have my old 2003 Yeti ASX sitting in the garage gathering dusk all tuned up, polished, lubed, shocks rebuilt and all ready for its Ego-kit! ( http://www.ego-kits.com/ ). I don’t have an extra $3500+ to spend on it right now so it will sit a bit longer. All my biking $$$$ went into my new carbon Enduro. No regrets on the new Enduro ever!! Too bad Ego-Kit wasn’t at Sea Otter this year. They were there last year and I got to ride a Santa Cruz Nomad rigged with one for about 30 minutes. One word – AWESOME! I put it through it paces and overheating it a couple times pushing it hard. It has a safety that kicks in and comes back on in like 30-60 seconds. I learned quickly to shift better and pedal more to avoid the overheating. Lots of torque and wicked speed. I ripped the couch trail out it felt like in less than 15 minutes! Took lots of drops and push it hard all over the slalom mountain around the cork screw area, up and down. I miss my old CR125R but this is way better and so much much lighter. Sure it adds a little weight to your rig and sure its cheating, but riding on the right rig is insane! Its well balanced and you don’t notice added pounds with all the extra power. I would cut out one of my 3 weekly rides to ride my ego-kit equipped Yeti one of those days exploring somewhere where I normally wouldn’t ride or take time exploring new remote terrain. Demo forest in Santa Cruz will never be the same. Braille trail would be a quick zip up over and over and over again! If I could put the Ego-kit on something else it would be the new Salsa bucksaw II Fat bike. Full suspension Fat bike super powered explorer!!! Now that would be fun!!!

Kark
Kark
10 years ago

🙁 the dude would not abide.

taylor
taylor
10 years ago

dunno if it has been said, but STOP with the e-bikes

kkthx

Mike C
Mike C
10 years ago

Fatbike fail. Needs white russian regrigerated thermos holder and secret stash box.somewhere.

gringo
gringo
10 years ago

just wait until we have trails closed off to all MTB’s thanks to a user conflict involving an e.MTB.

I think this is a serious risk and IMBA really needs to step up and try and sort something out with land managers before we lose some epic singletrack due to some overweight, underskilled lawyer on an e.MTB.

Dave
Dave
10 years ago

LMStuff’s positing is an excellent summary of reasons why E-bikes must NEVER be allowed on any trail that doesn’t permit “motorized vehicles”. The things are electric motorcycles, not bicycles and don’t belong anywhere other motorized vehicles are forbidden.

Gringo is right. If E-bikes are allowed the inevitable conflict will cost all users.

chasejj
chasejj
10 years ago

@Dave -Sorry , but in much of the US trails are not divided by use in every case and many are indeed shared. You anti-eBike commenters sound the exact same as the bitter old silver tail hippies I see bitching about MTB’s in the SF Bay Area.
I could care less if somebody blew by me on an eBike out on my usual trails. No skin off my nose. Just be safe with your speed and don’t hit my dog up ahead.

a
a
10 years ago

While I think E-bikes have no home on the trail, I do really like hearing about developments in the E-bike industry. I think they have the potential to replace cars for MANY people, and hindering the growth of this cool new industry with hate is really a shame. When the time comes for me to look at a new car an E-bike will be high on my list!

Von Kruiser
Von Kruiser
10 years ago

I have many bikes (DJ, MTB, Road, xtra, antiques, etc… Bought an ebike for when my father comes in town so we can ride together. However I found it’s a blast to ride and enjoy it a lot. It’s not a replacement for cycling since it’s mainly used for transportation (like a car). If I do not want to get sweaty, I ride the ebike (pedal assist). However, I would not recommend ebikes for off-road since it is motorized. Also it depends on the location on acceptability for off-road use.

LMStuff
LMStuff
10 years ago

I think we all need to respect each other on the trail no matter what we ride. I remember when I started snowboarding and you were limited to only a few places you could go and we were the rebels that no one liked. Now anywhere I want to snowboard I can. Sure there are going to be idiots out there that try to ruin mountain biking for the rest of us, they are there now and ebikes will not change that. However they are far and few. I get all the fear and all the worries everyone has about e-bike mountain bikes. The reason why I bought my carbon Enduro is so I can have a sick ride without the extra weight and go long distance on any trail I want especially the downhill / freeride trails. The EgoKit equipped bike would be for exploring remote areas, to take on camping trips and accessing some gnarly trails that I just hate to pedal up to get to the good stuff like in Demo Forest, I could use the motor to get up there from Santa Cruz without burning out by the time I reach the real trails and then still get back to town without have to use a car or shuttle service. I honestly don’t feel I would be riding too differently downhill than without a motor. Extremely long punishing up hills again to get to the good stuff would be my main reason for using it. Sure I am going to have some fun and do somethings you just can’t do without a motor. Some people ride just to ride on trails casually. I ride up for the adrenaline rush of descending those diamond and double diamond trails. I have a road bike but I just ride it for quick exercise and to get around on occasion, not for fun or what I get out of MTB’ing. I definitely think there could be some key rules on off-road usage of e-bikes but rules that ruin the experience well then no rules would be better. I look forward to some desert exploring and very remote stuff I have ridden out in Utah where you are luck to see another person or two the whole day. I am always courteous and respect hikers and fellow bikers when I ride under my own power and will do the same when I have my Ego-kit installed. There are only going to be an extremely small number of motorized mountain bikes out there and the chances of you seeing one will be pretty slim. It’s very cost prohibited for most people so please stop worrying they are going to overtake all the trails and ruin the experience. Enjoy life and just ride! Happy riding everyone, whatever you ride! Horses too, even though the eat up the trails with their hooves. That’s why I ride a mountain bike!

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