In the lead up to Rio’s Summer Olympics, Felt crafted a very special track bike. It was designed with track-specific aerodynamics and layups, then built with one-off custom parts from HED, FSA, Phil Wood and Stages Cycling. The result is a left-side drive carbon fiber board killer that took home Olympic Silver under U.S. women’s team pursuit squad. And now you can buy it…
Building on the Silver medal winning Felt TK1 from 2012, USA Cycling and Felt wanted to see if they could create something to take the team to the next level. The obvious is improving straight line aerodynamics, hence the extremely narrow frontal profile.
The new HED Disc wheels get proprietary 70mm front and 95mm rear hub widths. The rear’s laid out asymmetrically, which the frame is then designed around, to create a perfectly straight chain line. The rear dropout is tapered, getting thinner toward the rear, which prevents the axle from sliding forward under pedaling forces without requiring external set screws that could interrupt air flow.
What’s less obvious is yaw. The bikes are only turning left, and there are no crosswinds, so they tested against very specific wind angles that would mimic what’s seen on the track at speed. They found that moving the drivetrain to the left reduced overall drag, as did asymmetric tube shaping. The swapped drivetrain also puts the weight in a better place for a track’s banked surface.
Want one? The complete kit comes with a variety of parts to help you customize the bike to your fitness level and needs. For the princely sum of $25,999, you get the HED Volo Disc wheels w/ Ceramicspeed bearings and a set of Stinger 6 trading wheels, Vision Race crank and chainrings (50, 51, 53, 54, 55) on your choice of 170mm or 172.5mm crank arms, a second Vision Training crankset with matching chainring tooth counts, Phil Wood cogs (13, 14, 15, 16) and lock ring, Ceramicspeed BB bearings and coated chain, Tri All 3 hard cargo case and the frameset. A Stages power meter is attached to the non-drive cranks arms, too.
