Committment

What's it take to win a bike race? Beginning from the moment the finish line is crossed first, then backing it out to all the things and people that touched the athlete and equipment, it is a staggering volume of ideas, tests and efforts. More than anything it boils down to commitment.

In the case of building a piece of equipment like the Felt DA, the wind-tunnel proven fastest UCI legal TT bike in existence, it begins and ends with a vision followed by the commitment to making it all happen. Commitment starts at the top. Most who know our little company know that the most public head-honch figure is company namesake Jim Felt. Jim is actively involved in all areas of product and marketing and most definitely one of the driving forces behind the DA and its product siblings. With Jim is an engineering and design team that is, in our humble opinion, second to none including Jeff, Tim, Ty, Mike, Nick and Yann. Together they are they product architects and are predisposed to sit back and grin when something like the DA wins a stage at the Giro d'Italia (which we just did), or a World Championship (which we have), or any other.

Less publicly known is Felt US-company president, Bill Duehring. A product guy to the bone, it is his commitment to maintaining the tightest staff in the business, followed by building the best products in the world that is the behind-the-scenes impetus for Felt's racing success. Always under the radar, all product efforts are not without his fingerprints.

The above pic is a rarity. It has Bill in it. Doing what he does best...looking over a product...in the background...as always. In this, he is just a couple of hours from seeing Slipstream/Chipotle-H3O win the opening stage of the 2008 Giro d'Italia aboard their Felt DA's. Soon enough he'll be on his way home, undoubtedly happy to have seen such an exciting victory up close, but also knowing that the commitment to building even better products remains and is ongoing.