Moving Over to New Blog Site

Felt is on the move! Our blog will now live on its own dedicated site. We promise to have even more articles, photos, and videos for you. Click on over and check out more recent posts:

http://www.feltbicycles.com/blog/

Speed Thrills

What kind of effort does a sprinter go through leading into the World Championships? Check out US National Champ Giddeon Massie as he does through a 500 meter paced effort on his TK1 behind National Sprint Coach, Jamie Staff. Giddeon along with Dean Tracy and Michael Blatchford make up the US Team Sprint team at the 2011 UCI World Track Championships in Copenhagen. All three are Felt athletes and race TK1's.

The Armstrong Comeback

While one Armstrong says goodbye (again), another is back. Have a quick listen as World and Olympic TT Champion Kristin Armstrong of the Peanut Butter & Co./2012 Pro Cycling Team talks about being back in the wind tunnel, new sponsors and what comes with being a new mom. And yes, that is the all (all) new 2011 DA she is on.

Southridge Winter Series III

This past weekend was the third race of the Southridge Winter Series, and the second race that Felt attended. We showed up in force with five Felt employees racing over the weekend, as well as the SDG/Felt Factory Team racing too.

Eddie manning the Felt Tent

Felt Engineers Nick Ducharme and Anton Petrov were the highlights of the weekend, with Nick winning the Expert 27-34 age group, and Anton winning the Expert 19-26 group. Sadly, Nick missed his XC podium ceremony because he was too busy racing Super D. But, he made up for it by finishing third in that race - not bad for a day’s work! Nick and Anton’s fellow SDG/Felt Factory teammate Eric Christensen also did well, finishing second in the Expert 27-34 age group, right behind Nick.

Nick at the start

Nick racing XC on the Edict

Anton post-race

Felt Purchasing whiz Scott Lampe had his Fontana debut, and finished a respectable third place in Sport 19-26. Scott had to battle with a mechanical, but managed to pedal his way back to the podium.

Scott on his way to a podium finish

Felt's newest employees, Nathan Wright and Eddie McDonald, took on Fontana’s gravity racing, with Nathan racing the Downhill Sunday and Eddie racing the four cross Saturday afternoon. Nathan had an alright run, and finished a respectable eighth place in expert, but was less than a second off the podium! Eddie had issue in his four cross race, popping out of his pedal and falling behind quickly. Thus is four cross racing though; one mistake and you’re off the back!

Overall, the weekend was good! Our booth was a success, and many people read our Twitter and Facebook posts and were rewarded with free shirts! The tent was a very welcome source of shade for all the Felt employees and racers, and we look forward to expanding at the next race! Hope to see you all then!

Southridge Winter Series II

This weekend was the second round of the Southridge Winter Series mountain bike event. Each of the rounds feature two days of competition - Saturday is XC, Super D, and 4X; Sunday is DH. Now that we have the schedule and accompanying acronyms out of the way, lets get on to the action.

Two Felt employees attended the event. Eddie McDonald, a new hire at Felt, is getting acclimated to the So Cal MTB scene. He was there to get acquainted with the local racers as well as test his fitness in the 4X. Engineer Nick Ducharme competed in the XC race aboard a bike that he helped design - the Edict. Nick went on to win his age group in the Expert Class. It was also his first race as a member of Team SDG (more on them in a later blog post).

SDG Edict Post Race

SDG Edicts are full suspension and under 21 lbs with this setup

At the next Southridge Series (Feb 5 and 6) , look for Eddie, Nick and the rest of the Felt gang under one of our red Felt tents.

Bob - Rock Bassist/Felt Graphic Designer

Bob Thomson, a Senior Graphic Designer at Felt, works on the graphics for Felt road, TT/tri, and cyclocross bikes. He has designed bikes for professional cycling teams including custom work for Dave Zabriskie, David Millar and Bradley Wiggins. Occasionally after work, Bob will spend time shaping or painting his custom bass guitar - a hint at his not so distant past.

Bob slappin' da bass big time

Prior to working at Felt, Bob was the bassist of Big Drill Car, a melodic hardcore band based out of Costa Mesa, CA. Although not necessarily a mainstream hit, Big Drill Car had a faithful following, and is recognized as a pioneer in its genre. One of Big Drill Car's fans sat down with Bob for an interview. Here is a snippet, along with a link to the full interview:

"Bob Thomson is a Senior Graphic Designer at Felt Bicycles. He designs the graphics for all of Felt's road bikes, TT bikes, as well as their cyclocross and fixed gear bikes. During his time at Felt, he has worked on team bikes for Garmin/Transitions as well as special one-off bikes for specific riders, and for special occasions like grand tours. Before his time at Felt, Bob played in a band called Big Drill Car...but perhaps his most important accomplishment is that he played a large role in me cutting my mullet off in 1991. Before we delve into the interview, allow me to explain." -Cycling Inquisition

http://cyclinginquisition.blogspot.com/2011/01/from-punk-rocker-to-designer-at-felt.html