Before the fitting I had been reading about tri bikes in Lava Mag, Slowtwitch, beginner triathlete and other bloggers. I developed a taste which aided in narrowing down my choices for a better decision. A decision is only hard when you don't know the consequences. This purchase also has to be made according to ability. Would it be nice to have a top of the line 5,000$+ bike.. sure but triathlon is not all about the bike. You do spend the most time on it so it should be comfortable and give you some sort of edge but it shouldn't be your main focus as a triathlete. You have 4 events (swim, bike, run, transition) and each phase requires its own focus. Besides do you want to have to worry about that bike walking off on you when you are at your post race massage?
I looked into Felt and Cervelo. Everyone has a Cervelo, you see them line the TA rack and I never knew how people were able to find their correct bike. Cervelo P2 and P3 were on my radar. Felt has a huge number of options in what I call the Vitamin series (B2, B10, B12, B14, B16). I needed a bike that was long and low with an aggresive aero position to accommodate my short legs and long torso. Both brands similarly priced, but due to accessibility, fit (aided by Retul Frame Finder), look and componentry, I was able to narrow my choice down between the B12 and B14. Both of these sexy Felt machines are pretty similar, gaining a frame that was modified from the B2 (all modeled after their high end DA model), and almost identical except for drive train groupo.
This is where I was torn for about a week but it pays to read online reviews, I averaged out the good the bad and the ugly and the SRAM R2C bar end shifters of the B12 did not make the cut. It just seemed as though they weren't as reliable as the Shimano Dura Ace set up of the B14 and being a person that has a history of a DNF due to Mechanical I do not want to be left in the cold because the bike wasn't reliable on race day. Its the same reason you don't go car shopping and buy a lemon. You spend the extra dime for piece of mind. In this case piece of mind actually saves me roughly $500, cant complain about that. After visiting a few LBS and trying out the Shimano 105 shifters I was concerned with how much effort it took too to change gears and I thought It would prove to be hazardous, as I already tend to wobble while in areo position. I was told by friends that it was something I would definitely get used to (I was thinking, well I hope that means sometime before I crash). The upgraded components of the B12 included the SRAM R2C (return to center) bar end shifters and this option initially looked great to me. Less reaching, just a simple click and im through another successful gear change. However, as a consumer we cant be sucked in by gimmicks. The R2C's have more moving parts and with further investigation I find that the internal working parts are made of a lower grade plastic that wear out after a while and may cause other problems and frustration as well.
It was at this point I remembered when I was an Engineering student, "keep it simple stupid" rang in my ears. I wanted to come up with grand designs but in the end the ones with the least moving parts, least friction, least fighting gravity ideas work the best. Since the bikes are otherwise identical I went with the cheaper model (but by no means lesser) and will have the option of upgrades if required in the future. So I welcome a new member to my team....
2011 Felt B14
On that high note, im flooded by good news lately which was kicked off by becoming a wear tester and now since im buying my bike through Retul they want to make a promo video of my final fitting when the bike comes in. More on that later...stay tuned. Questions/comments, leave em at the bottom.
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