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SOC15: All-new Felt FX TeXtreme Cyclocross bikes get lighter, stiffer & hotter – plus updated Compulsion mountain bikes

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike
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After a couple years of iterative updates to their FX carbon cyclocross bikes, Felt has wiped the drawing board clean and created all-new, disc brake only bikes ready to go fast and get dirty.

The very top of the line is the F-FRD (Felt Racing Development), whose frame comes in at just 850g and is sold as a frameset only. More on that one in a minute. Immediately below it is the F1X, which continues Felt’s use of TeXtreme carbon fibers to make the bike lighter and stiffer. Its frame tips the scales at just 950g. And for 2016, that same frame is used on the lower level F3X and F4X level bikes, and all four share the same new 400g fork.

On the prior version, they had morphed the bike from their cantilever brake model over the years, which meant there was still a bridge on the seatstays, and the rear brake caliper was on the outside of the seatstay. To boost comfort, they reworked it to be disc specific and put the caliper inside the rear triangle. That let them do away with the bridge and create one long, thin seatstay that has some intentional compliance planned into the layup…

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

The frames get new tube shapes that make the bike more robust with more tire clearance.

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

It uses the BB386 standard to give it a little more room at the chainstay yoke, which let them make the chainstays big enough to keep the brake hose inside it as it passed around the BB and headed back toward the caliper. It also meant the stays didn’t need to be ridiculously tall to achieve the desired stiffness.

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

The headtube on the SL layup is 11% stiffer, and the BB is 5% stiffer, yet the frame is 150g lighter than before. That’s done through continuous improvements in their layup process and better utilization of Textreme’s capabilities. Subtle geometry tweaks were made to balance the stiffer frame, helping it keep the same feel as the last bike and not become too twitchy. It still has a racy feel, but won’t beat you up or amplify any handling mistakes you might make as a race wears on.

There’s an additional port at the headtube, which combines with the ports on either side of the downtube to open up a space for a stealth dropper post.

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

The fork gets a slight geometry change and it adds subtle ribs on the inside of the legs to gain 10% lateral stiffness without ruining the compliance. It’s a bit wider thanks to the ribs, but a bit narrower front to back for better compliance.

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

Tire clearance was bumped up to handle up to a 700×36 for normal riding, and a 40 if you aren’t too worried about eating up the clearance.

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

The disc brake’s hose pops out closer to the rear for a cleaner appearance. Notice the oversized rubber grommet surrounding the hose at the exit port – Felt found ways to seal all the holes on the frame that could let mud and water in. The cover plate under the bottom bracket, all the cable ports and water bottle holes all have plugs that close up any gaps completely.

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

Thru axles front (15mm) and rear (12×142), and different grommets for either electronic or mechanical groups.

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

This F1X build is the top complete bike. It’s a Di2/hydro build that uses a Rotor narrow/wide chainring for a 1x bike with Shimano 785 hydraulic shifter levers pushing fluid to the 785 brake calipers and Dura-Ace Di2 rear derailleur. Don’t worry, it’ll ship with both the round and oval 40T chainrings.

2016 Felt F1X TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

Wheels are an exclusive DT Swiss set using a 19mm internal width 29er carbon rim laced to their 240 hubs. Weight is around 1,300g and are tubeless ready, with Schwalbe Racing Ralph CX tires ready to be converted.

The F1X Di2 will retail for $6,999. The other F1X build is a Force 1 (CX1) group that’ll sell for $5,499. The F3X gets a Shimano Ultegra mechanical group with R685 hydraulic brakes, DT Swiss R24 Classic wheelset, 3T cockpit, Prologo saddle and Schwalbe tires for $3,799. The F4X gets Force 1 with hydraulic disc brakes, Novatec wheels and Felt branded cockpit for $2,999.

2016 Felt F FRD TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

The F-FRD is sold as a frameset only for $1,999. It’s shown here with a rather boutique build but with one unique feature that will come with it:

2016 Felt F FRD TeXtreme carbon fiber disc brake cyclocross bike

On the thru axles, they worked with DT Swiss to create a removeable lever that holds itself into the axle with an O-ring, but quickly pulls out to work for both front and rear. Or take it off for race day to keep it clean and remove any snag points.

Available July and August. The alloy ‘cross bikes will carry over unchanged from the ones introduced last year, save for spec updates.

2016 Felt Compulsion full suspension mountain bike updated

The 2015 Felt Compulsion got a lot of attention for their colors, so for the alloy models they took it a step further with some wild color palettes for the 10 (shown), 30 and 50.

2016 Felt Compulsion full suspension mountain bike updated

They’ve switched to a stealth dropper for the 10. The port was already there and is there on all of the models, they just upgraded the KS LEV post to an internally routed version for the top model.

The rear shock tune gets updated for all three models. While I really liked the Compulsion I rode last summer, one concern they heard from customers on the ’15 model was that it lacked a little something in the mid stroke. So they went out with RS for a few rides and refined the tune to add more mid stroke support.

FeltBicycles.com

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Rich W
Rich W
8 years ago

Digging the cross bikes. With Di2, I thought you had to run a front derraileur, otherwise the whole “system” wouldn’t work? I’d love to be wrong though.

frogg
frogg
8 years ago

extremely exciting cross bike; only miss (i think) is the lack of flat mount for future shimano calipers. Protruding MTB disc calipers don’t look good on road bikes especially on the front fork. And again (personnally), don’t see the need of such a clearance. It’s not a MTB! Just for note, i’m actually using a cross bike (spesh tricross) year long on the road (commuting), just swapping cross tyres in the winter season. As rim brakes are a joke in harsh weather, i plan to buy a new cross bike with disc brakes. This new Felt F3X is on the top of my list.

frogg
frogg
8 years ago

me again about tyre clearance; max UCI tyre width for cross is 33mm (see https://bikerumor.com/2010/06/21/uci-to-allow-cyclocross-disc-brakes-narrows-maximum-tire-width/ ). so i don’t understand the clearance for up to 40mm tyres … This kind of bikes lack any suspension, so don’t see how you can ride them in MTB terrain, even with big tyres! If you want to climb in a muddy terrain, rear suspension is almost a pre-requisite. In cross, when you are stuck in a climb, contrary to MTB, you are *allowed* to dismount. It’s even one of the skills required to ride these bikes! Hey Felt (and others), cross bikes are essentially road bikes.

JBikes
JBikes
8 years ago

I’d say that given only Shimano have adopted the flat mount “std” recently, with limited product offerings, it would be unwise to design a bike around such. It prevents the use of a vast array of both Shimano and other OEM caliper options as well as disc sizes >140mm, should one want to.

Craig
Craig
8 years ago

@frogg. I think allowing bigger tires opens the bike up to be used in more terrain. I actually do ride my cross bike on MTB trails and with the rocks it’s quite easy to pinch flat 33mm tires so being able to run 38mm or even 40mm means I can enjoy riding it on rougher trails and put on 33mm tires for racing. I know others who do the same. Being able to take bigger tires is a prerequisite on any cross bike I consider buying.

And as for needing suspension to ride on MTB terrain, is this a joke?

John
John
8 years ago

@JBikes: Not true, not even close. Frames designed for flat mounts will run other standard calipers with a simple adapter, as documented on this very website two months ago: https://bikerumor.com/2015/03/31/first-look-shimano-flat-mount-hydraulic-road-disc-brakes-debut-new-11-speed-105-level-hydro-shifter-more/

“As promised, frames equipped with the new Flat Mount standard will still be able to run standard road brake calipers with one of the Shimano adapters. That means frames will be backwards compatible, but the new Flat Mount brakes will not be since they can only be mounted to frames with the Flat Mount provisions.”

The only compatibility issue is that the new flat mount calipers won’t work on older frames designed for IS or post mount.

JBikes
JBikes
8 years ago

I forgot flat mount is back compatible via adapters…so then maybe I agree with frogg, although the through bolting is kinda “eh”

FuelForThough
FuelForThough
8 years ago

@Rich W. 1x Di2 build is very intriguing indeed. I also though that the rear derailleur would not operate without front derailleur connected. It also looks like the left lever has not shifter paddle. Not a standard Shimano item. Finally, how is chain retention ensured without a clutched rear derailleur?

frogg
frogg
8 years ago

@JBikes – that is actually what Scott did with their new Addict CX ; @Craig – i mean climbing when it is slippery ; in this case, a suspension helps a lot.

Aaron
Aaron
8 years ago

Hold up, did I just read that the CX frame has a port for a stealth dropper post?!

SuperDave
8 years ago

@Rich W: It does require reprogramming. It can be “deprogrammed” to add an F/D if desired, too.

@frogg: The flat mount brakes won’t appear until it is too late to consider them for OEM specification on a ‘cross bike. Remember there are other brands of brakes to consider beyond Shimano. A flat mount brake allows the consumer to choose Shimano, SRAM, TRP Sypre, Avid, etc. The lightest hydro brake caliper is still Shimano’s post mount XTR. The flat-mount to post adaptors are not ideal for some mechanical configurations. With our molding technology, it is possible that a flat mount dropout could be interchanged in the mold once that standard is more readily supported in the OEM and aftermarket arena. The tire clearance is welcome with 33mm tires and mud. Tire width is simply a personal preference for many consumers that we do not want to limit to 33mm. ‘Cross bikes are not road bikes. Sure you can ride a cross bike on the road or race a ‘cross race on a road bike (like our F1 PR!) but they are not the same and it is impossible to optimize for both.

SuperDave
8 years ago

@John, there are some limitations to those adaptors; it isn’t as “clean” as the IS –> post adaptors used for the last few years. Mechanical disc brakes are among the challenges when optimizing for flat mount and retrofitting Post mount brakes. There are many consumers who will opt for the frameset route to build a bike with their existing parts so post mount made sense for this generation of frame production.

@FuelForThough, the modification to the shifting function requires the e-tube software and a computer but it can be done of course.

@Aaron, yes. A dropper post is among the additions we’re seeing to these bikes that are built and being used for non-cyclocross racing for events like the Rock Cobbler or Spy’s BWR.

SuperDave
8 years ago

Ack! I should have said to @frogg: “A post mount frame allows the consumer to choose Shimano, SRAM, TRP Sypre, Avid, etc. brakes”

Erik
Erik
8 years ago

Guys, extra tire clearance is not just for bigger tires. Ride in the Northeast and you will see why the extra clearance is welcomed. At a race two years ago in just the 45 minute race (first one to go off too for the day) people were stopping 2-3x/lap to clear out their chain and seat stays. Also there were over 35 broken hangers that day too (about 20% of the field) and about 7 broken derailleurs that day too. Smart decision Felt!

Matt
Matt
8 years ago

Very excited to see these come out. Subtle Geo changes were mentioned. Any chance that means a touch bigger fit on them? My 53 is a touch small and a friend’s 55 feels a touch big.

Tokyo
Tokyo
8 years ago

@ rich w, it will work they get remapped so both buttons on each lever do either up of down for the rear de.

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